Hilarious bit of synth click bait

[ElmerJFudd]

 

[lightbg]

Perfect. Thanks for sharing.

[AROIOS]

Dude is in the wrong profession, he's got more insight in marketing and behavioral science than music. Being a synth YT channel, his preaching goes against human nature and will mostly fall on deaf ears. That anecdote about Leland Sklar's "magic knob" is everything we need to know about consumer psychology from wine tasting to iPhone photos.

OTOH, "fairy dusts" 1) allow companies to make a profit and keep pumping out gear; 2) reduce gear prices when suckers move on to new, shinier unicorn farts. So I say, long live suckers and their fairy dusts!

[16251]

I feel that way when I want to buy either a bean/rice/cheese burrito or a falafel roll up.

[marino]

I can't say how much of Espen Kraft's argument is serious or merely some kind of provocation, but I'm very surprised by this video, as I have always liked his sound design work. While some of his statements can have some validity, I don't even want to begin discussing all the points I disagree with, as I use both hardware and software in various degrees and for different reasons - and he presents the issue in an oversimplified way. The amount of sheer inaccurate informations is perplexing. The quoted prices are completely incorrect. Then he says that Behringer use thru-hole technology. The *only* synth he recommends is the Hydrasynth. I hope he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed...
 

[Baldwin Funster]

He made me feel pretty good about OBXd. 

[ElmerJFudd]

1 hour ago, marino said:

I can't say how much of Espen Kraft's argument is serious or merely some kind of provocation, but I'm very surprised by this video, as I have always liked his sound design work. While some of his statements can have some validity, I don't even want to begin discussing all the points I disagree with, as I use both hardware and software in various degrees and for different reasons - and he presents the issue in an oversimplified way. The amount of sheer inaccurate informations is perplexing. The quoted prices are completely incorrect. Then he says that Behringer use thru-hole technology. The *only* synth he recommends is the Hydrasynth. I hope he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed...
 

Without a doubt it’s a provocation for streams (clicks are money).   He really was very careful to press everyone’s buttons (sitting in front two of his own expensive synths no less).  

[Jose EB5AGV]

2 hours ago, marino said:

I can't say how much of Espen Kraft's argument is serious or merely some kind of provocation, but I'm very surprised by this video, as I have always liked his sound design work. While some of his statements can have some validity, I don't even want to begin discussing all the points I disagree with, as I use both hardware and software in various degrees and for different reasons - and he presents the issue in an oversimplified way. The amount of sheer inaccurate informations is perplexing. The quoted prices are completely incorrect. Then he says that Behringer use thru-hole technology. The *only* synth he recommends is the Hydrasynth. I hope he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed...
 

 

Some days ago I watched a video of him commenting on trolls. Perhaps he has been upset and is his way to throw some sh*t to them or at least get their attention 

[YashN]

The Dumbest Synthfluencer.

 

Thinks all polyphonic analogue synths are way too expensive "because they're mostly digital inside anyway". I think he deleted that video.

 

He's also completely narcissistic: "I'm Espen Kraft (Cheese), and you're not."

 

I thought it was funny, but it might not be at all: there could be some mental issue here.

[YashN]

3 hours ago, marino said:

I can't say how much of Espen Kraft's argument is serious or merely some kind of provocation, but I'm very surprised by this video, as I have always liked his sound design work. While some of his statements can have some validity,

 

There is some truth to it, but without taking into account synth architecture as well as the current economic climate, there's no point interacting with him on his channel: he is unable to follow well articulated arguments.

 

He is scammy himself.

[JoJoB3]

Not gonna disagree with his obvious (shit is ridiculously overpriced today, and yes most of them could release for less) but hold on....
He keeps going back to example of VSTs.  Nothing's changed, if a player doesn't want or have to be tied to a separate computer onstage companies make hardware instruments.  The 'sound' isn't the full story.

[Jim Alfredson]

I got two minutes in and clicked away. It's a dumb and tired argument based on ignorance. It is extremely expensive to bring a product to market. The reason companies like Behringer can do so much cheaper than, say, Sequential or Oberheim is because economies of scale. Behringer probably pays a quarter of what Oberheim pays for the same components because Behringer buys many orders of magnitude more parts. It's the same tactic that allowed Walmart to ground almost every mom & pop grocery store into the dust. Purchasing power = savings for the company which can then be passed on to the consumer to undercut the competition. That's capitalism. A tiny company like Oberheim simply can't get the same kind of prices for parts and that's one reason why their instruments are more expensive.

Are new Oberheims too expensive? That's relative. A $250,000 Ferarri does the same job as a $30,000 Toyota and yet there's room in the market for both. If you personally can't afford one, that doesn't mean it's too expensive. It just means you can't afford one. It certainly doesn't mean that the instrument is a 'scam', which is a very serious charge and could be considered libel when you stop and think about it. A 'scam' implies that the company is knowingly screwing people. Are Moog, Sequential, Third Wave, and Oberheim purposefully ripping people off? C'mon.

And the comment about people not making music with their gear: Who cares? That's such a weird comment. So unless someone is actively making music and publishing / releasing said music, their instrument purchases are unjustified? Because the great and wise Espen Kraft says so? That's some egocentric nonsense right there.

Shitty video. He lost my subscription over it.

[Baldwin Funster]

Well he did say that video was going to make alot of people  mad, so the troll must have been for a purpose.

 

Anyways, time for the latest episode of Bad Gear.

[JoJoB3]

8 minutes ago, Jim Alfredson said:

I got two minutes in and clicked away. It's a dumb and tired argument based on ignorance. It is extremely expensive to bring a product to market. The reason companies like Behringer can do so much cheaper than, say, Sequential or Oberheim is because economies of scale. Behringer probably pays a quarter of what Oberheim pays for the same components because Behringer buys many orders of magnitude more parts. It's the same tactic that allowed Walmart to ground almost every mom & pop grocery store into the dust. Purchasing power = savings for the company which can then be passed on to the consumer to undercut the competition. That's capitalism. A tiny company like Oberheim simply can't get the same kind of prices for parts and that's one reason why their instruments are more expensive.

Are new Oberheims too expensive? That's relative. A $250,000 Ferarri does the same job as a $30,000 Toyota and yet there's room in the market for both. If you personally can't afford one, that doesn't mean it's too expensive. It just means you can't afford one. It certainly doesn't mean that the instrument is a 'scam', which is a very serious charge and could be considered libel when you stop and think about it. A 'scam' implies that the company is knowingly screwing people. Are Moog, Sequential, Third Wave, and Oberheim purposefully ripping people off? C'mon.

And the comment about people not making music with their gear: Who cares? That's such a weird comment. So unless someone is actively making music and publishing / releasing said music, their instrument purchases are unjustified? Because the great and wise Espen Kraft says so? That's some egocentric nonsense right there.

Shitty video. He lost my subscription over it.

He's forgetting that those people who know they want a DSI, Oberheim, Moog, etc. are going to be buying that.  They know they want hardware. They know they WANT that name showing in every aspect. Iow. ultimately this isn't the kind of money to dissuade.   However, launching into VST substitute as a premise is pretty ridiculous, so many factors ignored. 

But I can't agree Behringers synth division is taking away from the aforementioned. There's room for Behringer and more (plenty more). 
Keeping it real with Behringer (synths) though, they have a handful of "well goddamn this is surprising, musical, and useful" mixed with "cool. I don't want it".  

[ABECK]

I generally like Espen Kraft's videos, but this one misses the mark for me.  I don't even get the point.  He's either purposely being provocative (I honestly have no time for that), or he's swimming out of his depth in his understanding of what it takes to design, manufacture and sell finished electronics goods.  His premise that current pricing for certain products is a "scam" paints a picture of cigar smoking 3 piece suit wearing executives laughing in a board room as they continue to move the decimal point to the right.  (repeatedly making Gordon Gekko references to paint a picture of corporate greed).  

 

Some points to ponder.....

"How much can we charge until someone smells a rat?"  Answer - as much as the market will bear.

"Pay attention to these people and how much music they make, which is actually very little."  How does this factor into anyone's opinions? 

"I'm not questioning the quality, I'm questioning the price."  This is too short sighted to even argue with.

"Inside a sequential synth these days is very little in terms of electronics."  Riiiight

"Will you pay $5000 for a Moog synth that will be discontinued in a couple of years."  Coming from the guy sitting in a room FULL of discontinued gear.  

"...Jupiter X and Juno X, both wrapped in a nice shell with lights knobs and faders."  Then goes on to say both are basically running VSTs...yes, inside a nice shell with lights knobs and faders!  

"I'm Espen Kraft and you're not."  Chevy Chase wants his joke back.

 

At the end of the day, cost is relative.  I look at his studio and think - I could never afford all that.  Does that mean HE got scammed.  No.  Whatever he paid was the value he placed on those items by handing over the money.  

 

 

 

[lsj]

what was the price of a yamaha dx-7 when it first came out?  compare that cost to today's equivalent.  I recently wondered how I could afford the dx-7 when it came out.