Clay,
How would Markus sample all of those Chamberlin sounds. It is my understanding that swapping tapes in any Chamberlin would be a pain in the ass. Even if you were to sample the sounds from an old Music Master, the tapes would likely be old and worn. Mattias has one now. so maybe he can tell us how his tapes are. But even if they're great, they're not all of the sounds. So if he wants to use the Chamberlin Masters, he would have to play them in a Mark VI or a 400. Doing that alters the dynamics of the intended sound. But then again, Markus makes no claim that I have seen, read or heard as to how the tapes were sampled. Maybe the Chamberlin sounds were all sampled from a Mellotron. Then they wouldn't be authentic, but who's gonna know?
My only real disappointment about Markus' machine is the name. I can certainly see its appeal and its purpose. I'm not sure I am aware of his marketing strategy, if any, but there certainly is interest. I am surprised that he isn't more involved with the Mellotron community.
The only reason to call what he is selling a Mellotron is because he can use that name and put it on anything he wants. As in the Harley Davidson analogy, anything they put their name on can be called a Harley Davidson "that thing." In this case, I think of it as a "Mellotron" M4000D digital sample playback machine (rompler). Where we are headed in the future is this... When someone asks whether you own a Mellotron or not, it's no longer a simple yes or no. You may have to define your answer. For me personally, a Mellotron will always be something that plays tapes.
Frank