Number of products launched by Music Group/Behringer
In search of the sun UNITED STATES
The California tradeshow did not disappoint when it came to new equipment, even if the weather did. Dave Robinsonreports
IT NEVER rains in Southern California, so the Albert Hammond
song goes. But it did rain this year, oh yes. The unseasonable weather meant that performers on the outdoor NAMM stage in the newly completed Grand Plaza didn’t quite receive the roaring reception they might have expected. But while the West Coast sunshine only peeped through the clouds for a couple of hours during the four days of the National Association of Music Merchants’ annual Anaheim gearbash, it didn’t stop the fun being had indoors. With the help of blues guitarist Keb’Mo’ and a little theatre – lights out, video screen
Nashville artist Keb’Mo’ brought his modern take on blues to the PreSonus launch
first active speakers that deliver studio-monitor accuracy onstage and are equipped with complete wireless or wired remote control and monitoring using an iPad or laptop. The AI range is the result of
signal failure, ker-pow: artist and speakers appear on stage out of nowhere! – PreSonus staked an early claim for visitors’ affections with the launch of four products, for
both live and studio, on the eve of NAMM. Keb’Mo’ played two of his songs through the AI-series Active Integration loudspeakers, which the company says are the
intensive collaboration between Fulcrum Acoustics’ Dave Gunness and PreSonus software designers who were able to incorporate Fulcrum’s Temporal Equalisation (TQ) algorithms employing multiple, fully addressable Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filters. Full-range AI-series loudspeakers are available in three configurations. Each compact, powered, three-way loudspeaker relies on a custom- designed, 8” coaxial speaker with a 1.75” titanium compression driver to reproduce the mid and high frequencies. The triamplified Class D power amps in each model (quad-amped in
the 328AI) deliver a combined 2,000W of power. The fidelity of the AI range
was so good, revealed PreSonus, that the collaboration with Gunness led to the design of a series of studio reference monitors, the ‘CoActual’ Sceptre series. These feature a coaxial design that works integrally with a 32-bit, 96kHz, dual-core processor using Fulcrum’s Temporal EQ technology once more. Dave Gunness was
responsible for final tuning and voicing of both Sceptre-series monitors and AI loudspeakers. But there’s more: spun out of the Sceptre range is the Eris series, “ultra-affordable” two- way biamped monitor speakers that can be user-adjusted to the acoustic space, allowing the user to create more accurate listening (a feature the company says is not typically provided by studio monitors in this price point). Finally, and to much cheering,
PreSonus introduced the StudioLive 32.4.2AI 32-channel performance and recording digital mixer. The mixer is reportedly capable of over 64 times the processing power and