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Behringer Model D ship dates keep slipping


GRollins

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On order-affirmation notice: Based on the one pre-order I've done, my hunch is your email was related to consumer affirmation required on vendor-placed credit card holds on an un-shipped product past a certain duration. They just need a high-five from you, to keep the order as established.

 

On alternative backup plans: Your current order will eventually arrive. (It is a company's new venture.)

 

On popcorn: butter, cheddar, caramel.

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To be clear, I have yet to receive a cancellation notice--the MF critter just said "if." He didn't specify a date, but today would be two months, I think.

 

I'm a traditionalist. I'll take butter with lotsa salt. That said, I'm intrigued by the idea of cheese...do people really do that? Howzabout asiago or manchego?

 

I haven't thought of the caramel-on-popcorn thing in years. What's that called? Cracker Jacks? Have I got that right? Man, that was a loooong time ago.

 

Just for fun, I asked the Musician's Friend critter point-blank, "Have you folks received any Behringer Model Ds at all?"

 

We had been having a right jolly conversation, back and forth at 10-20 minute intervals, but after I asked that question, he went utterly silent...four hours, now, and counting...

 

Interesting.

 

Maybe he's busy taking orders for SE-02s.

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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Oh, and while I'm thinking about it...

 

If anyone here at Keyboard Corner has a Behringer Model D on order (anywhere, not just Musician's Friend), would you pretty-please weigh in with the following info:

1) When you placed your order. (Optional: With what retailer.)

2) Have you received your Model D yet?

 

I'm just dying to be proven wrong--that someone, somewhere actually has one of these things.

 

Thanks,

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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Probably going to China where they use different date formats, which means that those demos are from a year ago (or maybe ten years)...posted by a guy who works at the factory where they're made. He snarfed one off the production line and made a video.

 

Surely, I'm not the only person here who ordered one. You'd think that someone here would have received theirs and would have posted about it, even if only to say it sucks.

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Well here's a shock: I've received notice that my Model D has shipped.

 

Grey

 

Well that's a disappointment Grey. Sounds like the end of of an entertaining thread. ;)

 

Unless you post an unboxing review ....?

 

Pretty please ...? :D

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Yeah, I know you guys and gals have been waiting with bated breath for me to post the latest episode of Waiting For Godot, subtitled Watching Paint Dry.

 

For those who will miss my grumpy notes on the (lack of) progress of the Model D from China to the US, I will offer the following thoughts:

 

1) On 8/30/17 (that's August 30, 2017, for those who are concerned about date formats), Uli Behringer posted the following on Gearslutz, "With over 20,000 backorders, we have achieved such a high volume that we were able to lower the initial price of US$ 400."

 

2) Circa 1/31/18, he said, "A quick update. To date we have produced over 2,500 units and these are now mostly air freighted to our retailers. We still have a long way to go to fill the 20,000 backorders but we hope this is at least some good news."

 

The thing that strikes me about these two quotes is that the 20k backorder figure did not change. So...

 

a) They had a seriously, completely, massive crushing rush of orders last summer, then no more. None. Zero. (If posts online are to be believed, there were people placing orders throughout the fall and winter, so the number should have risen.)

 

--or--

 

b) They were producing units at almost exactly the same rate as orders were coming in, so that the backorders stayed consistently around 20k. (Uli himself has indicated that production didn't get going until late December and that it was quite slow at first.)

 

--or--

 

c) One or both of the above statements are less truthful than we might wish. (Um...yeah...I think I'll vote for this option.)

 

A few random notes:

 

--This will be my first Behringer product. I am aware that they are a polarizing company, but I have tried to remain neutral.

--The journey from concept to finished product has been carried out rather publicly. This has led to both anticipation and condemnation (sometimes both), depending on who you're talking to.

--The reception that the Behringer Model D meets in the market will no doubt color the public's perception of other synth clones they might produce.

--Based on my experience this time around, I will be a little more hesitant to pony up for their ARP 2600 until I see evidence that it's actually entering production.

--I still think that--regardless of my widely-read (that's a joke, son...a joke, I tell ya) grumblings--Behringer is going to have a runaway best seller on their hands. I find it curious that no one has done this before.

--I don't pretend to know what the actual sales figures are, or will be once the dust settles, but if the D sells as well as I expect, Uli will most definitely be cloning other classic synths, once all relevant patents have expired.

--If even half of the laundry list of synths that were available online briefly, then withdrawn, go into production then Behringer's role in the market will likely change. It could easily come to dominate their reputation, for better or for worse.

 

Assuming that the note that I received from Musician's Friend is not part of some hoax, perpetrated by some prankster here at KC, I should presumably have the unit in hand by early next week at the latest. With the caveat that I've never had a chance to play a real Moog D, hence won't be in a position to do an thorough, honest A/B comparison, I'll post my impressions once the booger comes in. It's the sound we grew up with, heard on a thousand songs. We've all pretty much triangulated what the original Moog was capable of from hearing it on so many recordings, played by so many different people. While it won't be possible to do an exacting comparison, the general sound possibilities should be apparent fairly quickly.

 

Now if only the bloody MIDI encoder would come in, I'd be able to get this project off to a proper start...

 

Grey

 

P.S.: Inquiring minds want to know...why is the current Behringer Model D called the "regular?"

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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What will happen to your bathroom project when the Model D arrives?

 

SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP! I'm not listening to you!

 

(See? I've got my fingers in my ears...I can't hear you. Oh, wait, you wrote that...maybe I should just close my eyes...)

 

Uh, the bathroom...glad you mentioned that...oh, gosh, look, it's raining. You know, we really need some rain, 'cause January was kinda dry.

 

And just to complicate matters, the MIDI encoder thingy is "out for delivery" today. Huh. So much for the email updates I was supposed to be getting as the doo-dad made its way ever closer.

 

So, believe it or not (I don't, and won't until all the pieces-parts are here in my hands, intact, functional, and ready to go), the MIDI controller --> synth project may, rather unexpectedly, lurch into motion this week. I don't know how many people here are actually into this sort of thing; KC doesn't seem to be a hotbed of maker-mentality activity, but if anyone is interested, I'll post updates as things (hopefully) come together.

 

Life, or fate, or whatever is playing games with me. As I've mentioned, this area is dead, musically. As of an hour ago, for the first time ever (at least over the last six or seven years), someone has posted a piece of Eurorack modular stuff on my local Craig's List. Sunny beach! Who'd a thunk it? It's a Pittsburgh Modular MIDI 3 unit. Which is actually something I could use for this project if I decide to go the modular route.

 

Two questions:

What's one of those worth?

What's the difference between a "regular" Pittsburgh Modular Midi 3 and the Lifeforms version?

 

Grey

 

P.S.: Oh, and I've got another, admittedly long shot, thing going. Probably won't work out so I'm not going to say any more, lest I jinx things but, man, what a difference a day makes.

 

Hey, that'd make a good song, don't 'cha think?

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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The thing that strikes me about these two quotes is that the 20k backorder figure did not change. So...

 

a) They had a seriously, completely, massive crushing rush of orders last summer, then no more. None. Zero. (If posts online are to be believed, there were people placing orders throughout the fall and winter, so the number should have risen.)

No, that is no reason for the numbers to have risen.

 

Let's say someone like Sweetwater orders a thousand units, figuring that's how many they expect to sell in the first 30 days (or whatever metric they use). They start taking orders, and at this point, they've pre-sold a few hundred of them. There is no reason for them to place another order to "replenish" because this is well within their projection. They are not going to want to maintain an initial surge level indefinitely. Unless their pre-sales are well above projections, such that they think their existing order will sell out much sooner than anticipated, there is no reason for them to order more.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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It's a conspiracy, I tell ya. A conspiracy!

 

You heard it here first: you will get a note left on your door that they attempted delivery 3 times and nobody answered, so the package was returned to China.

 

Dude, stop, you're gonna give me nightmares.

 

Actually the midiboutique mkcv96fx (aka the durawowsler) is in. I am on my way down to the Dungeon to try the keybed and encoder now.

 

Two notes about the durawowsler:

1) Although the mkcv96fx is (nearly all) SMD...it appears to have been hand-soldered. WTF?

2) It came in wrapped in aluminum foil, which in turn was wrapped in a buncha bubble wrap. Poor man's static bag? No box. No bag. No nuthin', excepting a receipt. Not even an owner's manual or quick start guide. Just the naked circuit board. Man, they've got some seriously thiiiiiin aluminum foil in Bulgaria. We're talkin' molecular thickness. You can nearly see through the stuff. (Just kidding...but not by much.)

 

The lack of support info (which is okay, I'd already downloaded the pertinent info from their website) and odd packaging is...well, never mind...the important thing is to see if it works properly.

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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AnotherScott,

Point taken.

 

Moe,

The encoder works just fine, but desperately needs programming. The start note was wonky and the velocity was pretty much synth-like hard ON/OFF--just a hint of control. The Upset utility has the ability to set this stuff--got the start note right off the bat, but the velocity presets are weird. There are eight presets and any rational person would presumably arrange them for on/off, grading onwards with increasing control. Nope. They're all jumbled together. I'm trying to sort that out now. All kinds of other stuff that I've yet to look at, but when you have to press E to get a C, you know something's wrong. Had to get that right or go crazy.

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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Received my confirmation of shipment last night from that really big nationwide brick and mortar music retailer that never seems to have any keyboards of interest in display.. I purchased in late December during the 15% off sale. Meanwhile, some other online retailers show product availability as far out as mid may.
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Received my confirmation of shipment last night from that really big nationwide brick and mortar music retailer that never seems to have any keyboards of interest in display.. I purchased in late December during the 15% off sale.

 

I didn't know you could use a coupon or sale discount when pre-ordering something... thought that only applied to in-stock items.

 

 

When an eel hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's a Moray.
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Yeah I think you may be right. Further, the discount didnt even apply to the model d. I caught a manager 10 minutes before the store closed and he was all too eager to process the order-think he just wanted me to leave...
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I ordered from Musician's Friend--asked for, and got, a 15% discount back at Thanskgiving. That was the sale that was current at that time.

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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For those who were waiting for the backorder problem to be resolved, Musician's Friend currently shows the Behringer Model D as being "In Stock & Ready To Ship." I have not checked Sweetwater, et. al. but assume that they're probably good to go, too. If not, then they should be soon.

 

No, I'm not going to order more yet for poly chaining. The first one hasn't gotten here yet and I want to be sure I like the critter before dropping more money on this facet of the experiment.

 

Besides, I just plugged a bunch of money into another item which I will report on in due time. Need to take a break from spending.

 

Incidentally, I've mostly gotten the MIDI encoder whipped into shape. The velocity curve thing is the last thing on my agenda for this go-round. The mkcv96fx has nine (not eight as I said above) velocity presets. Five are hard-coded. Four are available to be user programmed. The hard-coded ones are linear, log, exponential, "S" and "N."

 

If anyone has any insight as to what S and N stand for, I'd be interested to hear about it.

 

The linear and exponential are the only ones that are anywhere near tolerable for simulating a piano, though neither is worth bragging about. I'm going to spend odd bits of time trying to hack together an offset table that works better. If anyone has any suggestions as to values that might work, I'm all ears.

 

The user presets are set by default to flat numeric results. For example, #8 gives 127 for all velocities, regardless of how hard you hit the keys. That can be reprogrammed, but I'm thinking I'll leave it for applications like organ or harpsichord where there are no dynamics to worry about.

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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For those who were waiting for the backorder problem to be resolved, Musician's Friend currently shows the Behringer Model D as being "In Stock & Ready To Ship." I have not checked Sweetwater, et. al. but assume that they're probably good to go, too. If not, then they should be soon.

Although it was in the back of my mind as a "get one eventually", I had no plans to buy one of these right now. But going to MF and seeing the big green "In Stock & Ready To Ship" was apparently enough to snap the thin strand of will power I possess. This is exactly the same way I ended up with a Minilogue when they were first released (since sold).

"If you can't dazzle them with dexterity, baffle them with bullshit."
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Boy, do I know that feeling...

 

To paraphrase another saying: I don't suffer from GAS, I enjoy every minute of it!

 

I'm sure Sweetwater probably has some by now and I believe Amazon was going to be selling them, too. If I recall, you can go to the Behringer site and they've got a link that shows their retailers.

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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