What did you think of Namm 2016 so far.....

It was nice to see a few new things like Yamaha Montage`, Roland Boutique` items, FP30, Juno Ds, Casio MZ x500, but nothing really excited me for my needs,....how about you?

More exciting than the past years, mainly due to the Montage.
From my point of view, the release of two standalone modules based on software sounds (Synthogy Ivory and M-Audio Accent) might be even more important. I hope this development will consolidate (as already discussed elsewhere...)
Regarding the Montage, I'm split: on the one hand it is the biggest attraction of this year's NAMM, on the other hand it could turn out to be quite a big disappointment, as so many had been waiting for something spectacular since 2010, and now it doesn't come close to the Kronos in some respects and it might be the only really big synth move of Yamaha for the next 5 years...

Most of what I've seen is of no interest to me, including analog-type keyboards and modules. The Yamaha Montage, on the other hand, is of great interest.

From what some of Yamaha's demonstrators said, and from Yamaha's own written materials say, the Montage sounds better than the Motif XF, even though it has all of the Motif's sounds onboard. I'm speaking about its acoustic sounds. Plus, it has new samples, too.

I can't wait to see and hear a comparison of the two!

I'm particularly interested in hearing the Montage's orchestral sounds (strings, brass, woodwinds). The demos mention it has new sounds in these categories.

I'm waiting for the Data List to come out, to see exactly what's new.

So far, the demos focus mainly on synth-type sounds. I'm sure it has many good acoustic sounds, too.

We'll see hopefully soon.

1 - Shure KSM8 Dualdyne Nickel Mic... $499 street... Nice!!

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/KSM8N

2 - TC Helicon Perform-V... $199

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PerformV

I really love the new structure of the Montage... its to be a beast on stage, made to perform with, however, there should have been so much more... VL synthesis, AN synthesis, SA2 voice, Ensemble technollogy, multiple midi's, DAW controll.. Yet despite all the missing things, the parts that are there really make it a wannahave, yet no musthave.

The Casio MZ-X500, also very well tought out multifinctionall instrument at that price point, it has styles with 4 variations, but also arpeggios, phrases, hex-sounds, aesome piano and B3 sounds, drawbars, knobs, expansion memmory and a community... if the soundquallity is convincing in real life then they definately made a huge step to pro arranger status at casuall pricing.

The Roland FP-30, a lot of piano for the money, i love how Roland is marketing professionall gear at acceptable pricing.

The Korg Minilogue makes an awesome analogue synthesizer for the money, yet those keys, they make me weep..

The Yamaha DGX-660, with piano room, another step up for Yamaha, sadly still only compatible with the lower end 2variation Yamaha styles, should have had 4 variation styles

M-audio CTRL49, shows the VIP software making a huge step, not only VST instruments, but also 4 VST effects/track..

Crumar is taking an other step, with a Crumar single manuall Organ with the awesome BX3 virtuall B3 sound, and what about the Crumar Gemini module, thats probably the best physicall modelling on the planet. With awesome effects and including the BX-3 and other stuff.

Kurzweil, adding arpeggio's, phrases and more synth features to the Forte and slowly making it more then just a stage piano. Its an awesome instrument at a great price

The Nord Piano 3, finally the Fatar tripple sensor action in a Nord. Not my pick, i prefer the stage, but definately a lovely instrument.

Oberheim OB6 analogue synth, ist a 6 voice polyphonic analogue synth, more then just a blast from the past and its got Tom Oberheim and Dave Smith working together.

Yamaha PSR-3000, bringing the new PSR-S970 to the Asian world.

The Korg Kronos Platinum, nothing new, but just nice looks.

Roland A01, and euromount rack stuff.. for those that like modular this is a blessing, allowing the eurorack standard to make a stand in the analogue revival market.



And there was more, just tell me when have we seen so many new keyrelated instrumetns at Namm?


I think NAmm was huge..

I went 2 days and left feeling I had good stuff already and nothing there was better then what i already have the Montage look pretty cool and would love to have the new Piano sounds if I was doing film and TV scores then it would be great to have, none of the new ARRANG did anything for me .

the new band in the box 2016 is very cool
Fender is getting into the powered speaker biz and they are nice

Mike Kelly Guitar has a new elect guitar with 2 inputs one to do acoustic and one to do elec it sounded very good 795.00 good deal.

there where so many guitar booths this year last year it was softwere this year guitars go figure

Allways when use BIabox, i am impressed, currently have the 2013 MAC version... but in the end, i am allways regretting it does not have realtime chord detection as an arranger (but then i also realise its exactly that what makes those styles so much more dynamic)




I love the improvements and the better interface..

I thought it was pretty cool and I am considering buying it for recording a new CD and some orig Music using as a framing tool and then adding my touches just concerned on the cheezy factor in the sound that is my concern I would like to hear from other that use it on there experences ?

I can recommend the 2016 version of Band In A Box, having purchased just about every version since its inception. I’m on the Windows side. If arrangers could only duplicate all those styles, or if BIAB could only get that fat, full sound like arrangers do! I go back and forth between the two, depending on the gig, or recording situation. To my hearing and preference, BIAB styles are more realistic and natural sounding, due to their Real Styles (real players). On the other hand, arrangers in a recording situation, have a much bigger, fuller sound on playback. Guess it depends on what one prefers. If you’re not familiar with BIAB, how about several thousand styles to select from? There’s something for everyone there.