Good times at the 2016 National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Show! Once again, Anaheim, California was bustling, bubbling and buzzing with retailers, distributors, musicians and producers all piled into the Convention Center, eager to sample the latest in music tech, tools and toys. The energy at the Icon booth was contagious as visitors got up close and personal with some of our latest and greatest offerings.
The new Qcon Pro X was the undisputed star of the show. The tremendous success of the Qcon Pro drove us to advance the next generation DAW control surface, and the Qcon Pro X (scheduled for release in May 2016) doesn’t disappoint. We bumped up the connectivity to USB 3.0 (from USB 2.0 on the Qcon Pro), increased the motorized fader resolution from 8-bit to 10-bit, added a meter bridge and a second backlit LCD display, updated many of the components and changed the look. Built-in Mackie Control allows you to run Cubase, Nuendo, Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Samplitude, Reaper, Reason, Studio One and Bitwig, while the Mackie HUI protocol powers your Pro Tools sessions. Look for more info on the QCon Pro X soon…
Not to be outdone, the QCon Pro is still an impressive piece of machinery especially when it’s decked out with the QCon Ex and UMIX 1008 Satellite audio interface. The QCon Pro has become a favorite control surface in studios around the world, and with good reason.
A lot of our visitors were looking for a more compact control surface solution. They found it in the new Platform M MIDI/Audio Control Surface. Users will customize their Platform system setup based on their needs with a variety of control modules like LCD display, joystick control and more.
Of course, Icon is also renowned for our many flexible MIDI keyboard controllers. Visitors were wowed by the iKeyboard 3S with 24-Bit 96/192KHz 2-In/2-Out USB Recording Interface built into the control panel. But when it comes to keyboards, it’s all about the feel. Real players like Joel Parisien, frontman for the Canadian gospel group Newworldson digs the action on the iKeyboard 6 key bed.
And that brings us to another highlight of NAMM which is meeting so many of the world’s top musicians, performers, engineers and producers, gear heads who love to keep on top of the technology. One such individual, who is a staple at the NAMM Show is the great Stevie Wonder.
Stevie was just one of the many dignitaries who dropped by to check out the latest from Icon and were gracious enough to take a few photos with the team. It was our pleasure to proudly display the new products we’ve been working on all year, and to meet some of the professionals who drive us to keep improving, innovating and excelling. We’re looking forward to a fantastic 2016!
Hello, I am very excited to finally see Qcon Pro X ready for release. Will there be an 8 bank fader add on available as well?
Hey, Greg!
Yes, expansion for the Qcon Pro X is on the schedule for later this year. Please sign up for the mailing list so you can are among the first to know once they are available.
Thanks!
re: Platform M MIDI/Audio Control Surface,
I’d love to see a knob on this device which would provide
a ‘split’-function so that I’d have 16 channels at my diposal. any ideas in the near future?
Well, Feal, there isn’t a knob, but there is a bank button that allows you to control all tracks in the session. So to move from tracks 1-8, you hit the bank button and you now control 9-16. Hit the button again to adjust 17-24. This is a standard feature on all of our control surfaces.
I hope this helps. Be sure to sign up for our mailing list on the form below so we can make you aware once the Platform M is available.
Thanks!