midinut Posted March 7, 2011 Posted March 7, 2011 If this has been discussed I apologize in advance. I noticed that Muse is no longer being carried by Sweetwater or Musician's Friend. Zzounds only has one left in stock. Has Muse decided to sell direct only or is there a reason these online retailers have dropped the line? Just curious. Hardware: Yamaha: MODX7 | Korg: Kronos 88, Wavestate | ASM: Hydrasynth Deluxe | Roland: Jupiter-Xm, Cloud Pro, TD-9K V-Drums | Alesis: StrikePad Pro| Behringer: Crave, Poly D, XR-18, RX1602 | CPS: SpaceStation SSv2 | Controllers: ROLI RISE 49 | Arturia KeyLab Essentials 88, KeyLab 61, MiniLab | M-Audio KeyStation 88 & 49 | Akai EWI USB | Novation LaunchPad Mini, | Guitars & Such: Line 6 Variax, Helix LT, POD X3 Live, Martin Acoustic, DG Strat Copy, LP Sunburst Copy, Natural Tele Copy| Squier Precision 5-String Bass | Mandolin | Banjo | Ukulele Software: Recording: MacBook Pro | Mac Mini | Logic Pro X | Mainstage | Cubase Pro 12 | Ableton Live 11 | Monitors: M-Audio BX8 | Presonus Eris 3.5BT Monitors | Slate Digital VSX Headphones & ML-1 Mic | Behringer XR-18 & RX1602 Mixers | Beyerdynamics DT-770 & DT-240 Arturia: V-Collection 9 | Native Instruments: Komplete 1 Standard | Spectrasonics: Omnisphere 2, Keyscape, Trilian | Korg: Legacy Collection 4 | Roland: Cloud Pro | GForce: Most all of their plugins | u-he: Diva, Hive 2, Repro, Zebra Legacy | AAS: Most of their VSTs | IK Multimedia: SampleTank 4 Max, Sonik Synth, MODO Drums & Bass | Cherry Audio: Most of their VSTs |
VegasGT3 Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 I can only guess, but I guarantee you it is not a good sign. It was one of the reasons I have not actually purchased one and decided to just use my laptop and hopefully upgrade to SSD when I can. Kurzweil PC3x, Nord Electro 3, Nord C-1, Casio Privia PX-3, Yamaha DX-7, Korg Polysix, Moog Taurus 3, Yamaha Motif XS (rack),Ventilator, QSC K12, K10
Martin Hines Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 I suspect Sweetwater just did not sell enough units to justify carrying it.
Tonysounds Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 It was a Muse decision as of last year; they are doing only direct marketing. Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me.
VegasGT3 Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 I'm sure that is the PR release, but that seems like an odd way to increase sales for a small company. To lose major distribution like SW and MF is disappointing. I met some of the guys at NAMM who seemed really nice, but not being affiliated with a main distributor doesn't help their credibility in the marketplace. Sweetwater offers a two-year warranty on its gear and I suspect that the returns were too high or it didn't sell enough. I hope they can make it as a niche product with limited distribution. Kurzweil PC3x, Nord Electro 3, Nord C-1, Casio Privia PX-3, Yamaha DX-7, Korg Polysix, Moog Taurus 3, Yamaha Motif XS (rack),Ventilator, QSC K12, K10
richwhite9 Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 They have one business model that works: selling it with preconfigured software. If you take the attitude you need to ship it back every 3 years for an upgrade of the hardware and software you can be a happy camper. If you need 3 units preconfigured to take on tour for 6 months great. If you want to add some software here and there that's known to work? Great. If you want to putz with it and upgrade it constantly with each and every software revision--forget it. Go buy a computer.
johnchop Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 My SW rep said Muse's margins were too thin to go through a distributor. I make software noises.
Ken Beaumont Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 I would have to agree, with low volume the margin had to be pretty small. I hope the direct marketing works out for them. Companies like Carvin do pretty brisk business, but they have been doing that for a long time (over 60 years) and sell more than just one thing. It seems to me they will now need to spend a lot more on promotion. I first saw Muse on the Sweetwater website! Boards: Kurzweil SP-6, Roland FA-08, VR-09, DeepMind 12 Modules: Korg Radias, Roland D-05, Bk7-m & Sonic Cell
midinut Posted March 8, 2011 Author Posted March 8, 2011 They have one business model that works: selling it with preconfigured software. In looking at their web site I don't even see the preconfigured bundles anymore (unless I missed them somewhere) ... and I agree with the rest of your points Rich Hardware: Yamaha: MODX7 | Korg: Kronos 88, Wavestate | ASM: Hydrasynth Deluxe | Roland: Jupiter-Xm, Cloud Pro, TD-9K V-Drums | Alesis: StrikePad Pro| Behringer: Crave, Poly D, XR-18, RX1602 | CPS: SpaceStation SSv2 | Controllers: ROLI RISE 49 | Arturia KeyLab Essentials 88, KeyLab 61, MiniLab | M-Audio KeyStation 88 & 49 | Akai EWI USB | Novation LaunchPad Mini, | Guitars & Such: Line 6 Variax, Helix LT, POD X3 Live, Martin Acoustic, DG Strat Copy, LP Sunburst Copy, Natural Tele Copy| Squier Precision 5-String Bass | Mandolin | Banjo | Ukulele Software: Recording: MacBook Pro | Mac Mini | Logic Pro X | Mainstage | Cubase Pro 12 | Ableton Live 11 | Monitors: M-Audio BX8 | Presonus Eris 3.5BT Monitors | Slate Digital VSX Headphones & ML-1 Mic | Behringer XR-18 & RX1602 Mixers | Beyerdynamics DT-770 & DT-240 Arturia: V-Collection 9 | Native Instruments: Komplete 1 Standard | Spectrasonics: Omnisphere 2, Keyscape, Trilian | Korg: Legacy Collection 4 | Roland: Cloud Pro | GForce: Most all of their plugins | u-he: Diva, Hive 2, Repro, Zebra Legacy | AAS: Most of their VSTs | IK Multimedia: SampleTank 4 Max, Sonik Synth, MODO Drums & Bass | Cherry Audio: Most of their VSTs |
allan_evett Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 This may be what you are looking for: http://www.museresearch.com/receptor.php?r=configurations 'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo. We need a barfing cat emoticon!
Sven Golly Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 Muse changed their model in that they won't send units out to retailers, because things are changing so fast, and it's a configure-to-the-user's-needs situation. You can still purchase through the regular dealer network, but you tell them what spec you want, the dealer orders it/supports it. That's how it is up here in Canada, at least. YMMV.
mynameisdanno Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 I don't think it's a bad sign at all, and certainly won't factor into my decision to buy or not. They're planning on most users wanting to customize - I certainly will be if/when I buy one. Any change that helps them sustain the hefty price cuts they put in place a year or so without cutting corners on the product is good news in my book. IMO (and speaking as a happy Sweetwater customer) Muse's credibility comes from the list of heavy-hitters that are happily using them on major tours, not from availability or lack thereof through retail channels.
richwhite9 Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 I you ship to them for upgrade they do software reinstalls (for a fee) as long as you have the licenses. If I shipped to them I'd have them upgrade the Komplete, Ivory, and a couple other installs. I work in IT and can't be bothered to fuss with it at home. It makes sense for Sweetwater to push people into their custom rigs. I'm betting there's a fair amount of upselling there and add on products and services for the deep pocketed customer. Add an RME or MOTU, touch screen monitor, a controller, $1,500 of software, and then it turns into additional studio equipment or a backup unit for stage, etc. Then preconfigure it all for a price. Or they can ship a Receptor and find out after the fact that the Muse Remote Software doesn't work on Windows 7 64-bit (there is a workaround), etc.
Tonysounds Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 [video:youtube] Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me.
allan_evett Posted March 8, 2011 Posted March 8, 2011 [video:youtube] 'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo. We need a barfing cat emoticon!
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