[Hardware] NAMM 2024: "We've had everything" - is this year's NAMM already the best ever show for new hardware synths?

[Angel of Death]

Far from it being the damp squib that some thought it was going to be, this year's NAMM show is shaping up to be one of the best ever. Well, for the hardware synth fan, anyway. As the show gets under way, we've already been blown away by the quality and quantity of new synth announcements, so here's why NAMM 2024 might well go down in hardware synth history. In all honesty, we weren't expecting great things from NAMM 2024. After a few years of, how shall we say, 'quieter' events, there was no reason to suspect that this year's show would be any different, especially with some major players like Fender and Roland not attending. However, NAMM 2024 is not only surprising us by being the busiest since 2020 in terms of releases, but also the show where the hardware synthesizer is ruling. From a deluge of Korg releases to incredible-sounding announcements from new or nearly new companies, we've had everything.Korg has announced a raft of synth releases for this year's NAMM, many of them updates of existing models, but all of them big news in the synth world, so let's dive into the complete range now.

Perhaps the biggest news is MicroKorg 2, an update of one of, if not the biggest selling synths in history. There have been major tweaks to and limited edition releases of the original over the years, but MicroKorg 2 boasts some big additions including a large 2.8-inch colour screen and five assignable rotaries that work in tandem with it.

Chief among MicroKorg 2's other features is a new vocal processor that adds a harmoniser and hard 'Autotune' style tuning to go alongside the more traditional vocoder effects. MicroKorg 2 also adds a new arpeggiator and loop recorder to make putting tunes together on the fly much easier. On top of three banks of new effects, a redesigned metal casing and new 'more playable' keyboard, this is a big update. The price is expected to be around $699 with the new synth shipping in June. And in fine MicroKorg tradition, on top of the standard grey model, there will be black and white limited editions, too.

Next up is Korg's KingKorg Neo, a more compact version of Korg's KingKorg VA synth. It uses the same XMT (eXpanded Modeling Technology) sound synthesis engine to generate its analogue-style sounds, and has plenty of hands-on controls over them, albeit in a much smaller and cooler compact form.

https://www.musicradar.com/news/is-this-years-NAMM-already-the-best-ever-show-for-new-synths