From jam packed artist appearances and new product demonstrations, to award ceremonies and inspired performances—this past Winter NAMM 2018 was one of the most exciting and successful NAMM shows In HARMAN’s history. In this post, we’ve compiled together the best moments and all of the essential news that we broke at the show.  Whether you made it to the NAMM or not, thank you for all the support.

Major Soundcraft Updates

If you’re a Soundcraft owner or thinking of becoming one, NAMM was a pretty big deal as we released updates that provided free new features for three of our mixer lines.

  • The free Ui24R 2.0 Firmware Upgrade demonstrated in the video above, adds new features including Speech AutoMix, Auto-Ducker, the new Big-D view and more.
  • Prefer Connected PA with your Ui24R? New HARMAN Connected PA 1.1 adds control for Lexicon FX Returns, and Online/Offline mode which makes it even easier to configure your live sound.  Watch the Connected PA 1.1 NAMM demo.
  • Soundcraft Notepad customers can download the free 1.09 Firmware update to add Ducking functionality (perfect for podcasting) and new Mac and Windows control panels.
  • Soundcraft Vi-000 series customers can now download the free 6.4 software update which adds Sennheiser 6000 Series digital wireless mic monitoring, Autocomplete patching, Strip Lock, Direct Output Gain Stabilization, and more.

Visit connected-pa.com, Google Play, or the Apple App Store to access Connected PA 1.1. All Soundcraft-specific software updates are available now on the Soundcraft Software Page.

New for NAMM

We’ve started shipping a ton of new products in recent months and NAMM attendees got to experience them first hand.  Watch the demonstration video above to learn more about our new JBL 3 Series MkII studio monitors or click the links below to learn more about our other products that were new for NAMM.

Artist Appearances

We took full advantage of our new booth space and had two stages this year, one powered by EON One Pro, one by Connected PA—but the real magic happened by the amazing HARMAN Ambassadors who graced them.

George Clinton, Lige Curry, and BlackByrd McKnight of Parliament-Funkadelic tore the roof off of the Connected PA Stage in their interview with Nic Harcourt

The original hype man, Flavor Flav turned it up and discussed his early days with Public Enemy and recent TV projects.

Daley goes live with HARMAN for an interview and intimate performance. Pt.2

Posted by JBL Professional on Saturday, January 27, 2018

Rising neo soul superstar Daley discussed his work with Pharrell, Jill Scott, and the Gorillaz, then treated us to an intimate live performance. Watch it on the JBL Professional Facebook page Pt. 1 | Pt. 2 | Pt. 3

Nic Harcourt live with Jeff "Skunk" Baxter and CJ Vanston.

Posted by JBL Professional on Thursday, January 25, 2018

“Life’s about the experiences, not the money” CJ Vanston and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter engage in an enjoyable conversation about their history and life lessons learned in the music industry with Steely Dan, Toto, and others . Watch it on Facebook: Pt 1 | Pt. 2

Watch Nic Harcourt interview Neal Pogue and Ryan Hewitt!

Posted by JBL Professional on Friday, January 26, 2018

Grammy-winners, Neal Pogue and Ryan Hewitt discuss how they got their start in engineering and production, the nature of working with major labels, and their experiences with Rick Rubin, OutKast, and others. Watch it on Facebook: Pt. 1 | Pt. 2

Dug Pinnick live interview in the HARMAN booth

Posted by Carl Jacobson on Sunday, January 28, 2018

King’s X songwriter, vocalist and bassist duG Pinnick talked about his early days, musical process, and new projects with George Lynch and others.

The guys from Evaride surprised us by relaxing a bit in our bedroom project studio.

MJ Ultra live at NAMM Show Booth #14811

Posted by JBL Professional on Thursday, January 25, 2018

We were also thrilled to welcome a HARMAN favorite back to our EON One Pro stage. MJ Ultra put on a moving and soulful acoustic set that felt like the perfect way to end the perfect NAMM show.

Awards

Photo Credit for Vanessa Mering: Kevin Graft

NAMM isn’t just a time to demo products and meet with customers, a number of industry awards are also presented. With so many innovative products released in the past year, as you can expect, HARMAN was well-represented on the winner’s podium.

  • Vanessa Mering, Marketing Strategy Manager at HARMAN Professional, ­received the 2018 She Rocks Award from The Women’s International Music Network. The award recognizes Mering’s leadership and contributions to the music industry.
  • The JBL Intonato 24 monitor management tuning system received the 2018 NAMM TEC Award in the category of Amplification Hardware/Studio & Sound Reinforcement.
  • The AKG C636 master reference condenser microphone ­received the 2018 NAMM TEC Award in the category of Microphones – Sound Reinforcement.
  • The JBL EON ONE PRO rechargeable all-in-one portable PA received the Music & Sound Award for Best Speaker of 2017 from The Music & Sound Retailer.
  • JBL Professional received the 2017 Dealer’s Choice Award for Sound Reinforcement Line of the Year from Musical Merchandise Review.
  • Soundcraft, JBL and dbx solutions received 2018 ProSoundWeb & Live Sound International Readers’ Choice Product Awards, including:
    • Soundcraft Vi1000 for the Mixing Control Surface
    • JBL VTX A12 for the Large Format Line Arrays 
    • dbx DriveRack PA2 for the Signal Processors 

The awards above were voted on by professionals in all areas of the industry from live sound to recorded music production, from retailers to other manufacturers.   We couldn’t have won these without you, so THANK YOU for all your support and congratulations to all the winners and nominees in other categories.

Once again, thank you to everyone who joined us at Winter NAMM this year either in the booth or online—see you next year!  And please share in the comments below what your favorite announcement or moment was at NAMM 2018.