It's Saturday and the Anaheim Convention feels like it's at capacity. The weekend brings out local crowds by the thousands, and the show is teeming with musicians, tech geeks and the always-entertaining hangers-on and lookie-loos. But we're here to talk about gear...we've been really hitting the floor hard today, and we have to say, if you thought NAMM is not the place for top-end audio debuts, think again. Check out some of today's highlights:

Want to tap into some of Allen Sides' talent? In a collaboration with Dave Kerzner and Sonic Reality, the famed producer/engineer and owner of Ocean Way Studios has taken some of the world's greatest drummers and put them in his legendary Studio B. Then he and producer Steven Miller captured the best snares, kicks, toms, hats and cymbals using a multimic technique in a big room. Ocean Way Drums, the product, is available with individual presets or submixes, all at 24-bit/96 or 24/48. But there's more! Allen is also making his unique monitoring mains, developed over the last 30 years, available for purchase through GC Pro. And the price? Well, if you have to ask...

Just a few years ago, we would never have expected to see SSL here at NAMM. This year they're debuting a multitude of new products. First off, converters: The Alpha-Link is a two-space 24-channel, 24-bit 96kHz A/D converter with an additional 24 channels of digital I/O for a total of 48 channels. There are 3 varieties: The MADI SX ($3595.00) includes 24 of AES/EBU, the MADI AX ($3595.00) includes 24 of ADAT light pipe and the AX ($2695.00) excludes the MADI I/O option. The Mixpander ($1,295.00). PCI card mates with the 64-channel bus connector on the Alpha-Link providing a complete I/O solution for all Windows-based native DAW systems. The Mixpander includes full DSP capabilities that allow the user to host Soundscape plug-ins. Finally, the Delta-Link ($3,595) provides 128 channels of Pro Tools HD to MADI conversion, if you connect it via MADI to the Alpha-Link SX or AX, a Pro Tools user can get 48 channels of SSL I/O at $7200. In other SSL news, the Xrack is getting a new 8 channel line mixer ($850) and next quarter, the company is releasing a new Plugin for Duende called Drum Strip ($299).

Radial Engineering has released a new product line aimed at the high-end studio and/or live engineer. Forest Audio's first outing is the Q6, a passive EQ with an active front end that has some interesting features for the guitar and bass player. The six-band unit uses passive coils that eliminate phase problems inherent in active EQs, plus Drag control to simulate the relationship between an guitar and amp and a separate 5 meg-ohm input buffer for live use.

The Egret from Crane Song is a $5k double rackspace box housing eight mic pres, digital converters that support single-wire 192k, and S/MUX to 96k, cue send, color control and more. We've been waiting patiently for the release of the Bricasti M7, high end 'verb. We talked to Eric Pappas at Summit Audio, who distributes the box, and he assures us release is imminent.
--Kevin Becka and Sarah Jones, Mix magazine

Cool stuff for the Remix readers? Saturday had it. Korg once again got ridiculous for NAMM. For one thing, the KP Mini is a battery operated, tiny Kaoss pad that retains all the effects and synthesis from the full KP3 and will sell for $199 when it comes out this spring. The 25-key R3 keyboard is like a Korg Radius, for people who can afford the Radius. It's a synthesizer/vocoder based on the Radius technology, with fewer effects and a smaller control surface. It comes with a mic for the vocoder and makes up for the fewer controls with a clever multi-purpose interface. There's no final price, but it should come in at around $699. Korg also has two new performance/DJ mixers that are not like anything else around, the Zero8 and the Zero4. They're FireWire mixers with built-in effects and double as MIDI controllers, but that only scratches the surface. Go to www.korg.com to find out more.

CME showed its new UF series of MIDI controllers, which has built-in wireless MIDI interfaces -- good for stage use or for clearing out wires from your studio. And Arturia brought out it's first hardware product, the Origin synthesizer. The tabletop/rackmount design holds two DSP processors that host several of Arturia's vintage synth emulations, such as the MiniMoog, the CS-80 and Arp 2600. You can program your own patches that use elements of each available instrument. So, you could have oscillators from the MiniMoog, filters from the 2600 and so on. Origin also has three independent onboard step sequencers and a built-in color screen with a very logical editing system from its surrounding controls. With a USB 2.0 connection, Origin can be edited from a larger interface on a computer screen. But perhaps more importanly, the audio is sent over USB, and you can use the Origin instances as VST or Audio Units plug-ins from a DAW. Origin should be available sometime this summer at an approximate price of $2,900.
--Markkus Rovito, Remix magazine

BOSS MICRO BR DIGITAL RECORDER
A palmtop recording studio and guitar companion that's only slightly larger than an iPod. In addition to four recording tracks, the Micro BR Digital Recorder ($319.50) offers eight additional Virtual Tracks (32 total) for comping, loads and plays back MP3s to an SD card, and can time-stretch in real time without affecting pitch. The BR also features internal guitar effects, more than 250 drum patterns, USB connectivity, a stereo line input and headphone output with separate volume control. NAMM booth #2652. www.bossus.com

FUTURE RETRO XS
The XS is a true analog semi-modular synthesizer in both desktop and rack formats. Weighing in at just four pounds with 46 controls, seven inputs and 15 outputs, the XS is designed for musicians on the go. The XS provides two ultrastable wide-range oscillators, sub-oscillator, ring modulator, white-noise source, multi-mode resonant filter with overdrive, amplifier, LFO with MIDI sync, two unique envelope generators and MIDI-to-CV conversion. NAMM booth: #1785. www.future-retro.com

M-AUDIO STUDIOPHILE AV 40
The Studiophile AV 40 powered reference monitors use proven M-Audio technology in a compact system that's perfect for small spaces or for traveling musicians. Custom cabinets with dense wood construction deliver a more accurate bass response than you could ever get from plastic multimedia speakers. Four-inch polypropylene-coated drivers, silk-dome tweeters, 20-watt-per-channel internal amplifier and OptImage III wave guides deliver punchy lows, crisp highs and an even, uncolored response. Price: $199.95 per pair. NAMM booth #6700. www.m-audio.com

ROGER NICHOLS DIGITAL DETAILER
Detailer is a stereo mastering process developed by Roger Nichols and used in countless hit records. Detailer offers a new way of increasing the perception of "detail" in the mid-level of a final mix while still allowing increased loudness. The process involves a combination of 3-band limiting and dynamic widening using psycho-acoustic processing. Roger Nichols has fine-tuned the process to produce the most-effective result with the least amount of adjustment. Price: $349. NAMM booth #1003. www.rogernicholsdigital.com

NEW IN MIX BOOKS!
Modern Recording and Mixing, formerly titled "The Basics of Modern Recording and Mixing." This two-DVD set shows you how the best in the music biz set up a studio to make world-class records. Get your copy at www.mixbooks.com

MOTU TALKS VISTA SUPPORT, DP PERFORMANCE GAINS
Here at winter NAMM 2007, we're announcing that all of our drivers for all MOTU audio and MIDI interfaces (PCI, FireWire and USB) are now shipping for Windows Vista. You can go to our web site right now (www.motu.com) to download the shipping drivers. Vista will be formally shipping worldwide at the end of this month. As you know, MOTU also has a full line of cross-platform (Mac/Windows) virtual instruments: MachFive, Symphonic Instrument and Ethno Instrument.
--Jim Cooper, MOTU

LIVING LARGE IN HALL A
Sensaphonics has moved on up to the big leagues! After several successful years in Hall E, our patience was finally rewarded with a booth in Hall A...Our big attraction this year is the live demo of the 3D Active Ambient IEM system, an in-ear system that lets performers hear ambient sound and communicate on stage -- without removing their ears.

ARTURIA BUSTS OUT ITS FIRST HARDWARE: ORIGIN
Arturia's first hardware synth, Origin, is quite impressive. The tabletop/rackmount design holds two DSP processors that host several of Arturia's vintage synth emulations, such as the MiniMoog, the CS-80 and Arp 2600. These synths are based on the engines of Arturia's existing software instruments, but because Origin has its own DSP and is not reliant on a host computer's CPU, Arturia has done even more with these models.
Markkus Rovito

NEW COMPANY MAKES DEBUT
Peter Janis from Radial Engineering has released a new product line aimed at the high-end studio and/or live engineer. Forest Audio's first outing is the Q6, a passive EQ with an active front end that has some interesting features for the guitar and bass player. The six-band unit uses passive coils that eliminate phase problems inherent in active EQs.
--Kevin Becka

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