NAMM 2018 Hub: The Latest News, Rumours And Photos

Welcome to our NAMM 2018 hub, your one stop shop for all things NAMM, featuring the latest news, rumours and photos from Anaheim…

As is traditional here in MusicTech HQ, once we’ve recovered from our Christmas of over-eating, over-drinking, over-tinkering with our new bits of music-making kit and making a Google spreadsheet for our ridiculously unrealistic New Year’s resolutions, then it’s time to prepare to be propelled across the world from the dreary, rainy English January to the sun-soaked, palm-tree resplendent wonderland of… ah, who are we kidding, last year’s NAMM Show frequently saw us seeking cover from some of the worst rain we’ve seen in our lives!

Deep inside the myriad halls and corridors of the Anaheim Convention Centre, however, we ogled, prodded and poked at the exciting gear that defined 2017 in music technology.

This year, we’re expecting more of the same (although, much less rain, if possible, thank you) throughout what NAMM is claiming will be the largest show in its history, with a brand-new area dedicated to keyboards and synths, as well as a whole new building, completely dedicated to pro-audio gear.

But just what will that gear consist of? Well, the rumours are certainly starting to fly surrounding just what will be revealed at the show. Yes, we’ve had a few tip-offs from some of our contacts in the industry that we can’t divulge to you just yet, but there are a few dead certs and persistent rumours circulating that we can talk about at this stage. Such as:

• According to a few sources, Korg is working on a brand-new, eight-voice polyphonic analogue synth that will either build on the success of the Minilogue and Monologue, or be a completely original beast…
• Roland has announced that it’s committed to ‘expanding the smartphone experience’ with a new website called Music Connects. With this in mind, many speculate that Roland’s big releases this year are going to be centred around developing further mobile-music-making products, though they’ve committed to unveiling some new products earlier than usual (which you should all know about by time of publication) at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas
• Waldorf’s eight-voice hybrid, the Quantum Polysynth – first revealed at Franfurt’s Musikmesse last year – is set for worldwide distribution, with pre-orders now being taken. We’re hoping to get some hands-on time with it at the show
• Behringer is teasing a preview of a new prototype, which has left the music-technology world guessing. Though the company won’t be in attendance at NAMM, we’re anticipating an announcement to happen concurrently with the show
• PMC will be showing its result6 near-field reference monitor, first unveiled at the AES Convention at the end of last year
• Apogee will be showing the updated version of its portable, plug ’n’ play MiC (which has been around for about seven years) to a new, modern model called the MiC Plus. Apogee promises it will feature improved sound quality, dynamic range and a new built-in headphone output.
• IK Multimedia promises to bring hardware/software integration to a new level for both studio and stage – with something for guitars, vocals AND keyboards. Check out this recently released teaser below.

Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg and NAMM 2018 is sure to be a veritable waterfall of amazing new gear. We’re looking forward to checking out a refreshed and expanded NAMM Show and of course, we’ll keep you posted on all the announcements, reveals and tasty new gear via the MusicTech Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages and our website. For all the latest news from NAMM 2018 click below.

NAMM Daily Blog

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Day 1

Day 2

NAMM Galleries

Day Zero

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Day One

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Day Two

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