AES 2018 Brings Audio Community Together in New York City’s Javits Center

The recent AES New York 2018 Convention, held October 17–20 at the Javits Center in New York City, provided a wide array of chances to listen, learn, and connect with audio engineering professionals from around the world. A perennial highlight drawing a packed crowd of attendees of all backgrounds and skill levels was the sprawling Exhibition Floor, where over 300 brands of audio equipment manufacturers and service providers were showcased alongside a wealth of free-to-attend events.

Proving to be not only the education and peer networking event of the year for audio engineers, producers, students, and professionals from all audio industry specialties, AES Conventions also provide an invaluable resource for exhibitors and sponsors to reach those end users and industry influencers through a variety of innovative opportunities and events.
“SSL is one of the only console manufacturers in the world that is active in the Studio, Live and Broadcast industries. We always look forward to AES in NY, as it is guaranteed to deliver a great turnout across all segments of our business,” says Piers Plaskitt, CEO of Solid State Logic. “2018 was no exception, and we were busy right through the last hour on day three. Throughout the show we had a queue of people waiting to audition Fusion, our all-analog stereo outboard processor that we launched at the show, and it got great reviews from the Studio and Live markets. We are looking forward to October 2019 for the next AES NY.”

“AES is a great way to connect with the core of professional audio recording and a great platform to launch new products that serve this community best,” states Erica McDaniel, Dir. Of Industry Partnerships & Events, Universal Audio. “When considering our needs for introducing the new Apollo X Audio Interface, exhibiting at AES New York was without a doubt the best way to accomplish our goals.”

“This past AES convention at Javits Center in New York drew some of the top audio professionals who we value as a manufacturer,” states John Monitto, Meyer Sound’s Director of Business Development and Sales Manager, Northeast. “The convention was well attended by those professionals who visited the exhibit booths, demo rooms, and the workshop sessions. Meyer Sound featured a two-channel and 5.1 listening room with our newly patented Bluehorn System, which received a high level of traffic and very positive comments. We were also proud that our co-founder, President, and CEO John Meyer, was honored as the Richard C. Heyser Memorial Lecturer.”

“Waves experienced a great and valuable show at AES,” comments Mick Olesh, Waves EVP of Sales & Marketing. “In addition to the successful revealing of our new Abbey Road TG Mastering Chain plugin and networking SoundGrid servers and host, the vast attendance at our booth for our artist presentations, together with face-to-face meetings with our users and business colleagues, are a vital and fundamental element of our strategy and workflow.”

Producer/Engineer (and regular attendee of AES Conventions) Russ Long sums it up, saying, “Once again the AES New York convention was an outstanding event. The mood was positive across the board, and it was reflected when I spoke to fellow attendees, visited exhibitor’s booths and demo rooms, and attended seminars. It’s exciting to me that after working in this industry for three decades, the AES show is one of the few times I still feel like a kid in a toy store. There are so many fantastic technological developments happening in the audio world, and it’s exciting to have the opportunity to learn about them in single location in just a few days. Highlights of the many impressive products I saw include Audio-Technica’s new wireless system, the SSL Fusion analog stereo bus processor, Yamaha’s Rivage software update (that adds Theater Mode!), Triad-Orbit’s Starbird mic stand (and their growing list of stand accessories), the Zylia ZM-1 spatial sound microphone, and Rupert Neve Design’s 5211 dual mic preamp — and that’s just the beginning!”