15 thoughts on “Knobcon 2022 Exhibitors Announced”

1. Any particular reason the big Japanese players Korg, Roland, Yamaha are not on the list?

   1. Nothing new to show I guess 😉

   2. Knobcon more modular oriented, in which Roland, Korg and Yamaha are not big players.

   3. Knobcon is strongly slanted to modular and boutique makers, and a lot of what goes on is social. Yamaha and Roland have large dealer networks and aggressively sell to chain store buyers, not a couple of guys who drove down from Madison for the weekend to check out the scene.

   4. Korg, Roland & Yamaha have all exhibited at Knobcon in the past.

      I think the reality is that they haven’t been able to introduce much in the way of new hardware in the last 2 years, because of the global parts shortage, so they don’t have anything to promote at events like this.

      Knobcon is always a blast for connecting with other synth freaks, but I wouldn’t expect there to be tons of new gear getting introduced.

2. If you less out the euro-rack based companies, how many left?

   1. Modular is sort of the main point of an event called ‘Knobcon’.

      1. … so where is Behringer?
         They do modular as well…

         1. They made a big deal a couple years ago about how they weren’t going to exhibit at trade shows anymore and that they were doing this so that they could pass on more savings to customers.

            They even started mocking NAMM and doing announcements at the same time from ‘Banaheim’.

            They really don’t need trade shows, though, because almost all of their products are clones/knockoffs of something that’s well-known. Other companies want to show off stuff you haven’t seen before.

      2. I dunno, I never got the ‘modular is the main point’ vibe there. Every time I’ve gone it’s synthesizers of all shapes and sizes. Hell, one year I saw a Vo-96 demo there.

         1. I’m a committed non-modular guy and I always enjoy Knobcon. It’s about synths and the people that use them. Yes, a lot of the focus is on modular. But it’s by no means exclusively modular or overwhelmingly modular.

            Korg had a booth for most years, but it looks like they fell away since 2020. Yamaha had a booth at least once, possibly more than that. Roland had a booth several years.

            I’m happy to see that Sequential/Oberheim will be there. It was my dream that Mr. Smith (RIP) would one day make an appearance at Knobcon.

            Moog exhibited there a couple of times and even offered an exclusive sneak peak of the Mother-32 at Knobcon one year.

      3. I’ve been into synths for about 50 years now and “Modular” is probably the last thing that would come to my mind if I was to guess what a synthesizer event called “Knobcon” was all about.

3. Chip shortages and high prices will make this event of no event

4. I wonder if WMD is still planning on being there. I’m guessing no? But who knows.

5. WMD is listed as an exhibitor on the list above.