DGL. wrote:Plus we seem to forget that Dave Smith screwed over E-MU back in teh day but no-one seems to bring that up, and that the original prophet 5 was not really that much of a sequential instrument (the analogue side and keyboard scanning was E-MU's work) yet they are still living on that legacy with the new models.
But in other news they are currently teasing something called BRAINS, to be revealed on Tuesday (15th) .
not quite sure what it could be, possibly an MPC clone?
Dave Smith's actions do NOT excuse Uli of his.
I have issues with Dave Smith as well.
When he promises to finish the Tempest OS, then when cumsomers are sick of waiting and start a petition to finish it. He goes on camera and calls his customers "Wingnuts" for wanting what he promised to give them.
I don't buy DSI synths since I saw that.
The arrogance of these companies need to be put in check.
But you are right... there are nice companies and people to deal with, and not-so-nice companies and people.
Like you, I try and support the nice ones where I can and avoid the others where possible.
But it's a small industry and so it's not always practical to avoid all the 'bad guys'. Often there are either no valid alternatives or no valid alternatives within the available budget.
And few of these situations are ever pure black and white. There are always shades of grey...
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
Re: The All-New Behringer Keyboards 'n' Stuff Thread
N i g e l wrote:I'm not up to speed on this but I think braids/plaits are open source
...yes, likewise...so Braids is discontinued...but there's a replacement called Plaits...? But it's open-source and there are already various versions of it out there, so Behringer's isn't exactly original, but doesn't sound like a capital offence...?
It seems to have more models than the plaits, plus it has the waveform OLED display.
Behringer.com wrote:Visible Wavelengths
If having 20 digital oscillator modes wasn’t cool enough, BRAINS has an integrated and inspiring OLED display so you can visualize and adjust waveforms exactly the way you want them to be. Plus, having a screen with dancing waveforms on your synth is just plain awesome!
So it is using open source software (which is linked to on the product page) plus some extras done by them, so nothing really wrong there. Remember Arturia claimed they had worked with Mutable on the microfreak but in the end all they had used was the open source software, and Mutable rightly got a bit annoyed at that.
I also understand that this is the work of their Italian division, if that matters.
Modular has been very expensive up until now, especially if you’re not into DIY.
OK, you could buy a Zeus and make a cardboard box but modules were still relatively expensive. Full marks to Benringer for changing this, they give you an oscillator a filter and a VCA in one module that’s under £100, ad a couple of other cheap modules and you have a full blown synth, I bought that 2500 double EG it cost £49.
All this has to be a good thing IMO, not saying I agree with a lot of Behringers decisions, but this has opened up a whole new world to people who couldn’t afford it before.
Behringer FB wrote:DS-80 Breakthrough. John from our UK Manchester office is currently working on replicating the 50 year old CS-80 voice board. Today we celebrated a major success as all critical functions such as VCF and envelopes now perform 100% identically.
Re-engineering a nearly 50 year old design is not trivial. All chips are no longer available and any documentation for these semiconductors is also lost.
John is painstakingly measuring every function of the CS-80 voice board, while redesigning the circuitry with current components. This exercise alone has been taking around one year, because the CS-80 employs a very unusual VCO, VCF and wave-shaper design, which gives the synth its unique and incredibly beautiful sound.
The next step is to complete the VCO and wave-shaper circuitry and then build our own voice board for final testing and comparison.
John is our "analog guru" and he has been with Midas for 20 years, while working in the audio industry for over 40 years for companies such as Amek but also directly with Rupert Neve. He is one of the world's best analog engineers and if someone can create the DS-80, then it's John.
We're all extremely excited to build a 100% authentic CS-80 and make it affordable for everyone. Stay tuned...
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
Re: The All-New Behringer Keyboards 'n' Stuff Thread
I deeply regret selling my original CS80 25 years ago.
I couldn't possibly justify buying a replacement now that they swap hands for £25k plus. Moreover, mine went through a handful of IG chips through age-related failure and 25 years further on I dread to think how expensive and difficult it would be to maintain and source replacements today!
While I'm no fan of some of Uli's business practices, if his team can come up with a modern, affordable clone that sounds and performs as well as the original then I would be willing to bite my lip and acquire one. But it really would have to be right in every performance aspect...
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
Re: The All-New Behringer Keyboards 'n' Stuff Thread
DGL. wrote:
So it is using open source software (which is linked to on the product page) plus some extras done by them, so nothing really wrong there. Remember Arturia claimed they had worked with Mutable on the microfreak but in the end all they had used was the open source software, and Mutable rightly got a bit annoyed at that.
I also understand that this is the work of their Italian division, if that matters.
Absolutely insane to release stuff like this as 'open source', especially when there are so many bottom-feeder copycats out there.
All that work, just so some mega rich corporation can copy it, manufacture it cheaper in china and outmarket you. Hope they've learnt their lesson.
DGL. wrote:
So it is using open source software (which is linked to on the product page) plus some extras done by them, so nothing really wrong there. Remember Arturia claimed they had worked with Mutable on the microfreak but in the end all they had used was the open source software, and Mutable rightly got a bit annoyed at that.
I also understand that this is the work of their Italian division, if that matters.
Absolutely insane to release stuff like this as 'open source', especially when there are so many bottom-feeder copycats out there.
All that work, just so some mega rich corporation can copy it, manufacture it cheaper in china and outmarket you. Hope they've learnt their lesson.
And under one of the least restrictive licences too, which to me does seem a bit strange.
Of course until the likes of Behringer came along modular was generally done by boutique manufacturers and was a low volume product so the chances of someone making your product for less was not really thought about, and that releasing the source code in this way was probably only really meant for DIY makers.
Behringer has probably got a lot more people into eurorack and they will want more than just the Behringer modules so it could be a case of taking away with one hand and giving with another.
Hugh Robjohns wrote:I deeply regret selling my original CS80 25 years ago.
What! Hugh, that puts any of my shenanigans about selling gear in the shade, big-time!
Hugh Robjohns wrote:
While I'm no fan of some of Uli's business practices, if his team can come up with a modern, affordable clone that sounds and performs as well as the original then I would be willing to bite my lip and acquire one. But it really would have to be right in every performance aspect...
I agree there Hugh, but we don’t want any rack versions, it has to be a keyboard, with the ribbon etc etc etc, same slide switches too, otherwise no point, and I won’t be buying one if those aren’t included, they are a major part of the instrument.
Hugh Robjohns wrote:…While I'm no fan of some of Uli's business practices, if his team can come up with a modern, affordable clone that sounds and performs as well as the original then I would be willing to bite my lip and acquire one. But it really would have to be right in every performance aspect...
As a great philosopher once said: “If Once You Start Down The Dark Path, Forever Will It Dominate Your Destiny.”
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Re: The All-New Behringer Keyboards 'n' Stuff Thread
Yeah .. but he also said "mine, mine or I'll help you not". So he was a bit materialistic for my tastes...
I don't think that we'll see an exact clone of a CS80 - which is no bad thing. I could do with being lighter for a start. And proper memories (no flipping up lids with tiny sliders). And the renders have been more of a traditional size case, with what looks like a synth action keybed rather than the semi-weighted one of the original.
So it will be interesting to see what they produce.
I do think that Uli's missed a trick by not creating a Profit 5 ....
Arpangel wrote:...we don’t want any rack versions, it has to be a keyboard, with the ribbon etc etc etc, same slide switches too, otherwise no point, and I won’t be buying one if those aren’t included, they are a major part of the instrument.
I doubt you'll be buying one whatever, Tony... the knobs are bound to be the wrong size or the wrong colour hues... And moving it won't give the hernia the workout an original did... so it's all wrong!
But I agree that a good poly-touch keyboard and ribbon are essentials. I don't think I'd be too bothered whether the key bed is fully weighted or not, as long as it's a good action. Same with the sliders; they don't need to be 'quadrant' action sliders. Ordinary flat sliders would be fine as long as the same control ranges and sound characters are there.
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
Re: The All-New Behringer Keyboards 'n' Stuff Thread
And another teaser, the Behringer LmDrum 8/12bit sampling drum machine.
Behringer FB wrote:We love to share with you the progress of our first sampling drum machine. We’re super excited that the unit has passed all audio tests today and much of the user interface development is now also completed. Man, this thing grooves;-)
However, this is still a prototype and a long way from production.
Rest assured that our drum machine development team is working overtime to complete this exciting instrument as quickly as possible in order to get it into your drumming hands.
Thanks for your patience and amazing support as always. You're the reason why we do what we do.
We’d love to hear your opinion. Shoot...
P.S. This is just the beginning and there is so much more in the pipeline. Stay tuned.
