Electronics in new analogs!

[David Halliday (Volt Computer)]

It is more the economics of marketplace than the cost of parts.

PAiA doesn't really advertise that much - they certainly don't take out
full page ads in major music magazines ( these cost $10,000 or more each
- not counting production costs ( photographer, designer, etc... ))

Neither does PAiA sell through dealers - you have to buy their units
based on recommendations or on the confidence of their design ( reading
the specs in a catalog or looking at the schematic ), the other
manufacturers will sell to stores so you can go there and tweak knobs
and try the unit out before buying.  The store does not do this out of
the goodness of their heart - they have rent and utilities and their own
advertising bills to pay - not to mention sales salaries.

Finally, PAiA is selling kits - they don't have to pay people to
assemble the units.  They also don't need to hire people to test or
calibrate them, their development costs are much cheaper too since they
don't have to pay people to develop nifty pre-sets or write glossy
manuals.  Also, since these units are shipped in bags of parts, the
packaging and shipping requirements are a lot less.

This is where your price difference is - if you want the convenience of
a pre-built unit that you can visit in the store before purchase, you
will pay to support the whole chain of people that make this possible.

If you want to manufacture the units yourself or buy a starter kit and
develop it from there, you will enjoy a cash savings but you will spend
a lot more time and will not have the opportunity to try it out first.



> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Erik Schuijers [SMTP:eriks at stack.nl]
> Sent:	Thursday, September 18, 1997 2:44 AM
> To:	synth-diy at horus.sara.nl
> Subject:	Electronics in new analogs!
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> I just visited some sites (Doepfer, Syntecno etc...) and wondered why
> the
> machines they sell are so expensive? I mean, the electronics are about
> the
> same as they were 20 years ago. Most of the components are very cheap.
> Midi-interfacing isn't that expensive!
> 
> For instance: if I would build the PAiA MCV8 ($150) + VCO, VCF, VCA,
> Envelope and noise generators (+/- $50 depending on what luxury you
> ask!) +
> housing (+/- $25) + power supply (+/- $25). That would make $250. In
> comparison the MS-404 costs $500+ !
> 
> I think for $250 you can build yourself one hell of a synth.
> 
> OK, so my question is: what's the difference (apart from the
> production
> costs)? Is it in electronics? New techniques or something? Or is it
> just
> that a big demand automatically leads to a big price?
> 
> Erik
> 
> PS: I don't know whether synths like the MS-404 sell well or not!