Rocky Mountain Audio Fest has moved to the Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center in 2019. This is a big step up from the previous venue at Denver Tech Center and should encourage both vendors and participants who disliked the previous venue to attend once again. RMAF's previous location was ok until a couple years ago when a remodel caused all sorts of issues with use of the Hotel's larger rooms and suites, and the normal sized rooms became much less suitable for audio use with built-in furniture and new AC units. Attendance dwindled with a lot of the big name manufacturers choosing not to attend, and attendees also dwindled. This year I saw more major players, some new up-and-coming brands along with established brands and I also saw great attendance as well, with some rooms having waiting lines! The down side is Gaylord is HUGE and I hope some vendors didn't get skipped too often, many of the rooms were spread out and there wasn't quite enough signage making sure attendees knew where to go... You often saw folks looking down long corridors wondering if there were more demo rooms down there or not! OTOH there were maps in the booklets and on every floor showing attendees where to go, and it was a good idea to use the maps as simply wandering around can lead to some lost time going down long hallways to nowhere. I can see a few simple signs solving this issue in future years.
I forgot to get info on exactly what's in every room and what the room number was, so I'll do more posting of pics and less commenting. In general, the rooms sounded really good. The contrast between 2019 and what was at RMAF a decade + ago is amazing. When RMAF first started sound quality was generally very poor, it was difficult to find good sound. Quality of gear was often questionable and the setup of said gear even more questionable. Over the year we've seen steady improvement in all areas, both gear and setup is so much improved it's truly incredible. I think audio shows have done a lot to improve high end audio since RMAF started and to give credit where credit is due, RMAF was the first of it's kind. I'm happy to see such a great RMAF event and hope the new venue will return RMAF to the forefront of audio shows. Munich is too far away, and I think the Gaylord venue is probably far better anyways...
Here's a shot of the inside of the Gaylord... this place is so large it has it's own indoor waterfalls, lakes and railroad car, probably it's own zip code!
I forgot to get info on exactly what's in every room and what the room number was, so I'll do more posting of pics and less commenting. In general, the rooms sounded really good. The contrast between 2019 and what was at RMAF a decade + ago is amazing. When RMAF first started sound quality was generally very poor, it was difficult to find good sound. Quality of gear was often questionable and the setup of said gear even more questionable. Over the year we've seen steady improvement in all areas, both gear and setup is so much improved it's truly incredible. I think audio shows have done a lot to improve high end audio since RMAF started and to give credit where credit is due, RMAF was the first of it's kind. I'm happy to see such a great RMAF event and hope the new venue will return RMAF to the forefront of audio shows. Munich is too far away, and I think the Gaylord venue is probably far better anyways...
Here's a shot of the inside of the Gaylord... this place is so large it has it's own indoor waterfalls, lakes and railroad car, probably it's own zip code!