CRAS Visits NAMM 2016
NAMM 2016 (National Association of Music Merchants) is one of the hottest shows in the music production industry. This is where we get to see all the new gear that companies like Blue, BAE, SSL, Waves, UA, Slate, Hafler, Telefunken, iZotope and more bring to demo. If there is a place to find out what the next must-have studio gear is, this is the place!
This year, much like years previous, CRAS had to make an appearance at NAMM in Anaheim, California. While our staff was out browsing the grounds, we of course ran into a number of CRAS Grads who have been working in all facets of the audio industry. Blue Mics, for example, has a number of our grads on staff, including Bailey Beechler, Jonathan Mireles, Elise Towery, and Allan Santa Cruz. Blue actually just visited CRAS a few months ago!
One of the more interesting booths that we saw this year was Lauten Audio’s. Working in conjunction with Focal Monitors, they created a mobile iso booth (isolation room). They were able to bring in the necessary parts, and set up this iso booth right on the show room floor. Working with CRAS grad Darrell Thorp, they put a four piece band in the iso booth to demonstrate the quality of the materials and workmanship. They were even able to track this band right there at NAMM!
Eiosis has created one of the most impressive plug-ins. Their de-esser plug-in is incredible, taking away only the annoying sibilance and harsh tones, while leaving the rest of the audio perfectly intact. We’ve never heard such an amazing quality de-esser! CRAS is looking forward to working closely with Eiosis in the near future to start incorporating their plug-ins with the CRAS program.
We also spoke with iZotope, whose plug-ins we’ve included into the CRAS laptop recording package. This year they’ve been working on a more creative approach to their plug-ins. In the future, we can look forward to seeing some new delay plug-ins from them, as well as a 7.1 surround specializer plug-in for post production. They are also coming out with a new mix plug-in – Ozone Mix. We can’t wait to see what our DSP future holds!
We ran into a bunch of grads, including Anthony who currently works for Slate audio. We are hoping to bring Slate out for a CRAS visit this year! Among other visits we are planning, we hope to see more from SSL, iZotope, Telefunken, AEA Mics, Waves Plug-ins and RND.
CRAS is planning to have another gear showcase this year, similar to our CRAS Gear Expo in 2015! We are expecting to have a fantastic turn out. Last year we had over a dozen gear manufacturers come out to our Gilbert, Arizona location to show off their gear, and we are hoping to make it even bigger and better this year!
