Best of Musikmesse 2015: Red Dog’s prime cuts
Musikmesse – Europe’s largest musical equipment trade show – has been and gone, and now we’ve had time to chew the fat, digest the wurst and muse over weissbier, we’ve made a list of what we consider to be the stand-out gear at Musikmesse 2015. If you like the look of anything you see, don’t be afraid to contact us. We’ve got really great relationships with all of these suppliers and will be able to get the best prices and the fastest lead times out there. We haven’t won 3 awards for our performance in the last year for nothing! Plug over, on with the list:
Roland AIRA Scooper
This awesome little unit helps add control to the uncontrollable, letting you program scatter and glitch effects with unprecedented ease. Check out Richard Devine’s video clip for an idea of what it can do.
Digitech Obscura
This is probably one of the best looking pedals we’ve ever come across, and even with the constant barrage of noise coming from the displays at Musikmesse, the Obscura sounds totally out of this world. If you’re looking for a new delay pedal and are in to big, textural, ambient, swirly nonsense, this will definitely get your neck hairs standing on end.
Roland TD25
It seems that Roland have finally sacked the person who made all their tech gear look like G1 Transformers rejects from 1984 and are absolutely rocking their new sleek, ergonomic designs. As you’d expect, the sound from the TD25 is incredibly detailed and the build quality is everything you’d expect from the world’s leading electronic drum company. It’s pricey, but not crazy money. Let’s just call it “reassuringly expensive”.
AKG D112 mkII
The updated version of the most popular bass drum microphone of all time now features an improved, moveable mount to make finding your sweet spots a little easier (no giggling at the back!)
Elektron Overbridge
Not a bit of gear per se, but a totally revolutionary way to integrate all of Elektron’s current range of music-making-magic-boxes with your software of choice, route anything to anything, control anything with anything… It’s dull as dishwater if you play guitar, but if you’re even remotely interested in synths, drum machines or production, this is the holy grail. Not even exaggerating.
Vox AC10C1
It looks like little valve amps are the new stadium-filling full stacks, and the newest contender for your hard-earned is Vox’s dinky AC10C1, a 10w, 10″ valve combo that condenses the vital tone of other famous Vox AC amps into a more manageable size for studio and home use.
Roland JD-XA
We only had a sneak-peek at the flagship Roland synth, but it looks like it’s going to be pretty phenomenal. Keeping with that sleek, minimal look but adding more in-depth control, it’s rumoured to feature 4 separate analogue monophonic voices that can be combined to a 4-voice polysynth, 4 synth SuperNatural voices and a 8-channel step sequencer! Woah mama!
PreSonus Studio 192
If you’re after an interface that’ll be able to handle even the biggest sessions, doesn’t take up too much space, and you don’t have to sell any kidneys for, the new Studio 192 from PreSonus might be your dream come true. 26 ins, 32 outs, built-in signal processing, 2 headphone outputs, excellent pre-amps and solid build. Want.
Roland System-1M
If you’re a tweak-fiend, the prospect of having CV/gate control on the Roland System-1 would be heaven on earth… Fortunately Kakehashi & Co are doing a bang-up job of listening to their fans at the moment, and have introduced a rack-mountable version of the System-1 with added patch capabilities! YES!
TC VoiceLive 3 Extreme
Already well known for bringing studio quality effects within reach of your toes, the new EXTREME version of the VoiceLive system looks set to become the be-all-and-end-all of vocal processing for the stage, and an awesome tool for the studio to boot! Want to sound like an autotuned demon-cyborg with a choir of harmonised angels behind you? With a tempo-synced delay? With no feedback?… There’s probably a preset for that.
Nord Stage 2 EX
More than just a visual update, the new EX range from Nord boasts a healthy 1GB piano sample library, better tone control and an updated factory soundbank. There are not many other stage keyboards in the world that’ll sound better out of the box than this red devil.
Roland SY-300 guitar synth pedal
They’ve finally cracked it. For the last few decades, the main issue people have had with using guitar synth technology is that you had install clunky electronic pick-ups to your prized instrument in order for the guitar to “talk” to the synth, but now you can just plug in with your regular jack lead and the SY-300 works out the rest. These are the days, folks. We’re living in the future. Austerity, religious unrest and guitar synths for all!
Bose F1
Clever PA made easy, the F1 allows you to aim sections of the line-array to suit your audience, firing upward if they’re in staggered seating, straight forward for a standing crowd and downward if you’re playing on an elevated stage. Easy integration into other Bose systems will make existing customers happy should they want to expand their rig with an extra 1000w of high quality sound.
Orange Rockerverb MkIII
It’s felt like a long time coming, but the Rockerverb – one of the most incredibly versatile valve amps to have ever existed – is back on the market with a hefty overhaul. The MKIII now has a foot-switchable attenuator, updated clean and distortion channel voicings, and more “useable” reverb. It won’t be cheap, but it’s going to be worth every penny.
Universal Audio Apollo 8
It might not look like the most flashy, exciting interface around, but – as any audio tech buff will know – the Apollo range is all about what’s inside. Incredibly powerful built-in UAD plug-in processing, outstanding analogue signal paths, some of the best converters on the market, and natively Thunderbolt. Shut up and take my money!
Remember, if you’ve seen anything that you fancy and want more information, please get in touch! Phone Red Dog Music Edinburgh on 0131 229 8211, and London on 0207 622 7912. We’re always happy to help.
