namm 2024

I'm not gonna pretend I've figured you, the Engadget reader, out. Trying to predict what is gonna get your little nerd hearts all a flutter is kind of a crapshoot. But, I'm pretty confident that a Tamagotchi in a guitar pedal is right up your alley. Ground Control Audio showed up to NAMM 2024 with the UwU virtual pet buffer pedal.Now buffer pedals are about the least exciting piece of gear you can buy for your pedal board. Probably even less so than a tuner. But, if you've got a particularly large board or long cables, a…

The original Erae Touch was one of the more interesting MPE controllers to come out in the last few years. But it's been on the market for less than three years. So it was something of a surprise when Embodme showed up to NAMM 2024 with Erae II, the next iteration of its customizable controller with significant upgrades and one unexpected new feature.Now, it's important to note that the version of the Erae II I was able to test out was very early prototype. There were a few bugs, the construction definitely had some rough…

NAMM is packed to the gills with synths, guitars, saxophones, et cetera. But, I promise you right now, the Dimension Tripper from Casio is the only wireless expression controller on the floor that you operate with your guitar strap.The concept is simple. It's an expression pedal. Just, not in pedal form. Now we've seen expression controllers in all sorts of shapes and sizes: Faders, rollers, even lasers. The Dimension Tripper does the same thing, except instead of rocking a pedal back and forth with your foot or sliding a…

The MicroKorg 2 has some big britches to fill. The original MicroKorg is one of, if not the best selling synthesizer of all time. It's also probably the longest continuously manufactured synth, having hit the market in 2002. Of course, technology has advanced quite a lot in the last 22 years and it was time to give what is arguably the first classic synth of the 21st century an update.The new version that Korg announced just ahead of NAMM 2024 stays largely true to the original design. It's small, but solidly built. The…

has come out of the gate swinging with its release of the Omnis-Duo all-in-one DJ controller and Wave-Eight speaker today. These two products are the first under the company’s new moniker since changing it from Pioneer DJ, although both brand names are expected to coexist for now. The launch coincides with the NAMM event this week and it’s also the 30th anniversary of the landmark .Both the controller and speaker are brimming with connectivity and battery power, making them an appealing option for mobile DJs. Rekordbox…

Last year Aviate Audio launched the Developer Edition of its Multiverse pedal — basically a plug-in host in guitar pedal format. Now, just in time for NAMM 2024, the company has announced the Player Edition of the Multiverse. The pedal is, for all intents and purposes, unchanged. Same basic design, same processor under the hood (a 600MHz Cortex M7), it's just cheaper now at $349, and presumably won't have access to some of the developer focused tools.The pedal itself has a small 1.3-inch OLED screen to navigate the UI.…

Positive Grid has already proven its aptitude for guitar amps with increasingly small entries in its Spark line. But for NAMM 2024 its going big with the Spark Live, a 150 watt portable PA system with four speakers and four channels of audio inputs. Rather than quiet solo practice, the Spark Live is meant for band practices or small gigs.The first channel is dedicated to guitar and has pretty much the full power of Positive Grid's modeling technology at its disposal. There are 33 amp models and 43 effect builtin that can…

It’s hard to believe that Artruria has anything left to add to at this point, but here we are. NAMM 2024 is just about ready to kick off, and Arturia is rolling out version five of its home-grown super synth. In the grand scheme of , this is a one. But that’s not to say there aren’t new features worth getting excited about.Perhaps the most important new feature is also the most invisible. Pigments finally supports multi-core processing, dramatically improving performance. It was never the biggest resource hog in the…

There are plenty of Engadget staffers who have been forced to suffer through karaoke nights with me. And they can attest to the fact that I have the singing voice of a chain smoking diner waitress and the vocal range of a mid'80s speech synthesizer. And yet, I just cant help myself. I have zero shame. There's nothing out there that will magically make me a good singer, but a healthy dose of effects and some pitch correction courtesy of a Boss VE-22 Vocal Performer, which is making its debut at NAMM 2024, might make…

Korg launched its Nu:Tekt line of DIY kits in 2019 with the NTS-1. It was basically just the programmable digital oscillator from the Prologue and Minilogue XD in a cheap dedicated box. Over the years it's gotten a few more members, including an oscilloscope and headphone amps. For NAMM 2024 the company is updating the originator with the NTS-1 mk2 and adding the NTS-3 Kaoss Pad to the mix.The NTS-1 mk2 is the same size and shape as the original, and still comes as a solderless DIY kit. There's still a single monophonic…