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Yamaha is one of the longest-serving and is still the largest manufacturer of musical equipment in the world. From its headquarters in Hamamastu in Japan, Yamaha designs and builds everything from synthesizers to silent violins, portable music recorders to state-of-the-art digital consoles, and from acoustic grand pianos to chipsets for mobile phones.

For almost 50 years, this Japanese audio electronics specialist that began making phono cartridges, has been making award-winning microphones and headphones including the 4033, and 4050 condensers. Audio-Technica has been very involved in supplying equipment for prestigious international events including the Olympics, the GRAMMY’S, CMA, and Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame ceremonies.

Steinberg was a pioneer in the new technology of MIDI back in 1985 offering the world a series of innovative ‘sequencers’ initially on the Atari platform. The convergence of MIDI with digital audio spawned the Digital Audio Workstation, of which the company’s Cubase and Nuendo are world-leading examples. Steinberg also now produces hardware interfaces and controllers.

Founded in the 1950s by Bill Putnam Sr, one of the most influential recording engineers and equipment designers of his generation, was reinvented in the twenty-first century not only to offer Putnam’s classic studio tools such as the LA-2A and 1176 compressor, but also to offer software emulations of these and other classic designs to a new audience via the UAD-1 and now UAD-2 cards.

In addition to making some of the most beautiful – and beautiful sounding loudspeakers on the planet, B&W is deeply involved with the furtherance of ‘sound quality’ via its Society Of Sound initiative, and B&W Music Club that sponsors new recordings conducted at Peter Gabriel’s Real World studios in the UK.

Since 1994, Missouri-based studio furniture manufacturers have been making a range of stylish, ready-to-assemble console and rack enclosures, tables, speaker stands, chairs and more.

Much more than simply a manufacturer of acoustic treatments, Auralex offers a range of services and solutions for recording environments at all levels from bedroom studio to houses or worship, to education, and live performance venues. The Auralex website also offers tuition on acoustics and a free room analysis service.

Lexicon led the way in terms of the ‘digitization’ of reverb and delay signal processing back in the 1970s. Since then, ‘Lexicon reverb’ has become synonymous with the very highest quality, both on its range of hardware units and, more recently, with its software emulations.

A company at the very forefront of storage solutions for the arts and media industries, LaCie has a huge range of external, network, RAID, and portable hard drives, as well as a top quality collection of graphics monitors, cables, hubs, and power supplies. A LaCie Rugged Hard Drive has followed this project around the country since Day One.

Music Player, part of New Bay Media is the parent company of iconic specialist musical instrument magazines including Keyboard, Guitar Player, Bass Player, and EQ. In addition to its print publications, Music Player Network offers complementary services on-line, including lessons, reviews, interviews, and more.

Founded by B. Andrew Barta, inventor of the SansAmp, Tech 21 has been at the forefront of amplifier emulation technology for more than 20 years. Today, the company makes a whole range of pedals, pre-amps, and processors for guitarists and bass players for both studio and stage applications.