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Korg dominated this year’s NAMM show with a slew of new releases across several categories…

As we had mentioned earlier, we do know that a non-playable prototype will be on display at the 2024 NAMM Show.

At the 2024 NAMM Show, Korg showcased their Handytraxx play, a turntable that they say combines portability with essential DJ features.

The design is a collaboration with the late Toshihide Nakama, former Vestax president, and builds on the design of the Vestax Handy Trax.

In addition to standard DJ turntable functions, the Korg Handytraxx Play offers a variety of unique features:

• Creative performance DJ filters
• Built-in looper with variable playback speed function.
• Cue function and monitoring let you play the looper while monitoring your record.
• Pro-level smooth crossfader with reverse mode.
• Detachable control panel
• Replaceable crossfader, and MM cartridge mountable.
• Compact and lightweight
• AAA batteries or mobile battery (USB-C) powered
• Speakers (3W) for on-the-go play

Pricing and availability are to be announced.

At 2024 NAMM Show, Baby Audio debuts their latest creation Atoms – a synth plugin splits physical modeling into six simple parameters.

Set to be released in 7 February, Sonic State caught up with Michael from Baby Audio at NAMM. Michael explains that Atoms distills a complex underlying model into six simple parameters, and an internal automation system for adding motion, and once you get your head around what these six controls are doing, there’s lots of sound design potential here.

Each control adjusts a different type of behaviour within the model, and you can see how your tweaks are affecting the sound with a central visualiser. Atoms offers a unique take on physical modelling, with an internal network made up of interconnected masses and springs.

This is ‘excited’ by a virtual bow that causes the model to vibrate and produce sound. You can dictate the way that the bow ‘plays’ the model using the Force control.

Handily, there’s also MPE support, which should provide you with some intriguing creative options if you have a compatible controller.

Atoms will be available on Feb 7th 2024 , introductory price $59.

Oeksound is one of those companies that makes plugins that make your music sound better. The company’s new Bloom processor looks to continue the trend.

Oeksound doesn’t release that many plugins, but they have all made a big impression. 2018’s Spiff was originally designed as a corrective vocal processor, but turned out to be an equally useful tool on almost any sound source. And as for Soothe2, well that is one of the great plugins of our time, one that we described as “a dynamic EQ plugin that no producer should be without”.

Big pressure for Oeksound on this latest release, Bloom. According to the company, an “adaptive tone shaper” – basically it sounds like it makes your music sound better, or, depending on how it sounds in the first place.

“It analyses the character of a signal and applies corrections to the perceived tonal balance for a more even and refined sound,” says Oeksound, brilliantly saying everything and nothing in one sentence.

Bloom does seem to do ‘stuff’ in various frequency bands, though, so we could call it, broadly, an EQ.

“Four frequency balance sliders can be used to further shape the tone to taste, enabling both fine adjustments and radical transformations. These sliders change the overall tonal balance that Bloom is working towards, rather than making absolute cuts or boosts as found in an EQ.”

Which leaves us bemused, especially after Oeksound itself concludes: “Bloom steps away from explicit problem-solving and towards colour and tone-shaping. It can be used to fix audio, but also to sculpt it creatively.”

Which ultimately means you probably need to check it out to understand it.

You can watch a NAMM Show floor demo video below via Sonic State:

Oeksound hasn’t revealed how much Bloom will be or when it will be available, just saying “soon”. Find out more info at Oeksound website.