The NAMM Show returned to Anaheim April 13-15, 2023. Coming just a few days before NAB in Las Vegas and less than two weeks before Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt, some regular exhibitors were no-shows. But considering that NAMM 2021 was a total no-show (in person, at least), both the June 2022 and April 2023 events were big improvements from the year (or nine months) prior. NAMM’s description of its 2023 event as a “bridge back to January” seems apt. All, it seems, are looking forward to the return to a January show in 2024.
While not the biggest show NAMM has ever staged, the 2023 event still offered sound reinforcement pros a wealth of new products and ideas. Here is a small sampling.
LOUD-SPEAKERS!
As always, speakers were big news and the demo rooms were packed.
Some 33 miles from NAMM, in an “off-campus” event, the night before the show, L-Acoustics (l-acoustics.com) debuted its new L Series large-format, long-throw system at the historic Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Using its patented Progressive Ultra-Dense Line Source (PULS) technology, L Series is comprised of two elements that work together or on their own: L2 above and L2D below, with one of either boxes providing the same contour as four K2 elements in a format that’s 46% smaller and 40% lighter. The system has already seen use at the 2023 Coachella Festival, the Helene Fischer and the BRIT Awards, and goes into full production this fall.
On a decidedly smaller scale, Avante Audio’s (avanteaudio.com) new Imperio Pro IMP205 compact line array system powered NAMM’s Arena Plaza Stage with a sizeable punch from what looked like an impossibly compact system. Designed for portability and easy setup, the IMP205 can be either ground-stacked or flown and neodymium components, Class-D amplifier modules and advanced internal signal processing.
Making its NAMM show debut, the SARA compact line array from D.A.S. Audio (dasaudio.com) has 3,000 Class-D watts driving dual 8” LF/MF drivers, paired with an HF compression driver, with a 100° horizontal dispersion and delivers a linear 138 dB max SPL performance, making it ideal for medium-sized installations and events. The three-point rigging system can be used for both SARA and the companion SARA-SUB, for flying arrays of up to 24 SARA and 16 SARA-SUB units.
dBTechnologies (dbtechnologies.com) launched its Opera Reevo 210 and Opera Reevo 212, both quasi 3-way (dual 10” or 12” woofer) point-source enclosures with a coaxial acoustic design that features a front integrated 100-degree HF horn (shown here without grille) and 1,050W RMS of power with FIR DSP. Systems can be pole mounted or flown.
Eastern Acoustic Works (eaw.com) demoed its new KF210 2-way 2×10″ line array, with a 3” voice coil compression driver on an Isophasic waveguide for a max SPL of 141 dB. Also standard is three-point rigging and EAW’s Focusing™ and DynO™ digital signal processing, with a weight of just 60 pounds. It’s offered in both active and unpowered versions.
LD Systems (ld-systems.com) demoed its third-generation MAUI G3 Series, compact portable column P.A. systems, which includes the 730W, dual 8”-woofer MAUI 11 G3 and the 1,030W, 12’-woofer MAUI 28 G3 models. High frequencies are handled by rugged aluminum column elements with constant horizontal 120° x 30° dispersion from either 12 (MAUI 28 G3) or six (MAUI 11 G3) 3.5” center drivers, and two 1” tweeters.
Meyer Sound (meyersound.com) was showing off its Panther line array and new 8,000-watt 21” 2100-LFC low-frequency control element that’s 20% lighter than the 1100-LFC. But the big news was winning a NAMM TEC Award for Panther, which also won a Parnelli IT Award at last June’s NAMM Show, marking Meyer Sound’s 11th TEC Award win.
Nexo (nexo-sa.com) expanded its ePS installation series of 2-way passive cabinets and sub-bass units with the 12” point-source ePS12 and single-18 eLS18 sub. Accessories allow ePS cabinets to be flown beneath the subwoofer, creating small-footprint, wideband systems. The birch cabinets are finished in black (white and RAL colors are optional), and IP covers protect connectors from moisture in outdoor applications.
QSC (qsc.com) unveiled its new L Class advanced, intelligent, active (flyable, ground-stack or pole-mount) speakers, designed for applications from portable plug-and-play setups, to complex networked productions and fixed installs. Onboard Dante connects L Class to networked AV systems and connected stages. The scalable line includes LA108 (2-way, 8”) and LA112 (2-way, 12”) active line arrays and the LS118 (single-18”) active subwoofer. Onboard DSP and QSC Automatic Wireless Array Recognition provides one-button single box or full array intelligence and optimization.
RCF’s (rcf.it) ART 9-AX speaker line shares the electro-acoustic features of its popular ART 9 Series, integrating powerful Class-D amplification, high-performance DSP, and innovative transducers enclosed in a robust composite material cabinet. Available with 15” 12” or 10” woofers and a 1.75” HF compression driver, the AX Series includes Bluetooth streaming/pairing, iOS and Android remote control and an onboard 6-channel digital mixer with a large color touch screen.
Renkus-Heinz (renkus-heinz.com) demoed its versatile, ICLive X Series of steerable line arrays — a compact, high-output, high-fidelity system for portable or fixed installs. Each mid-sized ICLX module can stand alone or be arrayed with up to 12 units to deliver precise, predictable coverage for any venue. The complementary ICLX-118S subwoofer adds LF punch.
Studiomaster’s (studiomaster.com) CORE is a highly versatile, self-powered constant curve array and sub stack that’s suitable for portable applications in medium-size venues where wider constant frequency coverage is required and a full-blown line array would be overkill. Coverage is a wide 100°x70° (HxV) with max output levels of up to 128 dB.
Mixers
There were definitely a few highlights on the live console front.
Allen & Heath (allen-heath.com) won the coveted the Parnelli IT Audio Award for its version 1.2 of the Avantis console, which added perks such as a new RTA, Source Expander, Dual Threshold Expander, Bus Compressor, Sennheiser wireless microphones integration and more.
DirectOut’s (directout.eu) HCONTROL.8 is an 8-channel remote controller for its PRODIGY Series. Combined with PRODIGY.MP and globcon, the device turns DirectOut’s multifunction processor into a (mobile) mixing console. With its 100mm faders, HCONTROL.8 can both control and receive data from PRODIGY.MP, displaying fader status and level meter information.
Avid VENUE S6L and HDX platform users will want to check out
Oeksound’s (oeksound.com) Soothe Live, which adapts the technology behind its Soothe and Soothe2 and built from the ground up for the live mixing environment. This dynamic resonance suppressor is effective on individual channels and buses, automatically taming unwanted resonances and uneven tonal balance, allowing the user free to focus on the usual challenges in live mixing.
TASCAM (tascam.com) was showing its Sonicview digital consoles and with the new SB-16D 16-in/16-out Dante enabled stage box that offers Dante networking, with seamless integration with Sonicview consoles. Controllable by means of the TASCAM IO Control app or via a Sonicview console, the SB-16D can be used as a floor stage box or rack mounted, and multiple stage boxes can be used simultaneously in a Dante network. It’s slated to ship in Q2, 2023.
Yamaha (usa.yamaha.com/products) showed its DM3 Series of 22-channel digital consoles, with the $1,999 DM3-D with Dante networking and the $1,699 DM3 Standard without Dante. Other than Dante, both have identical features, with 16 mono mic/line, one stereo and two FX return inputs; six mix sends, two FX send, one stereo and two matrix output channels. Also standard is a 9″ multi-touch screen, 96k Hz resolution, 18 onboard effects, 18-in/18-out USB audio interfacing and DAW remote functionality.
More to Come!
There were plenty more cool sound reinforcement toys at NAMM, and we’ll be covering these online at fohonline.com and in future issues of FRONT of HOUSE. Meanwhile, the NAMM Show returns to Anaheim next year at its traditional time, January 25-28, 2024. See you there!
