NAMM is open and NAMM is booming. While it wasn't the busiest day Anaheim has seen (the L.A. contingent often scoots down for the weekend), the aisles were still plenty packed. Now if somebody would just do away with those annoying backpacks on wheels, we could zip through the four halls just a wee bit faster.

Yes, there are virtual instruments everywhere, and yes, everybody has an upgrade, but there are still hardware synths debuting from the likes of Korg, and plenty of new input/output solutions from the likes of Apogee. We are right in the midst of a hybrid world, and it showed with the appearance of lots of NAMM newcomers, including Solid State Logic showing its AWS 900 console and X-Logic Rack, Roger Nichols Digital showing a line of plug-ins and mPATHX promising to do away with wallwarts.

In an early trend we're noticing, it's all about power...CPU that is...which is continuing to spur innovation hard and soft. Apple demonstrated Logic Pro 7.2 on an Intel Dual-Core Powerbook, and the increased performance was striking. Likewise, Cakewalk showed its dance-minded Wavetable synth, Rapture, which will work on 64-bit Wintel systems. On the controller front, there was some cool news in keyboard controllers from M-Audio's Axiom Series and CME's VX Series.

There will be plenty more to talk about tomorrow. In the meantime, visit the daily blog from the editors of Mix, Electronic Musician and Remix, and check out the podcast, sponsored by Roland with equipment provided by M-Audio.

APOGEE ENSEMBLE
Ensemble features 36 channels of simultaneous audio, including eight channels of Apogee's A/D and D/A conversion; four transparent, digitally controlled 75dB mic preamps; eight channels of ADAT I/O; two channels of S/PDIF co-ax and optical I/O; and FireWire connectivity to and from the computer. Ensemble also includes such Apogee features as SoftLimit, UV22HR and Intelliclock. For additional information on Ensemble (which is available next month), visit www.apogeedigital.com/ensemble.

E-MU 1616M LAPTOP DIGITAL AUDIO SYSTEM
Equipped with mastering-grade 24/192 converters, E-mu's 1616M Laptop Digital Audio System features hardware-accelerated effects, zero-latency hardware mixing/monitoring and an ultra-portable MicroDock. Also standard are twin ultra-low-noise mic/line/hi-Z preamps, four 1/4-inch balanced ins, six 1/4-inch balanced outs, three stereo 1/8-inch speaker outs, turntable in, two stereo headphone outs, 24/192 ADAT I/O, 24/192 S/PDIF and two MIDI I/Os. NAMM booth: #6940. www.emu.com.

PEAVEY VERSARRAY
Featuring ribbon drivers, neodymium magnets and multiple rigging options, Peavey's VersArray enclosures mark the company's debut into the high-end line array market. VersArray Series enclosure modules use special bracket-and-pin flying hardware in a highly flexible rigging system, allowing full articulation of the top boxes. With this system, users can adjust two modules away from each other in 2.5-degree increments from 0 to 15 degrees, providing for a classic straight-line array configuration or a number of angling options. NAMM booth: #5740. www.peavey.com

MPATHX SMARTRACK
SmartRack uses mPATHX patent-pending technology to reduce heat, weight and noise, delivers power and data at peak efficiency and eliminates the need for AC/DC wall warts. Its USB and graphical user interface let users control, program, monitor and deliver the different voltages required by various M.I. and pro-audio devices in and outside the rack. MSRP range: $250 to $300, which includes the SmartRack, DC wall-wart replacement cables with DC barrel adapter tips and applications software. NAMM booth: #1091. www.mpathx.com

ROGER NICHOLS DIGITAL BITCHIN-IZER
Bitchin-Izer is a mixdown/mastering plug-in for all platforms, developed by Grammy Award--winning, sound engineering legend Roger Nichols. Price: $999. NAMM booth: #1113. www.rndigital.com.

For more new products, visit the New Products Guide.

Submersible: We're announcing DrumCore 2, which has alot of cool new features: Now we sync to any tempo (121.052 for example), have seperate outputs for all the MIDI drum sounds (snare, kik, etc.) start anywhere in the song vis transport AND can drag and drop our content as REX and/or ACID files into Cubase, Live, Pro Tools, Logic, Sonar, etc... So all the tempos stay flexible in the host app.
-- Kord Taylor, Submersible Music

Take Control: The highlight of M-Audio's NAMM announcements is the new line of Axiom MIDI keyboard controllers. Three USB bus-powered controllers come with 25, 49 or 61 semi-weighted keys, eight MIDI-assignable drum pads, transport controls, a blue backlit LCD and slew MIDI assignable knobs, buttons and sliders. Software drivers? Fuhgeddaboutit! These guys are plug-and-play on Window and Mac OS X (including the new dual-core Intel Mac) systems. Estimated street prices go like this: $179 (Axiom 25), $249 (Axiom 49) and $299 (Axiom 61).
-- Markkus Rovito

Apogee Splash: Ensemble is Apogee's first all digitally controlled audio interface designed exclusively for the Macintosh. Ensemble features 36 channels of simultaneous audio, including 8 channels of Apogee's legendary A/D and D/A conversion, 4 transparent, digitally controlled 75db mic preamps, 8 channels of ADAT I/O, 2 channels of S/PDIF coax and optical I/O, and FireWire connectivity to and from the computer. Ensemble also includes "SoftLimit", "UV22HR", and "Intelliclock". Bottom line, its the best all-in one audio interface ever, for only $1995.00 retail. The best part is that Ensemble is FULLY integrated into Logic Pro, making this the most user-friendly, intuitive workstation available at a quality unheard of at this price point.
-- Max Gutnik, Apogee

MiKo, You Say?: Craig from Open Labs explained it like this: Say a DJ/musician such as Richard Devine wants to work on music in the morning. He can load any PC-based software into MiKo, record tracks (in Nuendo, Pro Tools, whatever) and then he can take the MiKo to his gig that night and DJ with it. So for example, he can run Traktor DJ Studio, play keyboards over it, hook up a projector to it and VJ simultaneously. I'll have to spend some more time with the MiKo to fully understand everything it can do. But in simple terms, it's a whole live and production rig in a box. Very cool. The "intro price" is $1,999. I can see this catching on....
-- Kylee Swenson, Editor, Remix

Musicians Unite!: Keep an eye out for the Broadjam 2006-Pack, a unique songwriting competition that will go from March to October. Last year's winner, Liz Miller, a talented songwriter from Philadelphia, will be joining us here at NAMM tomorrow, and will be spending the day Monday visiting with some key music industry executives. And, Broadjam just launched expanded web hosting, download sales ( we think we've got the highest net payout on the web for artists ) and a networked community -- come join us!
-- Roy and Steph Elkins, Broadjam

Hand-y Rhythms: A new, really cool hand percussion library will be out within a couple of weeks. It's called Flying Hand Percussion and it will be available directly from handheldsound.com (and possibly through another distributor, as well. It's a 12 GB libaray that streams from disk, and features 27 instruments.
-- Mike Levine, Senior Editor, Electronic Musician

Synful Sound: The latest version of Synful supports orchestral sections, and the ability to locate those sections in the room really adds to the realism.
-- Geary Yelton, Associate Editor, Electronic Musician

Roland, Roland, Roland: Folllowing their forward-into-the-past trend, Roland is showing the Juno-G, a new synth with a remarkable resemblance to the original Juno (circa 1983). The SH-201 is a lot more synth than the SH-101 was in 1982. The VP-550 specializes in vocal-based synth sounds. And the R-09 is a small field recorder that looks even more like a shaver than M-Audio's MicroTrack 24/96!
-- Geary Yelton, Associate Editor, Electronic Musician

You...And the Audience: Sensaphonics is introducing the 3D Active Ambient IEM System. It's a custom in-ear system that incorporates tiny custom mics inside custom earpieces so artists can finally hear the audience and their bandmates without taking out their earpieces.
-- Jack Kontney, Sensaphonics

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