NAMM 09

There was a slight drop in visitor numbers with a 3% decrease bringing this years total to 85,799, however this was the general expectation. On a positive note, the quality of visitors remained strong and many of the 1505 exhibitors said they were impressed by the visitors’ response to their products and the sales interest they had received. NAMM 2009 was themed ‘Come Together’ to encourage people to form a united vibe by meeting up with industry associates, discussing the latest product news and laying ground work for future business deals.
“The 2009 NAMM Show was perhaps one of the most important industry gatherings in memory,” said NAMM President and CEO Joe Lamond. “Our members again demonstrated their determination and persistence as the best and brightest from around the world gathered to experience four days of new products, NAMM University courses, networking and live music.”

B&C Speakers released a variety of new products, including two new additions to their subwoofer range, the 18SW115 and the 21SW115. These 18” and 21” brothers both have 4.5” split winding voice coils that handle 2700W of power with low distortion. “We have invested a significant amount of R&D into these new, core market products, and we are excited about the results,” said Ron Tizzard, B&C International Sales Director.
This year was FaitalPRO’s fourth time exhibiting in Anaheim, and it proved successful for them as they made some very important contacts and appointed a new distributor to serve the South American market. Overseas Sales Manager Flavio Naggi said: “From the beginning, the feeling was very gratifying because many professionals who knew us came to our stand straight away to pay a visit.” FaitalPRO were showcasing the debut of their new subwoofer, 18XL1500. Naggi continues, “We have products which people are talking about, and the public is giving positive signs of having received our message: Quality, Flexibility, Innovation.”

Behringer is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and they marked the occasion with 20 new products and their biggest ever NAMM production with three performance venues, plus special guests.
January was a busy month for Renkus-Heinz as they prepare to celebrate 30 years in the business in the Spring. They have been absent from Anaheim in recent years but this time decided to change the record. They gave visitors the chance to sample the live capabilities of the new IC LIVE steerable arrays and the VerSys VLX3 large format line array.

Peavey announced new products in some of their already existing ranges, there were additions to the PV Series, the PV®115PM stage monitor and the PV®118D subwoofer as well as updates to the PR Series along with two new additions PR 15D and PR 12D. They also introduced a new amp series: the IPR™ Series.

At the Electro-Voice stand was a selection of new and already established products. They exhibited the Tour X loudspeaker line and the DC-One digital loudspeaker range, while introducing the Q Series amps and the PL Series microphones.

The D.A.S. stand exhibited a whole range of products from the Arco, Reference, Artec, Variant and Aero Series, as well as the LX-218A subwoofer system and the new Avant Series. Director of International Sales Jack Palacio said: “The Avant series created a great deal of interest especially among clients from the Caribbean, South and Central America since it is a portable, powered, high performance system. Despite the international global crisis and fewer visitors to the show than last year, the unveiling of the Avant series really helped to make this event a great success for D.A.S.”
QSC’s new CSM Series stage monitors made their industry debut at this year’s NAMM. The series comprises three models: the CSM10, CSM12, and CSM15. Also making its first appearance was QSC’s ILA v2 System that represents the second-generation design of the lightweight, compact line array.

Rane congratulated a number of their distributors at the NAMM show on their outstanding sales growth. Amongst those who were recognised are: Audiopole, France; Audio Telex, Australia; SMS Pro, Russia and Audiomusica, Chile.

Allen & Heath launched a new compact digital mixing system, the iLive-T Series. “The T Series has been developed using proven digital technology from our flagship iLive professional range. We are thrilled to be able to deliver the same stunning audio performance in a smaller footprint at a fraction of the price, and open up digital technology to a new audience,” explains A&H MD, Glenn Rogers. A&H also unveiled the Xone:22, a 2-channel analogue DJ mixer which produces high quality audio, this is their smallest and most affordable Xone mixer to date.
Chauvet launched an abundance of new products including: 4BAR™; Double Derby™ X; Kinta™ X (a step up from the Double Derby™ X); LED Mushroom™; LED Pinspot; Intimidator™ Spot 150 & 250 (additions to the Intimidator™ line). Some recognisable names were amongst the new additions due to the fact that they are LED retrofits of the well-known favourites.

The Stanton Group had products from each of its brands on show: Stanton DJ; KRK Systems and Cerwin-Vega. The latter launched new CV-P passive professional speakers, while Stanton DJ were intorducing the C.324 tabletop CD player.

Ultrasone unveiled a new set of headphones, Edition 8 which are their most stunning and elegant to date and were very well recieved at the show.

Tonium attracted visitors to their stand by putting on a dance performance to promote their newest product, Pacemaker. The dancers were dressed head to toe in an all-in-one suit each made of a single colour. It certainly made people stop in their tracks!
Dynacord presented their new SL Series of amps, which offer reliability, high-output power and high efficiency. While Beyerdynamic introduced two new types of microphones along with the Headzone PRO XT, a portable audio mixing system and the Opus 600/900 wireless system.
Harman International had a strong presence displaying products from brands including Crown, Soundcraft, JBL, AKG and Lexicon.
Denon DJ debuted its new Model DN-S3700 Digital Media Turntable and the new Model DN-X1100 Professional 4-Channel Matrix Mixer at this year’s show and Celestion provided visitors with a display of some of their latest products including the G10 Gold, the CDX1-1720, and the NTR15-3018E.

Winter NAMM is scheduled to return on 14th–17th January 2010.