NAMM News 2012: Look out for Auria, Moog and more

The first of the year's big audio expositions has come back round again, with this year's NAMM show kicking off this Thursday from Anaheim, California. Manufacturers like Avid and Steinberg use the expo as a place to reveal some of their biggest announcements, and this year looks like no exception, hopefully with an appearance from Wave Machine Labs' Auria iPad app.

We'll be reporting on interesting developments (keep up with us on Twitter @JigsawAudio for up-to-the-minute news) and, news of what products are due an airing has been flooding in, we've picked a few to look out for...

Wave Machine Labs Auria

Wave Machine Labs have ensured a clamour with their recent announcement, Auria - a 48-track music production app that allows you to record up to 24 tracks at once on your iPad! You'll still need a supported USB multi-channel interface, but with multitrack editing, AAF and VST plug-in support, this is a very interesting development for music producers. Other features to get people talking include meters that are selectable between VU and RMS, full delay compensation for all tracks and even a vintage-inspired channel strip on every channel.

Wave Machine Labs say Auria will be released in the next couple of months for around $50, with VST plug-ins from PSPaudioware, Overloud, Fab Filter and Drumagog available for around $10-$20. Could Auria finally see iPads used as music-making tools in their own right, rather than a clever addition? We can't wait to give this a thorough test to find out. Check out the video below.

Moog Minitaur

The new Minitaur bass synthesiser is instantly recognisable as a Moog, with rugged good looks and a one-knob-per-function layout. Based on the company's line of Taurus synths, the Minitaur is a smaller, more affordable (initial US price of $679) version, which is the first not to include any foot pedals. It'll be interesting to see whether it can live up to the sound of the Taurus 3, but Moog reckons the price and size could make it just as popular.

"The Minitaur has all the growl, snarl and body associated with the Taurus family of bass synthesisers," said Moog Muisic Chief Engineer Cyril Lance. "We're really excited to be able to offer this in such a compact package that is both immediately playable as an extremely versatile analogue synth and also integrates seamlessly into the world of MIDI and USB control environments."

iRig Mic Cast

With an iOS-compatible guitar interface (the iRig), microphone (the iRig Mic) and DJ mixer (the iRig Mix) already under their belts, IK Multimedia have recently been cutting a formidable presence with recording and performance hardware for iPads, iPhones or iPod touches. Their latest venture, the iRig Mic Cast, is a tiny microphone that's designed to plug into the headphone jack of your device. It features two different sensitivity settings for close or distant sources, a headphone monitoring output, recording app and a stand. The iRig Mic Cast looks like it will be great for recording interviews and podcasts and, with pricing set at around €30, is an affordable way for students to record lectures in better quality than just using the built-in mic too.

Griffin StudioConnect/MIDIConnect

Keeping with the iPad theme (it looks like hardware and software for Apple's tablet is going to feature quite heavily at NAMM 2012), Griffin has announced two new music-making iOS interfaces. Originally announced at the recent CES expo, the StudioConnect and MIDIConnect will also be doing the rounds in Anaheim, and are worth checking out. While MIDIConnect offers just MIDI, the StudioConnect interface is a full audio/MIDI interface, letting you connect your instruments through a range of I/O options and control your project. Both will be released in February, with MIDIConnect priced at around $80 and StudioConnect going for an estimated $150.

Remember to keep up with the biggest NAMM 2012 announcements - follow us on Twitter (@JigsawAudio) or head over to our Facebook page. For more info on audio hardware and iPads, you can always call the team on 03332 409 306, email audio@Jigsaw24.com or leave us a comment below too.

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