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Behringer, cutting prices up to 40% & going robotic build


ElmerJFudd

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https://sonicstate.com/news/2018/10/22/behringer-price-drops-across-the-board/

 

Uli Behringer:

 

"Btw Model D is now the best selling synth worldwide and closely followed by Neutron. We are thrilled:-) So much more to come :-)"

 

"We are now offering price reductions up to 40% - across all brands and products and with immediate effect. Since then our order books have tripled and were working extremely hard to ramp up production in order to meet demand. But we wont stop here and the next step is to move towards complete Cobots or Collaboration Robotics (

) as well as digital transformation. We feel confident that will be able to further lower our prices in the future."

 

[video:youtube]

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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My first reaction:

Musical gear sold at a significantly reduced price...made entirely by robots...Hmmm. I wonder if any of those robots will end up throwing themselves off of roof tops.

I know that we have been hearing about the oncoming "threat" of such automation for years now, but when I think of people laboring at manufacturers like Moog Music creating relatively expensive boutique-type instruments versus the Behringer machines, I get visions of John Henry bouncing through my mind. Needless to say, as a synth player I am a bit torn. I never use automated checkout machines or movie theatre ticket machines when there is an option to interact with an actual person running a till, no matter how long the line might be. That is not because I can't figure out the machines, but because I hate to see any more minimum wage jobs disappear. Perhaps foolishly, I think about the morality of my choices, even though I might be pissing in the wind. Amazingly, the conscious decisions that I made years ago did not stop downloading of copyrighted material or the devaluing of labour and creative art. :idk

 

I'm probably going to be the outlier here. After all, who wouldn't be excited by lower prices for cool stuff? However, for now, I'm just going to watch the show and consider my options. Now, it's time to skedaddle back to my dadgum pump organ.

 

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I suggest a giant office pool: What will Behringer claim to be thinking about next and which named "maybes" will actually appear. I put $5 on "$200 ARP Omni" and "$600 McLeyvier."

 "I want to be an intellectual, but I don't have the brainpower.
  The absent-mindedness, I've got that licked."
        ~ John Cleese

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How about a PC4 running K2600-upward-compatible VAST for $800 $799.95? :w00t:

 

We'll have wait for an android user in Europe to write a good editor for it though -- and all documentation will be via Wiki.

 

Sarcasm aside, it would be nice for Uli to set us up with an affordable clonewheel.

-Tom Williams

{First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com

PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361

 

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They've probably been doing all the boards fully automated and final assembly by hand. If they can automate the assembly and packaging, that's probably where it comes from. Given that most keyboards have ribbon cables in them to connect various bits of far flung electronics in a mostly empty case, I wonder if this applies there. On something that is a single board thing like their rack synths, mixers, etc? I bet the whole thing can be done.
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Sarcasm aside, it would be nice for Uli to set us up with an affordable clonewheel.

That was my first thought. No small feat - the hardware playability is a big factor.

Yamaha P515 & CK88, Pianoteq, Mainstage, iOS, assorted other stuff.

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This topic borders on the political, and I'll try to stay on the appropriate side of the line of that conversation, but this should come as a surprise to no one.

 

This kind of production innovation, both in using ever-improving facilities and employees in cheap labor markets, happens/has happened in all industries, creative and non-creative.

 

The 'resurgence' of boutique and handmade electronics as mainstream products is in fact a luxury market, generally driven by hype and cachet more than objective, practical differences.

 

The fact of the matter is that Americans are poorer and poorer relative to the GDP, and continue to become so. Behringer might be claiming some portions of the market that were the domain of Moog, Sequential, SE, or whoever, but the movement of the economy is already pushing the products of those companies into 'unafordable' status.

 

If Behringer is going to make instruments that the average person can afford and play, more power to them!

 

The Sonic State article makes me chuckle as it tries to present "both sides" of this issue:

 

"This level of dominance will inevitably be seen by some as a malevolent force, a sort of evil empire, and it's true"

 

"Blatant commercialism does not always sit well in creative industries, there are countless examples of companies being run along traditional big business paradigms which have and are failing due to a complete lack of understanding of the culture of creativity."

 

If the "culture of creativity" means "pay more for products made with antiquated production techniques, and if you can't afford it then go take up a different hobby/profession," then I don't want any part of that culture.

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They've probably been doing all the boards fully automated and final assembly by hand. If they can automate the assembly and packaging, that's probably where it comes from. Given that most keyboards have ribbon cables in them to connect various bits of far flung electronics in a mostly empty case, I wonder if this applies there. On something that is a single board thing like their rack synths, mixers, etc? I bet the whole thing can be done.

Totally agree. Robotic automation in manufacturing is nothing new.

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Somebody still gets work, be it those maintaining or designing the automation. I bet nobody complains about when the patents expire on a drug other companies produce cheaper generic versions. Change is always inevitable, the only thing different than past technological shifts is the rate of change. Automation is not going away that genie has been out of the bottle awhile now. It is now up to us humans to figure what to do with unskilled and obsolete skilled laborers.

Boards: Kurzweil SP-6, Roland FA-08, VR-09, DeepMind 12

Modules: Korg Radias, Roland D-05, Bk7-m & Sonic Cell

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If the "culture of creativity" means "pay more for products made with antiquated production techniques, and if you can't afford it then go take up a different hobby/profession," then I don't want any part of that culture.

 

This exactly !

 

A machine isn´t a better tool just because it´s more expensive and even the most expensive today aren´t that reliable as they were in the past.

SMD technology is everywhere, "thru hole" is very rare and nowadays might not make much sense anymore ´cause I also recognize there aren´t many skilled service technicians and engineers available for the "average joe" in his area today,- if at all.

I have the luck one of my friends is a service tech and comes by from time to time, but when he´s giving up, I´m lost and will have to ship to service centers anyway.

 

For the music, even sound design,- all gear is tools.

When I´m able realizing my projects w/ cheaper tools, that´s an advantage I´d appreciate when it doesn´t introduce significant loss of quality.

 

I still have GAS for Moog One, but I also wonder how reliable it will be and for how long it will work trouble free w/o the need of service for that investment.

And there´s my age in addition ...

For how long will I need new gear now when I buy and before I´ll retire completely, maybe because of health/mobility issues and so on ?

It´s not the same situation than 20 years ago,- at least for me.

 

A.C.

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Which Behringer products are enjoying these up to 40% price reductions? I don't see the products listed in the links and a quick scan of popular online music vendors doesn't seem to indicate across-the-board price reductions.

 

My DM12 was only $699 if I remember correctly the original MAP price was about $1099 and currently it's where I bought it at. From the original MAP prices that is almost 40% reduction.

Boards: Kurzweil SP-6, Roland FA-08, VR-09, DeepMind 12

Modules: Korg Radias, Roland D-05, Bk7-m & Sonic Cell

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Those sound like good prices. I'm curious to understand the price REDUCTIONS from Behringer's previous street prices.

 

The press release says price drops "across the board" and "effective immediately." I'm not seeing that. For example, Sweetwater, has over 300 Behringer products on its website but advertises only about 5 of them as having a recent price reduction.

 

 

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Automation is definitely here to stay. We won't be able to get around robots and self-checkout taking jobs.

 

Behringer prices have always been relatively lower than other manufacturers. I think they're trying to sell hardware that competes with software sales now. :laugh::cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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Automation is definitely here to stay. We won't be able to get around robots and self-checkout taking jobs.

 

In a broader sense, this concern has been around for centuries.

 

Some of the earliest thoughts on this were from Aristotle in the 4th century BC. He basically said that that if machines could become sufficiently advanced, there would be no more need for human labor.

 

Fast forward to the mid to late 1700s in Britain, and the very early 1800s in the United states: Writers and economists of the time were concerned about the inventions of sawmills replacing workers at the start of the industrial revolution.

What they did find was that yes, in the short term, you had displaced labor. In the long term, the employment sector changed from those who manually sawed the logs, to them now building the machines that sawed the logs. This in turn caused a need for better transportation since the sawmills turned out the product much faster...

 

Ok yeah, I am a huge history buff and studied these things in college ;)

 

David

Gig Rig:Casio Privia PX-5S | Yamaha MODX+ 6 | MacBook Pro 14" M1| Mainstage

 

 

 

 

 

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I think the speed and the amount of industries affected makes what is happening a bit unprecedented. Some factories that had 4000 workers now have about 25. Retail sales is dying. I can walk into any bank that has space for 10 tellers and see only 1 or 2 working. Its everywhere and its accelerating. What the final outcome is going to look like is anyone's guess.

Boards: Kurzweil SP-6, Roland FA-08, VR-09, DeepMind 12

Modules: Korg Radias, Roland D-05, Bk7-m & Sonic Cell

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Can't imagine that some of their products could get any cheaper. I've been using their UMC404hd interface for a year and it cost me 79 bucks (99 normally)...for 4 ins and outs, midi ports and flexible outputs and monitoring.
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