Follow up to my previous post.
I have, amongst other keyboards, a Korg Triton Pro X. Minimal expense on the cabinet, maximal expense on software. It is f∗∗king awesome! I love my Trons, but seriously, except for the appeal of owning and playing one (not unlike owning and riding an old motorcycle). How can the average musician justify the cost of production? The Mark VI is expensive and really delivers nothing new of consequence. A cycling "400" would be exciting, but I would imagine it would cost around $8,000.00 US dollars to bring to market. Am I right, Martin? The costs would only decrease if there was a huge market for them. Unlikely.
Don't hold your breath waiting for the next big leap in Mellotron technology. If it comes, it will not be mass produced. It will be at the workshop level. If you notice, there aren't a lot of J-Trons out there, although Justin Mayer offered to build some more of them.
We'll buy Mellotrons because we like them... new or used. Any significant improvement on the technology will be expensive as hell.
Look at Markus' new Mark VII. It's still an updated Mark V at best, with a better motor and preamp. Nothing more.
Frank