From: rost@tecrus.dec.com (My name is Brian Rost)
Subject: Re: The Newest Emu synth... McAnalog!!!???!!!
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: 28 JAN 93 09:32:50    


In article <1993Jan25.064737.22003@telerama.pgh.pa.us>, raver909@telerama.pgh.pa.us (Rave Crusader) writes...
>My name is Brian Rost (rost@tecrus.dec.com) wrote:
>: How much are you willing to pay for 32 analog voices?  $5000?  $10,000?
>: Obies cost a lot because they are expensive to make and sell in small
>: quantities because they are expensive.
>What kinda logic is this, Obies are expensive because they are expensive?
>I can understand if it is labor intensive to make but there is no way you
>can tell me that a Matrix 12 = 6,000 dollars in parts. Not unless its gold.
>Perhaps if they lowered the price the amount of Matrix 12's sold should
>offset the loss. I personally think they should lower the price down to
>something the average musician could afford, I know MANY people who would
>jump at a Matrix 12 for 1100 dollars.

Wait a minute, I'd just like to ask (no hostility here!) if you have ever
worked in a manufacturing environment and understand how to engineer electronic
gear for lower cost (I have).  Analog synths are simply more expensive to build
than digital synths.  Don't believe for a second that Oberheim wouldn't *love*
to make a $1000 32 voice analog synth, it just isn't possible!  Digital
synthesizers use microprocessors optimized for signal processing and a lot of
the "guts" of the machine is really software! Need a new feature, write some
new code...witness the Peavey DPM synths.

With an analog machine not only do you need lots of analog electronics (like
oscillators, filters, amplifiers) but then lots of D/A and A/D hardware to
allow control via MIDI.  This is NOT cheap to manufacture!  Plus, the analog
synth is (like it or not) not competitive as a *utility* board the way
something like an M1 is, and this is where a lot of the market is.

>The only breakthrough that needs to be made is one in thinking. The
>company needs to realize there is a LARGE market for analog technology in
>an updated form. Also they need to get beyond trying to bleed that
>percieved small market dry.

I think this viewpoint is inaccurate.  I really don't believe that the market
for analog synths is there.  Not to mention that the Vintage Keys replicates
beasts like the B3, Rhodes, Mellotron and the market there is *definitely*
limited!  Otherwise, those boards would still be in production, eh? 

>Sales of the Waldorf Microwave should show a well priced analog unit can
>become a hot item. (It is among techno/rave, hip-hop, industrial, and
>aggro artists the best thing since sliced bread and MIDI) The market is there.

Hot item?  I'd love to see sales figures on this one.  I'm sorry, I know a lot
of folks with MIDI rigs and *none* of them have a MicroWave.  And a MicroWave
is no more an analog synth than an ESQ-1 was!  In the music business as a
whole, the styles you mentioned, while becoming somewhat more popular, are
still small potatoes next to the top 40.  That's a small niche market and it is
served, by folks like Oberheim, Studio Electronics, Wine Country, etc.  Of
course, small demand means big prices.

>Great, more sample playback garbage. Just what we need. WE WANT ANALOG
>REAL ANALOG!  					

Let me say one more thing, again with no hostiltity.  In the past year I've had
a number of synths pass through my hands, some of them analog.  I picked up a
Roland SH-101 in mint shape for $25 (!!!) and another in good shape for $95.  I
have also seen a number of other analog boxes with MIDI for under $200 (Poly
800s, Six-Traks, Prophet 600s, Junos, etc.).  For people that love this stuff,
these are great deals.  But if they sell for such low prices, it suggests that
the market demand is not great, otherwise simply due to rarity prices would be
skyrocketing.  


					Brian Rost @tecrus.enet.dec.com

					508-568-6115

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