NAB Show, held 7–12 April, 2018 in Las Vegas, is the world’s largest convention encompassing The M.E.T. Effect, the convergence of media, entertainment and technology. With 103,000 attendees from 161 countries and 1,800+ exhibitors, NAB Show is the ultimate marketplace for solutions that transcend traditional broadcasting and embrace content delivery to new screens in new ways.

Here are ten companies to look out for at this year’s event:

1. Sennheiser and Neumann will bring their full portfolio of audio production tools to NAB, including new microphone and headset solutions. The companies’ stand (C1307) will show tailor-made audio solutions for mobile journalism, news gathering, film productions, studio work and monitoring, in addition to presenting the AMBEO range of products for VR and AR productions. 
 
Sennheiser will be launching a new headset series at NAB – the 300 PRO line. Available this summer, the new series consists of two monitoring headphones and three headset/microphone combinations for camera work and backstage communications.  For wireless bodypacks, Sennheiser will be showing brand-new headset and lavalier microphones. Also available by summer 2018, these have been designed and fine-tuned to be great sounding, reliable workhorses for medium-sized broadcasters, theatres and houses of worship. Additionally, Sennheiser will preview a new wireless solution for recording high-quality audio on mobile devices.
 
Sennheiser’s range of camera microphone systems has been further expanded with the introduction of the new evolution wireless G4 series, with the new generation now offering two sub-lines, complementing the acclaimed 100-p series with the new 500-p series. The other wireless systems on show are the flagship Digital 9000 and Digital 6000 series, including the digital/analog EK 6042 camera receiver, as well as AVX, which works in the license-free 1.9 GHz band. On-camera microphones include the MKE 400, the MKE 600 and the stereo MKE 440. Also on show are the MKH 416 and MKH 8060 professional shotgun models, the long gun MKH 8070, plus the MD 46 and MD 42 reporter microphones.


2. Studio Technologies

This manufacturer of audio, video, and fibre-optic solutions, expands its Dante-compatible offerings at NAB 2018 (Booth C7550) with three new announcer’s consoles, the Model 205, Model 206, and Model 208. All offer unique combinations of analogue and digital audio resources to create perfect on-air talent hubs that deliver excellent audio quality in both Dante audio-over Ethernet and traditional analog audio environments. The units’ diverse audio resources and small size enable the creation of on-air positions where space is at a premium, making them ideal for sports and entertainment TV, and radio events as well as streaming broadcasts. The Model 205 and Model 206 are specifically designed for table-top use, presenting a very small "footprint" for applications such as court-side basketball commentator locations. The Model 208 is optimised to allow easy mounting to the top- or bottom-surface of a broadcast set or talent location. Its form-factor also lends itself for use in a range of custom mounting scenarios.


3. SSL

This year NAB will be a busy show for SSL – with several announcements for System T, including the new v2.0 software and the S300 32-fader System T console. One of the main themes will be the implementation of immersive audio support in System T – another leap ahead for the platform and likely to be a big talking point at the exhibition and around the events programme as broadcasters are getting ready to deliver live, immersive content now. The company will also be showing the SSL Live platform and its latest developments.


4. Junger Audio

The company will launch a new audio processing platform, the the AIXpressor, which will give “broadcasters the freedom and flexibility to choose exactly the right audio processing products for their facilities and projects”. The company claims that the unit “is unique because it is not just a single product, instead it acts as a base for software-defined products that are created using Jünger’s new Flexible Audio Infrastructure flexAl”. This means that, simply by buying additional software licenses, broadcasters and post production facilities can customise this versatile audio processing system to suite their demand for processing capabilities and channel count.

5. Calrec

During the Broadcast Engineering and Information Technology Conference (BEITC) at this year’s 2018 NAB Show, Klaus Weber of Grass Valley, Peter Walker of Calrec Audio and Larissa Görner of Net Insight will join forces to speak about the major challenges with at-home production and how these issues can be solved. The session, titled, Live At-Home Production 2.0, will take place on 7 April from 1:30PM – 2:50PM (PST) in the North Hall Meeting Room (N260).  The presentation provides a forum for each company to bring its specific industry experience to the discussion. Weber will speak about video and camera transmission, Walker is highlighting audio production, and Görner is focusing on signal transport. Together, they represent the main components of a remote production and will speak to the way each company’s state-of-the-art solutions provide better video, audio and transport workflows for at-home production.

6. Glensound

The UK-based manufacturer of audio products for the broadcast market and ASK Sales will have numerous new product offerings on display. With a focus on increasing efficiency of operation as well as integrating mobile phones into the broadcast mix, Glensound’s new product offerings incorporate a wide range of applications. During NAB, the company will be located at booth N5108. Located in Maidstone, Kent, UK, Glensound is a manufacturer of high quality audio equipment for the world’s broadcast and commercial audio markets. Manufacturing all products in-house to ensure both performance and reliability, Glensound’s catalog encompasses Balance Converters, AD/DA Converters, Commentary Systems, Dante  Networked Audio, Headphone Amplifiers, Intercom Equipment, and Audio Mixers, and more. 


7. Wisycom

With a new HQ in the nation’s capital and offering support for US and Canadian-based customers, Wisycom, designer and builder of RF solutions for broadcast, film and live production will make its US tradeshow debut at NAB 2018 (Booth C856).
"Wisycom brings innovative, best-in-class products to the industry and I am proud to lead the charge in its expansion to the US market," said Jim Dugan, president, Wisycom USA. "Before taking on this role, I had been using Wisycom products and eventually began working with the team in Italy to build what I consider the best antenna systems on the planet. The opening of this office in D.C. is a great step in a new direction. With the ongoing frequency changes in relation to the 600 MHz frequency band, the need for agility in wireless is paramount. I look forward to working with my team and our network of distributors in bringing hassle-free solutions to the entire nation."


8. TSL Products

TSL Products will showcase the latest updates to its broadcast control portfolio at NAB 2018 (Booth N5615), including expanded protocol support and enhanced user interface features. The latest firmware update (V.1.9.2.0) for TSL’s flagship TallyMan Advanced Broadcast Control System provides support for Ember+ data delivery protocol, enabling engineers to integrate all Ember+ capable 3rd party devices into their automated workflows. TSL will also showcase updates to its TallyMan Virtual Panel V.1.3 and debut its new FlashBoard Technical Display System. 

"The key updates on display at NAB this year reimagine the TallyMan’s core architecture to provide a truly responsive, intuitive approach to the immediate and future needs of broadcasters worldwide," said Dan Bailey, product manager – control systems, TSL Products. "We placed an emphasis on new features and protocol support that maximize user configurability, ensuring operators have total ownership of their system. We’re particularly excited to be introducing support for Ember+, which adds another open-source control option to the growing list of standards already supported by TallyMan."

9. RTW

The company will feature its TM3 Smart and TM3-3G Smart TouchMonitors at this year’s NAB show (Booth N6924). RTW will also display its well-known TM7/TM9 TouchMonitors, MM3 MusicMeter and TM3-Primus, its software and plug-in solutions along with Nixer Pro Audio’s PD-Dante, a small portable monitoring and diagnostic system that is now available through RTW’s worldwide distribution.
 
"RTW created these very flexible and fully functional Smart versions of the TouchMonitors for our customers so that they don’t have to worry about the additional cost of licenses. Instead, these products can be used right out of the box," said Andreas Tweitmann, CEO, RTW. "We look forward to promoting these smart versions at this year’s NAB as we expect to see the exact audience the products were designed for."


10. Merging Technologies

Merging’s stand, C3037, will host its own interoperability demo, showcasing hardware from Luminex, Ward Beck Systems and Genelec all working on an AES67 network and all monitored by ANEMAN Enterprise. This new addition to the ANEMAN programme is designed for high availability and large audio networking systems’ monitoring and configuration. NAB will be the first North American showing of ANEMAN Enterprise which uses the same connection and network management technology developed for the free, award winning, ANEMAN free to use software. In addition to ANEMAN, the latest versions of Pyramix and the highly popular Ovation Audio and Event Server will be on show connected to Horus and Hapi. Ovation has found favour with a number of North America’s leading broadcasters and outside broadcast facilities.