Latest news with #NAMM2025
Forbes
26-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Triad-Orbit Starts Shipping New Quick-Change Coupler And Swivel For Tablets And iPads
Triad-Orbit and Precision has started shipping its new iOrbit Pro, the latest addition to the Triad-Orbit Toolbox of click-and-connect adaptive couplers for the music industry that was launched at NAMM 2025. The iOrbit Pro's spring-loaded, padded jaw apparatus enables the use of protective and waterproof covers on tablets and smartphones. The integrated iO-C2 variated clamp, with its vise-jaw technology, can anchor the iOrbit Pro to almost any work surface, such as desks, tabletops, stands, booms or trusses. The new iOrbit Pro features Triad-Orbit's iO quick-change coupler for modular and adaptive connectivity and has a Micro-3 orbital swivel which delivers a useful 360 x 220 degrees of motion. The design is currently awaiting a patent award for its four-point lockdown adjustment mechanism that gives users total control for fine-tuning the position of a screen or iPad so it provides an optimal viewing angle and comfort placement. The iOrbit Pro has an alloyed housing and electroplate finish for durability. The look, feel and functionality of the device are specifically designed for the unique demands of music and media professionals. It's been 10 years since the company first launched its modular range of articulating tripod stands, orbital booms, micro-orbital adaptors and its clever IO quick-change couplers. The products were developed to give music professionals—whether in recording studios or at live events—a unique system of connectors and fasteners for attaching microphones and other bits of kit. However, the company's story didn't start there. Back in 2006, after more than 20 years of producing music products and accessories such as wires and cables, bags and cases or stands and hardware, Herschel Blankenship and his Music Express partners set out to create an innovative and branded product line that could encompass all their collective design,manufacturing and business experience. Blankenship explains, 'We finally settled on a pretty lofty goal; reinventing the mic stand. From day one, our mission was to design and build original, patent-protected, innovative support systems of the highest quality. Our Industry was flooded with me-too, deposable, commodity-based house brand stands. We opted to pursue a different path: intelligent design, intellectual property, premium products and brand loyalty.' The result was a range of IO quick-change couplers which are multi-patented and modular components that form part of Triad-Orbit's support systems. The IO couplers provide instant connectivity and countless ways of configuring a custom stand system that would be suitable for any task. The system became an overnight hit and it didn't take long for creators and multimedia professionals to begin asking about additional IO heads and accessories that they could adapt to use on all their photo, video and lighting devices. It's been a decade since Triad-Orbit evolved its original offering of a modular microphone stand system into one of the largest and most diverse manufacturers of stands, mounts and support solutions for audio, video, photography, lighting, broadcast, commercial, industrial and even medical applications. The new iOrbit Pro is shipping now and available from the Triad-Orbit website and is priced at $199.99.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Polyphia's Tim Henson teases new 8-string meisterworks that could require a whole new guitar to play along
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. If you thought that Polyphia's current album, Remember That You Will Die already featured enough guitar experimentation, then get ready to start prising open your mind to what they have planned next. Speaking with guitarist Tim Henson at NAMM 2025, Guitar World went in deep with the unconventional virtuoso to find out what's ahead and how they're aiming to bring their hybrid musicality and shred to an even wider audience. 'It's heavy,' Henson explained. 'That's exciting for us, and I think last year was really eye-opening for us in terms of how we should start composing for the live performance.' And it seems such moves could involve a little less of the nylon-stringed wondery that has caught fans attention. Although claiming that he doesn't want to 'tone it down in the technicality department,' he does want to 'make sure that it can work and just be executed really well.' 'Playing a nylon-string to 80,000 people is a little like… when you think of a nylon-string, you think of a dude in a coffee shop, right?' he explains. 'So, it's a little disconnect there. We're excited to really hone that in and really make the music bigger for that kind of audience now,' and that would appear to point towards a whole new range of guitars purely to get the sound that they require. Henson has teased the use of even more distortion, further extended-range models and even the as-yet-unannounced possibility of entirely new Ibanez signature guitars for launch alongside their next opus. '[There's] lots of eight-string. We're playing baritones and stuff, too. We're just making new guitars that don't exist for the sole purpose of writing something really, really cool with it, so that if you want to learn it, you're gonna have no choice but to buy that guitar!,' he jokes. Or at least we think he's joking… Previously Henson had been seen rocking a new white colorway on both a six– and 8-string version of his Ibanez TOD builds, giving rise to speculation about the prospect of an even more, high-spec Prestige line coming soon. Watch this space.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Fender is building its $599 Standard Series in Indonesia – and how its ideological shift delivers better value for players
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. One of the biggest surprises of NAMM 2025 was the announcement of an all-new, Indonesian-built Fender Standard Series, with models starting at $599. The relatively no-frills range – consisting of a Strat, Strat HSS, Tele, P-Bass and Jazz Bass in four classic finishes each – was introduced to fill the gap between the Player II Series, which kicks off at $799 and the Classic Vibe range from Fender's budget brand Squier, where prices top out at $449. All of which makes the Standard Series the new cheapest entry point to the Fender name. But the use of an Indonesian factory to build Fender guitars has raised a few eyebrows among guitar players used to only seeing the Big F on America and Mexico-built instruments. However, as we've previously observed, Fender has been quietly moving in this direction over the past year, with more expensive guitars, including the Tom DeLonge Starcaster and Jim Adkins Telecaster, now coming out of Indonesia. And there's past form, too – for example, the 2011 Modern Player line, which was built in China. Nonetheless, building an entire range in Indonesia signals a shift for the company, and carries implications for its future moves – particularly in the face of recently threatened tariffs on Chinese and Mexican imports to the US. At NAMM, we caught up with Fender's EVP of Product Justin Norvell, who gave us the lowdown on the internal machinations behind the new range. 'I think we have been maybe overly dogmatic or just controlled by the idea that Fender is for Mexico and U.S models,' he says. 'The way things are these days, it's not about what factory it's made in. 'It's really like, 'Squier goes to 500 bucks in the US, and Fender should start there and go up.' And so we kind of just got out of our own way, I guess.' By changing the perception – internally and externally – of what makes a Fender guitar, Norvell says the firm aims to deliver more competitive prices for guitarists. 'In our head we had drawn these indelible lines. And now it's like, 'What makes the most sense, when doing a guitar?' If we did that [Tom DeLonge] Starcaster in Corona or in Ensenada, [the price] would not have come in where it did [at $1,199]. 'We just thought that the time was right to get out of our own way and say, 'This is how a product line should look, and this is what we think people would want.' And then we figure out where it's going to be made.' The Acoustasonic Standard – the company's most affordable take on the hybrid acoustic-electric yet – is a case in point, and an example of how this new way of thinking can deliver the right guitars at the right prices. 'The original Acoustasonic was a little under two grand. Then the made-in-Mexico one, we wanted it to be under a grand, and it was like 1,200 bucks. The new one is $600 and that's where it needs to be. A lot of times we're allowing ourselves to break our own rules, and just do what people want.' On paper, few players would argue with a new series of $599 Fender guitars, but the company wanted to get it right, especially with increased scrutiny over the new country of manufacture. Several years of R&D went into the lineup, and although internet commentators may have you believe the new models are just rebadged Squiers, it was important to make a clear distinction with the firm's budget brand, says Norvell. 'We didn't want to take a Squier and put 'Fender' on it. So we spent considerable time in the factories and in design, figuring out what that would be – and what the specs would end up shaking out as – to make it make sense and have a reason to exist, but still be compelling.' Where the Squier Classic Vibes pay homage to vintage specs and the Player II is more contemporary, the Standard Series exists, says Norvell, to be a 'good today's Strat, Tele, P-Bass, Jazz Bass'. So, Classic Vibes have gloss necks and vintage-style tuners, whereas the Standards have satin necks, sealed tuners and two-point tremolo systems, alongside poplar bodies and ceramic pickups. An extra $200 spent on the Player II Series, meanwhile, gets you a much wider range of colors, alder bodies, Alnico pickups and 18:1 tuners. There's a clear spec differential between each range. As Norvell says, 'We're not just plugging holes.' And for anyone who's sceptical of the quality of the instruments coming out of the Indonesian factory, which is led by manufacturing giant Cort, Norvell is quick to point out Fender's long history at the facility. 'These aren't factories we're just outsourcing things to; they're factories that we've been working with for 25 years. We would send teams of our own luthiers and quality inspectors, too. And we've trained many of these factories on how to build guitars that other manufacturers also use.' Ultimately, Fender's move is a reflection of the changing importance of country of origin when it comes to guitar building, especially when the likes of Epiphone and Eastman are producing premium guitars in China, with price tags of over $1,000. We were making guitars in America, then Japan, then we went from Japan to Korea, Korea goes to Indonesia or China. It's just the way guitar making has gone Meanwhile, budget brands such as Harley Benton and Donner are making instruments with price tags that significantly undercut offerings from the big American firms. But this isn't Fender's first rodeo. Its first Japanese-built models were introduced to deal with cut-price copies, and this is the latest step in its quest to ensure Fender remains 'the working (wo)man's guitar'. 'Country of origin means something in certain cases, like Custom Shop and things of that nature, but to a large extent, people just want great guitars and great value,' Norvell concludes. 'And so that's what we're trying to do. That's why we opened Mexico back in 1985, and it's just going to continue to extend. We were making guitars in America, then Japan, then we went from Japan to Korea, Korea goes to Indonesia or China. It's just the way guitar making has gone. 'Many people are making guitars in China and Indonesia that are over a thousand dollars. So that whole thing has kind of blown up. Because if the quality is there and it's a great guitar, it's worth it.' For more info on the Standard Series, see
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
NAMM 2025: Shure takes to the stage with new instrument, headset and vocal mics
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. NAMM 2025: There's a whole raft of new products on the way from Shure, with the venerable studio brand pushing out the boat in multiple sonic directions. First off the blocks are Shure's new line of Nexadyne dynamic instrument microphones. There are three new mics in the range, each featuring Shure's patented Revonic Technology, and each tailored for a specific purpose. While typical instrument microphones use a single transducer, Shure's Nexadynes feature two precisely calibrated transducers working together to achieve perfect performance. The result is a sound with natural, authentic clarity that similarly keeps out unwanted noise. Their combination of acoustic signal processing and exceptional polar pattern linearity delivers a stronger and clearer output with less need for EQ corrections later, Shure claims. The Nexadyne 2 Dynamic Kick Drum Microphone features a contoured EQ, built-in acoustic protection from stage rumble, and improved high-frequency extension and attack. Designed for perfect placement, its swivel joint is separated from its XLR output to avoid strain on all-important connections. Nexadyne 5 Dynamic Guitar Amp Microphone features a tiny, full-range dynamic cartridge design for easy placement, either hanging from your amp or secured with the mic clip (supplied) and stand. Finally. the Nexadyne 6 Tom/Snare Microphone is designed to minimise bleed while delivering stronger focus and flexibility. With a clear high-frequency response, extremely flat mid-range and full low-end it also boasts a unique fixed angle design and a new, smaller drum mount (the A6D, which comes supplied) to reduce movement once the performance starts. The Nexadyne 6 is also available in the three-pack. All three new mics feature a compact design and a discreet, black finish for unobtrusive deployment and come complete with a storage bag and brass mount adapters. 'Nexadyne Instrument mics bring Shure's revolutionary Revonic technology to more audio professionals and performers,' said Nick Wood, Senior Director, Global Marketing and Product Management, at Shure. 'Nexadyne is about capturing the essence of a performance. Now the same breakthrough dual transducer design that powers our Nexadyne Vocal Microphones is available in three new supercardioid models perfect for backline and instrument applications.' The new Nexadynes will be available from February starting at £215 including VAT. Joining the new Nexadynes at NAMM comes a new wireless mic solution from Shure. Building on its popular SLX-D wireless units, the new SLXD4Q+ offers the same quality and reliability, with four channels on board for four simultaneous wireless inputs into a single unit. And maximising its potential, Shure's new unit is available in both a standard (SLXD4Q+) and Dante-enabled (SLXD4QDAN+) version. There's new and improved 138MHz tuning range capability for the first time, the ability to sum the audio into a single output, XLR, 1/4-inch, and Dante output options, and it all fits in a single, compact rack space. Plus, two units can be cascaded to create an eight-channel SLX-D set up if required. And through Shure's ongoing partnership with Yamaha, Shure's latest wireless product will once again be controllable from compatible Yamaha digital mixers. "SLX-D Quad Receivers bring everything to the table that users expect from SLX-D: flawless 24-bit audio, streamlined, network-ready setup, and rock-solid RF," said Shure's Nick Wood. 'Now these features are available in a space-saving, four-channel receiver with wide tuning bands that cover the available UHF frequency range. This means a single SLX-D Quad receiver can be deployed throughout an entire country and sync with any band of existing SLX-D transmitters.' The SLXD4Q+ is available now for £2,289 with the Dante-enabled SLXD4QDAN+ in coming in at £2,949. The SM39 is Shure's latest hands-free mic set-up, allowing complete freedom while always ensuring that vocals and on-stage performance are both delivered entirely unhindered to your audience. It features a lightweight, low-profile design, a comfortable, secure fit for extended wear, and is all set to integrate seamlessly with Shure's Axient Digital mic systems and all Shure Wireless Systems. The SM39 is available now from £379 RRP inc VAT. Finally, there's a new addition at the top of the Shure live mic tree. The new KSM11 Wired Cardioid Condenser Vocal Microphone is a new, wired version of the company's famous, top quality wireless vocal mic, offering the extra security that only a solid, physical XLR connection can deliver. Shure's famous KSM11 capsule delivers a sound that requires substantially less processing and EQ to produce stage-ready sound. The new KSM11 wired version (with XLR) comes in at £749 RRP inc VAT and is available now.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Suhr's OSO Short Scale aims for the best of both – combining a Gibson-like scale length with a T-style body
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. NAMM 2025: Suhr has gone short-scale with its latest electric guitar, with the OSO built to the 24.625" scale length often utilized by Gibson and PRS. With Mateus Asato, Scott Henderson, and Pete Thorn – recently announced as part of the SatchVai band – among its signature artists, the Lake Elsinore, California-based luthier has seen its stock take an upward trajectory of late. This latest foray into stunted territory, with a curvaceous Tele-type body, won't do it any harm, either. A trio of woods – an alder body, roasted maple neck, and rosewood fingerboard – provide its typical tonal heart, with some models being bestowed a fourth via a figured maple top. The neck varies across models. It's sculpted to Suhr's Historic C-profile with a 22-fret rosewood fingerboard on its Two-tone Tobacco Burst model – and an Even Slim C-profile with an Indian rosewood 'board on the Tea Burst variant. As ever, there's a black sheep among the flock, with the Orange Satin finished model going all out with a mahogany body and Even Slim C-profile neck, figured maple top, and an Indian Rosewood fingerboard. That change in tonewood is reflected in its $4,449 pricing. When it comes to hardware, the premium builds stay in-house, which is consistent across the series. That includes fixed two-post, solid saddles and steel block bridge, and Suhr SSV-Neck and SSV-Bridge humbuckers. Described as the firm's most popular 'bucker of choice, the single screw pickups pride themselves on 'the warmth of a vintage humbucker,' and an 'increased clarity, definition, and range' thanks to an output far hotter than vintage-flavored designs typically dare to go. The bridge pickup in particular vies for the sought-after PAF-like tones of yesteryear – both are here given simple black with silver pole pieces aesthetics. Image 1 of 3 Image 2 of 3 Image 3 of 3 To the casual observer, a Gibson-style 24.625" scale length may seem strange on a T-style, but many players prefer the range it gives, which improves fret access for big stretches – and that makes sense for a high-performance brand like Suhr. Priced upwards of $3,800 and available in four finishes the OSOs aren't exactly budget builds. Rather, this is Suhr throwing the most lavish specs at its first shorter-scale design since the Aura, itself based on the Gibson Les Paul. Having first teased the guitars on its Instagram, inviting players to 'experience the all-new Oso Short Scale' at NAMM, GW duly popped by the Suhr booth at the weekend and the model was drawing a lot of eyeballs. There is little more information at this time, with an official launch date yet to be mooted. Keep your eyes on Suhr for more information in the future.
