MOTM

I never would consider MOTM to be the cheapest.  I've always considered it to be quality.
 
I think the problem really is the economy.  With the exception of the ones I ordered during the MOTM sale, I haven't ordered a new pre-assembled module in almost a year.  
 
Ross Stapf
Cedar Hill TX

--- On Wed, 2/11/09, Paul Schreiber <synth1@...> wrote:

From: Paul Schreiber <synth1@...>
Subject: [motm] [RANT] MOTM value?
To: motm@yahoogroups.com, "Girts R" <boss@...>
Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 2:18 PM







> Sure, everyone needs a MOTM 730... but the days when MOTM was cheapest
> modular synth is over :) 21%VAT; 3,5% import tax; shipping overseas...
> not for everyone.
>

a) You will find that the VAT declared value for MOTM modules is quite a bit 
less than 'retail'.

b) I can't help the postage costs, but shipping 1 MOTM-730 to the EU is 
about $30. That's an issue?

I've never really considered MOTM 'inexpensive' at all. Rather, 
*innovative* . Does anyone else
even have anything close to this? Nope, everyone else has $3 of CMOS 
counters behind a panel
to count in powers of 2. Big deal, the MOTM-120 has that and more.

I am just now at the *break even* point for the '730. And I can break even 
just sitting here looking out
the window.

It is VERY expensive to tool up a new module, over $4,000. And truthfully, 
right now I'm starting to wonder
what to do looking forward. 95% of all new orders are MOTM 2.0 stuff. There 
are over 15 modular
providers at last count. I still feel that myself & my fellow MOTM designers 
have yet to be out-designed in
any facet. But the bad economic times, the drop in the Euro/Pound and other 
factors is making me second-guess
all the 100s of hours (and yes, it really is 100s of hours) of design time 
put into each module versus return
on investment. Those of you that have a '730, just look at how those 5 pc 
boards interconnect, the tightness of
the CPU card (4 layers, 3 ground planes, 3 power planes) and you can see 
where the time was spent. Before this
version, I spent time & $$$ on 2 other versions so that the HW & SW could be 
tested over and over again as not to
have any issues down the road.

I've got the MOTM-520/521 still to finish up. A lot of the R&D is done, and 
so are many of the part purchases (over $7,500, BTW).
But will it also be a 'break even' sort of deal? And that $7,500 is *just* 
for the '520, not for the '521. Quick math shows
that I need to sell about 25 to break even.

And to date, I have sold less than 25 MOTM-730s. Maybe I will sell 50-60 
'520s right away. But then I thought I would get at least 40 orders for 
MOTM-730s right away.

So, maybe the issue is even "deeper", that I'm trying to sell something that 
has little interest *now* (because it did have lots of interest before).

If so, then what exactly IS of interest?

Paul S.
/excuse rant, daughter's tuition due tomorrow.... sigh.....