NAMM 2017 Day 1

Day one of NAMM 2017 was mainly used for taking in the sights and sounds of the massive gathering of music merchants, artists, and many others in the Anaheim resort area. This was the second tour of the convention for the Noisy Cavern team, and feeling like seasoned veterans this time around made navigating the large halls less chaotic.

Our very own Luis Zuniga had the pleasure of interviewing a few merchants to learn about the new products each company was announcing. Hillary Money Lyle of Blue Microphones kicked off the segment. Blue Microphones are introducing two new lines of headphones at this year’s convention. First was Blue’s Sadie. The Sadie is a dynamic headphone with a built in amplifier that is perfectly matched to a 50mm driver. This driver makes the “Sadie” a perfect set of headphones for audiophiles essentially giving them a high-fidelity listening experience throughout many different platforms. The other featured headphones were the Blue Ella. These headphones come equipped with a closed back audiophile amp and a planar magnetic driver. Many audiophiles associate planar magnetic driver’s sound accuracy and detail. For more information visit bluedesigns.com.

Seth Burton of C.B.I. Professional Wiring Systems spoke about the company’s long tenure with NAMM. The company is located in upstate New York where they create all of their cables in-house. They carry a variety of styles for power, lighting, guitar, cams, and more. Prism line and clothed covered cables are part of their more popular lines.

Luis’ final interview of the day was with Scott Lumsden of Earthworks Microphones. Scott gave some recommendations on Earthworks microphones that would be ideal for using on podcasting. His immediate choice was the SR20, which features an electret condenser with a cardioid polar pattern. The microphone is perfect for recording dialogue and music due to the good rejection of off-axis noise. Scott demonstrated how a removable windscreen assembly exposes an alternate signal response that makes for a wider pick up area that is ideal for background vocals and other sound sources.

Luis also tested Music Room’s VR drum kit. Having countless hours behind a kit, he was a little skeptical about how real the experience would feel. To his surprise, he stated he felt no real delay between what he was hearing and seeing through the VR set, but the real drag came from the quality of the skins. Hopefully they improve this area, or an aftermarket add-on company picks up the slack.

It was a humbling first day covering the event. Rain or inaugurations are not going to put a damper on the atmosphere in the next couple days. Please stay tuned for more!