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10 Hot Products from NAB 2012

I haven't seen attendance numbers this year, but NAB seemed busier than ever. Every hall was jammed with attendees on hand to see what exhibitors were offering. The biggest audio news of the show happened this morning with DTS announcing they have purchased SRS Labs.

I haven’t seen attendance numbers this year, but NAB seemed busier than ever. Every hall was jammed with attendees on hand to see what exhibitors were offering. The biggest audio news of the show happened this morning with DTS announcing they have purchased SRS Labs.

Some of the products that turned heads at the show were the Focal SM9 monitors which are now shipping. The monitor uses its focus mode to make the cabinet morph from a three way system with a passive radiator, to a two way system with just the touch of a button. There will be a review coming very soon.

Yamaha unveiled the CL Series, a Dante network–based console featuring remote I/O for a faster, more responsive Yamaha system solution. All three CL models in the Centralogic™ series, only differentiated by frame size and input capability, feature 24 mix buses, 8 matrix buses, plus stereo and mono outputs, and 16 DCAs.

DPA showed their new live microphone, the d:facto. Features include, a pre-polarized super cardioid condenser capsule, controlled off-axis response, extreme sound level handling, 3-step pop protection and more.

iZotope’s IRIS is incredible. Calling it a synth or sampler doesn’t do it justice. Apart from having some great sounds included in the software (4GB), it offers a completely unique way of manipulating audio and mapping it across a keyboard. Onboard DSP sweetens the deal and you can drag and drop audio into the interface making it a great sound bending tool for post, live performance, music mixing and more. The intro price is just $149.

Roland’s latest software upgrade for its M480 console includes many new features such as increased number of DCA’s from 8 to 24, scene Fade Function, increased delay time up to 1.2 seconds for broadcast and large outdoor applications, five new effect processors including Multi-Band Compression/Expansion and BOSS digital effect models, second order shelving on Lo and Hi EQ, mutually Exclusive LR/C assignment for cross-matrixed linear array speaker configurations and more.

SSL showed a cost-effective, live recording solution for live, broadcast and anyone else needing high track count capture. SSL’s Live-Recorder combines Soundscape Version 6.2 DAW Recorder/Player software, a MadiXtreme or MX4 PCIe audio interface and an industrial strength high performance 1U rack mounting PC. The Soundscape 6.2 software is a powerful audio only multi-track DAW Recorder/Player.Soundscape V6.2 has SSL’s ‘Pro-Convert’ technology built in, so can export recorded multi-track sessions in a range of formats which are native to a selection of popular DAW packages for editing and mixing. Export formats include; Pro Tools® 8 & 9 Sessions, Cubase/Nuendo Track Archives, Final Cut XML’s and Samplitude/Sequoia Edit Lists The price is expected to be around $6k.

Sound Devices showed a new video/audio recorder called the PIX 260. The rackmounted unit uses the Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD codecs, and records and plays files up to 220 Mbps in high-quality 10-bit 4:2:2 video as well as 32 tracks of 48 kHz audio. Files from the PIX 260 are ready for direct import into Avid and Final Cut editing environments, eliminating time-consuming transferring and transcoding. Files can also play out of the PIX 260 for real time applications.

Studio Technologies Live-Link Jr. is a highly-integrated camera extender system optimized for electronic news gathering (ENG), uplink truck, and specialized broadcast applications. The portable camera end unit and rack-mounted truck end unit provide all the resources needed for a single-camera live event. Linked using just two single-mode optical fibers, the same excellent performance will be supplied whether the units are hundreds of feet or miles apart. Notable features of the Live-Link Jr. system include performance flexibility, support for high-quality on-air (program), talent cue (IFB) and intercom audio, and ease of use.

Lectrosonics showed a new wireless transmitter. The WM Watertight Transmitter, the company’s newest addition to its line of highly acclaimed Digital Hybrid Wireless® microphone systems offering compandor-free audio. Combining ‘cabled-microphone’ audio performance combined with a super-tough housing designed to withstand the harshest environments, the new Lectrosonics WM Watertight Transmitter is certain to be well received by theatrical and location sound professionals.

Finally, Dynaudio showed their 20th anniversary main monitors, the M3XE. It combines world-class driver and cabinet technology from Dynaudio Professional with cutting-edge signal processing and amplification from Lab.gruppen, Lake and TC Electronic. Sporting the newest and most pristine Dynaudio driver technology, M3XE takes over where most other monitor systems give up. With unsurpassed attention to detail, underpinned by an impressive 20Hz – 25kHz frequency response and beyond 133dB SPL, M3XE leaves no room for desire in terms of resolution, range or sheer power. The powerful combination of Lab.gruppen, Lake and TC Electronic processing technology forms the ultimate backing for M3XE and ensures unlimited power and the tools for optimizing any room to become the perfect listening environment.

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