GAS WARNING : If this is a trigger for you ( one that you need to avoid ), go ahead and mute this thread.
Discuss here gear at the show, what you may be expecting, meetup info, etc.
NAMM 2026: National Association of Music Merchants
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There are a lot of companies and organizations at the show. I have ( hand selected from the show exhibitor list ) a list of the ones that we may find of interest in this thread.
This is my opinion only. I have grouped things in somewhat related groups. Feel free to make your own lists.
Apple
Arturia
Ashun Sound Machines
Behringer ( Music Tribe )
Deftaudio
Entropy & Sons
Eternal Research
Focusrite
Groove Synthesis
ILIO ( Spectrasonics )
inMusic
InstaChord
Korg
Melbourne Instruments
Native Instruments
Nord
Polyend
Roland
ROLI
Studiologic
Stylophone
Synido
Toraiz Chordcat
Waldorf
Yamaha
Earthquaker
Mad Professor Amplification
Poly Affects
Summer School Electronics
Walrus Audio
Audioscape Engineering
Eventide
SSI ( Sound Semiconductor )
Casio
Hammond Suzuki
Kawai
Mellotron
Metronome
Viscount
AlphaTheta Pioneer DJ
AzoTeq
Harman ( AKG, JBL, Lexicon )
Presonus
MIDI Association
EDIT
Added Harman.
Added Arturia.
Added Korg.
Added Apple.
Added ILIO.
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No Elektron this year?
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Elektron is at Buchla & Friends.
Much less expensive to do that show and much more focused to the target audience. That said there are companies that do both of these overlapping shows.
I decided this year to give B&F its own thread.
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I call MPC 3.7 gets announced at Winter NAMM.
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I have been seeding the forum with posts that mention NAMM ( and B&F ) for the past month or so. As for instance, i recently dropped this :
That’s in the Leviasynth thread, which only recently became an official topic from ASM. But they also have another new product the Diosynth ( thread ) which will also obviously be getting booth space. I also think it not completely unreasonable to think a new Hydrasynth product is possible. And ( to get even more out there ) i have also speculated on the possibility of something else entirely new.
I know less about what may be happening with Medeli, although they are the manufacturer for a new reduced key size keyboard for Athena, due out January 16th, right before the show. ( post )
I have no idea if Athena has any presence at the show at all.
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inMusic has a larger booth, and they are the corporate group that includes Akai, and Moog, but they also include many other brands that are very much represented at NAMM.
BFD ??
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I’m really hoping for some updated DJ kit this year. The DJ market has been stuck for a while and with STEMS being a big part of the DJ World, and the Serato buyout resolved, I’m hoping for some DJ kit that pushes the boundaries.
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Last time I went to a dj store there were a few controllers with stem separation built in , this must’ve been 3 or more yrs ago . Plus there’s traktor etc digital / laptop options that have had it for a while .
Sure, it’ll improve like things always do , but if you need a dj controller with stem stuff, there are options … though they also seem very expensive
The general direction of travel seems to be splice / apple / online access to stuff … which I usually turn off
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Anything specific you’re wanting for?
A controller that syncs up nicely with synth gear (like their Toraiz series) would be nice. But I’ve just gotten myself a denon setup so I’m good anyways 
I mean, a hydrasynth engine groovebox would be insane
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Probably 4 channel mid tier options with good stems control plus hands on control for beat jump, and other clever stem split options. I’m an awkward case though, as I still have my 1210s plugged in too. Which I had thought about retiring, but I’m thinking of partaking in a local open DJ night, that is primarily vinyl, so I’ll need to keep my hand in for that.
That is why I’ve stuck with my Roland DJ-505 for so long, but I’ve recently been looking at switching from Serato to Djay as I’m pretty fed up of having to fix beat grids in Serato, whereas Djay and Virtual DJ beat grids, are almost always 100% accurate.
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Take a look at the Reloop controllers if you;re thinking about going to djay, they have great support for it.
Can we expect new gear prototype from all of the companies above… or how does it usually go like, never really followed NAMM…?
Take it piece by piece, one at a time.
More than half will, but not all.
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The Reloop Mixon 8 is a great example of exactly what I’m talking about. That controller was designed before stems and was delayed coming to market as they wanted to make sure that it was able to support stems. Which it does, but not in a particularly elegant way, such as the Rane Four or Pioneer FLX-10 does.
I’d love for Reloop to have a Mixon 8 MK2 ready for release at NAMM.
Here’s a mystery still to ponder :
So i’d say it’s a lock for some thing.
Stylophone has made a series of interesting and affordable products recently. The question now is just what ?
BlankFlag had a good idea :
Any other thoughts ?
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Instachord is at NAMM again.
I’ve posted about them earlier ( NAMM 2023 ). They have been making improvements, and it looks more ready now to try an international launch. ( They’re currently based in Japan only. )
Here’s a very short video that shows the various ways it can be played :
One key feature is the chords are layed out in a Nashville numbering system arrangement, so you play the same patterns on the “frets” and work from a chosen key, in either major or minor.
Current version is IC-31, which is probably what they will be ahowing at NAMM. Price is fairly reasonable. This won’t be for most E’nauts, but could be used to work up a chord progression, and that sort of thing.
Not to be confused with the software plug-in product with the same name.
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How many chord machines have their been/are being released? They really want to take stretching your fingers out of music, don’t they?
I will not be attending this but coincidentally will be visiting Disneyland with my girlfriend during this time and staying at a hotel like, across the street and will have some time Thursday afternoon.
What can I expect? Are there going to be live performances in publicly accessible areas? Any chance of sneaking in for a little while to play with toys (I expect not…)?
SonicState in there last stream said they will not be attending NAMM this year!