AES - New Product Roll Out Question

[Unbound]

Hi all. So I've never done an AES Convention, but would love to hit up this one in New York or even the one in the spring in Paris.

What's the difference between the Europe AES and the US AES? Is one bigger? More vendors? More new product announcements? More to see? To do? Are they exactly the same?

Thanks,
Aaron

[Brad Lunde]

Originally Posted by Unbound

Hi all. So I've never done an AES Convention, but would love to hit up this one in New York or even the one in the spring in Paris.

What's the difference between the Europe AES and the US AES? Is one bigger? More vendors? More new product announcements? More to see? To do? Are they exactly the same?

Thanks,
Aaron

Aaron:
Come to NY. Way better show for recording gear.
Brad

[Fletcher]

The US shows are indeed "bigger"... more "hype", more "bullshit", and far more scattered than the Europe shows. I don't go to see the papers and presentations so I can't comment on which show is better from that perspective, but from a hardware perspective, the Europe show buries the US show.

There is far greater availability of the people you would like to meet and talk to. You can actually hold a coherent conversation with a designer at AES-Europe while here in the US that same guy will be pulled in 3 different directions at once.

AES-Europe seems to be about 1/3rd the size of AES-US... and by virtue of it being smaller it's easier to see all that you came to check out, and almost have some quality time with it.

As for things to see... bro, it's Paris in the springtime... it's Paris in the shedding of heavy coat season... do I need to draw you a map?

[Unbound]

Thanks for the input Brad & Fletcher. I'm definitely doing NYC, as I would like to see some of the sites I haven't seen yet, check out NYU for my Masters (as I would like to teach recording/music business) and all that stuff.

But Paris in the spring and actually getting some quality time to chat would be f-ing sweet! And I haven't seen Paris yet.

Now that I've committed to NYC AES for sure, could someone recommend a couple good AES technical tours, I get in to that sort of stuff.

Some of the technical tours I'm considering: Electric Ladyland, Avatar, Ttutone, Chung King, Ed Sullivan, Radio City Music Hall, and Lincoln Center.

Thanks! See ya at AES!

Aaron
preludestudios.com
sitepro.com

[Tim Farrant]

Aaron, if you would like a free pass into the Exhibition Hall feel free to get one on Buzz Audio, click link below...

http://www.aes.org/events/119/vip.cfm?400

Look forward to seeing you there

Cheers
Tim.

[Unbound]

Tim, thanks for the offer! I'm an AES member and paid for my pass already, but thanks. Actually I was just drooling, I mean umm ehem...browsing on your site (currently looking at channel strips, ARC looks sweet) and saw your offer...I'll definitely be checking out the booth!

Aaron

[Johnny B]

Originally Posted by Fletcher

As for things to see... bro, it's Paris in the springtime... it's Paris in the shedding of heavy coat season... do I need to draw you a map?

Are you talking about the women?

[chrisredco]

Fella, if you have to ask..........

C

[T_R_S]

My first AES was 1987 in the "Big Apple"
It was an impressive show everyone was at the NED booth and Digidesign was a hole in the wall (in comparison to NED).
Sony was showing a 48 track Digital recorder. My friend paid 190K for an SSL (SSL takes AMEX) It was a big show. Since then I was at several shows here and across the pond. The one thing i have noticed they are becoming smaller everytime I go.
At first you name one or two companies that did not show up now lots do show up at all.

[wildeone]

fletcher is right about the difference of the US vs. Europe shows. the shows over here definitely are quality.... that said, all the aes shows, imo, are the best of the bunch. the exhibitors, the people that attend, etc. are top flight. just the best.

i'm just flying in from paris and regret that i didn't get sorted earlier so i could attend this year. (the hotel rooms are just outrageous!) i will miss it dearly.

for all those who haven't tried an aes in europe, definitely think everybody should make it over to paris. other than being a beautiful city, i've had the joy of meeting some great people over here. even though the internet has closed the gap, it's quite interesting seeing what's popular here vs. across the pond, etc. the more give and take, the better off we'll all be.

audio rules!

and brad, shame on you for dissing paris!!! you know how i feel about it.

best,
cam

[GilWave]

Fletcher nailed it.

I think the best New York AES was the rescheduled-due-to-9/11 2001 show.

It had all the elements of a great US AES, along with the more intimate and accessible aspects of a European AES.

One of the advantages of a Paris AES over other European cities is that it's a no-brainer for most exhibitors and members to justify going, so you're likely to see a better mix (no pun intended) of manufacturers and their key personnel.

[Brad Lunde]

Originally Posted by wildeone

<SNIP>

for all those who haven't tried an aes in europe, definitely think everybody should make it over to paris. other than being a beautiful city, i've had the joy of meeting some great people over here. even though the internet has closed the gap, it's quite interesting seeing what's popular here vs. across the pond, etc. the more give and take, the better off we'll all be.

audio rules!

and brad, shame on you for dissing paris!!! you know how i feel about it.

best,
cam

Cam, I didn't say I didn't like Euro shows-I love em in fact. Paris, Amsterdam they are wonderful events BUT
The Euro AES shows are dying slowly, the exhibitors are shrinking booths, many many USA manuf don't even go (and this is the largest pro audio manufacturing market in the world). I love to visit there and see some of the more unusual stuff for us in the US, stuff that doesn't make it here. But traffic sucks, that's why you can talk to people-there's few customers! Germany has been taken over by broadcast (which is fair, broadcast drives the German high end pro audio market), but it doen't do much for the crowd that lurks here!

Like I said, US AES is the best for recording gear. If you want broadcast audio, go to IBC in Amsterdam; if you want portable live audio go to Music Messe in Frankfurt. NSCA and/or InfoComm in the US for installed sound gear. You want to go to Paris in the spring, GO. Its very cool.

A 4 hour French dinner?? Nothing like it. Hanging out in Amsterdam's Liedesplien watching the crowd roll by-wow. Sitting across from wildone, well that's cool no matter where you go.

Brad

[Fletcher]

Originally Posted by Brad Lunde

Cam, I didn't say I didn't like Euro shows-I love em in fact. Paris, Amsterdam they are wonderful events BUT
The Euro AES shows are dying slowly, the exhibitors are shrinking booths, many many USA manuf don't even go (and this is the largest pro audio manufacturing market in the world).

You mistake "quantity" for "quality". If the the Euro AES show is "dying", then I really wish they would all die.

Last year "Mercenary Editions" did our first European exposition. We brought Great River; Pendulum Audio; and Littlelabs over for their first Euro-AES show. It was a wonderful success.

One of the things I really loved about the show was that I didn't feel like I was teaching a Full Pail graduate course in remedial audio... which is what the US shows are like. The other thing I loved about it was that I could hold some fairly in-depth conversations with manufacturers and designers without being interrupted by the Full Pail-esque punters on a regular basis... I made some excellent connections there, and found some equipment I probably wouldn't have found at the US show if for no other reason than the sensory overload of too many bullshit booths and too many distractions from the "not quite qualified to do more than drool over new plug ins for their pro-stools system" crowd.

The people that came to the Mercenary Editions booth were educated, and attentive. We could talk as 'engineer to engineer' rather than having to give a rudimentary "this is a mic-pre" lesson. They understood how to get around our patchbay system and could be left to their own devices to check out the equipment and it's uses without me having to play 'sales weasel' and running them through some "sales pitch" kind of bullshit.

So if the definition of a "dying show" is that it wasn't asshole to elbow with people marketing shit from China, educational DVD's, and other crap that should be doing the NAMM zoo instead of AES... then yes, AES-Europe is indeed dying. If you're looking for a quality/educational experience in a low pressure, non-sales weasel trying to cram shit down your throat kind of environment... the AES-Europe is indeed the best show I attend each year.

The NY "9-11" show was similar as there were only serious professionals and enthusiasts who attended that show... it was another "quality" over "quantity" in regard to both exhibitors and attendees... which in my book is a good thing.

As always... YMMV.

[robdarling]

Originally Posted by Unbound

check out NYU for my Masters (as I would like to teach recording/music business) and all that stuff.

What???