MOTM

I will have time this week to work on the backlog, I have a stack of 14
orders that will ship this week and probably 1 or 2 more. This is 2.0, kits
and some assembled.

This weekend I did repairs & mods at have been accumulating the last couple
of months (BTW: did someone send me a Frac 1485 with white knobs?).

The first 3 weeks of May I will have limited MOTM time (not zero, just
limited) but the last week of May will have more time on the schedule. The
summer is a LOT better because I get every other Friday off from Jun-Sept
and that's usually 100% MOTM time.

Assuming no orders come in this week that I can't do a "turn" (ship out the
same week it is entered), there will be 65 orders that need to be shipped
and 18 partial orders to be shipped. This is from a total of 1611 orders
received in that same period. So I have ~ 5% backlog. Which sucks if it is
YOUR order.

But my point is: the backlog is shrinking fairly fast, as ironically the
main reason is new orders coming in for assembled modules is pretty low.
Which is probably due to them taking so long to ship (a sort of Catch-22).

If you lump all the orders to 83 outstanding, I expect that number to be ~
50 by July 1st and < 20 by Aug. 1st.

If you do not want to wait, *just tell me*. If you want a refund for a prior
purchase *just ask me*. I cannot "speed things up", it is what it is
(shrug).

When the backlog is < 20 *and not until then*, I will have 2 new modules to
sell: the MOTM-102 digital noise & 4-section cascaded S&H (the MOTM-101 will
be retired) and a new 1U wide bandpass VCF. These will be tooled up so that
the day they are in the cart, there will be 30 of each boxed up and sitting
on the shelf for < 1 week delivery.

But I will say this: if these modules, for whatever reason, do not sell in
sufficient numbers then I will most likely stop 5U R&D and concentrate
elsewhere. And, I'm *NOT*, repeat not "blaming" anyone reading this: if
anything *I'M TO BLAME* but that does not change the fact that with over 30
other modular vendors to choose from, and many MOTM people preferring DIY
over assembled coupled with Euro taking off so that higher ESP (expected
selling price) is the norm, it just doesn't make economic sense to spend the
time and $$ only to sell 12 modules in 6 months.

When I started MOTM, my goal was to sell 500 modules *in 3 years* and buy a
nice stereo. I had several people laugh at that and say I'd be lucking to
sell 1/2 that ever. Well, 12 years later, almost 8900 modules in 3 formats
later, I'm still puttering along. I've had *3* job changes (including a
14-month layoff when MOTM lost over $54,000), the death of a close friend
and MOTM evangelist (Larry H.) the near-fatal stroke of my business partner
in the kit business (Paul H.) and Vishay taking 14 MONTHS to deliver log
pots (then jacking the price from $2.80ea to over $7 each) and lastly the
whole RoHS nightmare. Hasn't been a picnic exactly.

But I'm *still trying* as best as I can. Please understand that I don't
"favor" anyone in terms of orders (ask the Chemical Brothers if you don't
believe me), I abuse everyone equally.

I have the best customers of anyone. I truly believe that. And I promise
that everyone WILL get their stuff as soon as I can get it made.

Paul S.

Congrats on all of your successes, Paul! And thanks for weathering the
storms and providing the majority of the modules in my lovely dream synth,
which is almost done! Just a few more modules left to get, and a couple I'm
waiting on you to build . . and those DIY projects I've got to build . . and
. . oh yeah, a few repairs and a few mods . . and some patch cables to build
. . .and the internal back lighting and external gooseneck lamps . . and

John L Rice

PS: The 4-section cascaded S&H in the MOTM-102 sounds like it will be
awesome!
PPS: Any more details on the 1U wide bandpass VCF? Thanks for making it 1U,
I think I can fit it in . . somewhere.
PPPS: MOTM-600! 'nuff said!
PPPPS: sorry for all the PS BS! ;-)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: motm@yahoogroups.com [mailto:motm@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
> Paul Schreiber
> Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2010 10:22 PM
> To: MOTM List
> Subject: [motm] Update/semi-rant
>
> I will have time this week to work on the backlog, I have a stack of 14
> orders that will ship this week and probably 1 or 2 more. This is 2.0,
> kits
> and some assembled.
>
> This weekend I did repairs & mods at have been accumulating the last
> couple
> of months (BTW: did someone send me a Frac 1485 with white knobs?).
>
> The first 3 weeks of May I will have limited MOTM time (not zero, just
> limited) but the last week of May will have more time on the schedule.
> The
> summer is a LOT better because I get every other Friday off from Jun-
> Sept
> and that's usually 100% MOTM time.
>
> Assuming no orders come in this week that I can't do a "turn" (ship out
> the
> same week it is entered), there will be 65 orders that need to be
> shipped
> and 18 partial orders to be shipped. This is from a total of 1611
> orders
> received in that same period. So I have ~ 5% backlog. Which sucks if it
> is
> YOUR order.
>
> But my point is: the backlog is shrinking fairly fast, as ironically
> the
> main reason is new orders coming in for assembled modules is pretty
> low.
> Which is probably due to them taking so long to ship (a sort of Catch-
> 22).
>
> If you lump all the orders to 83 outstanding, I expect that number to
> be ~
> 50 by July 1st and < 20 by Aug. 1st.
>
> If you do not want to wait, *just tell me*. If you want a refund for a
> prior
> purchase *just ask me*. I cannot "speed things up", it is what it is
> (shrug).
>
> When the backlog is < 20 *and not until then*, I will have 2 new
> modules to
> sell: the MOTM-102 digital noise & 4-section cascaded S&H (the MOTM-101
> will
> be retired) and a new 1U wide bandpass VCF. These will be tooled up so
> that
> the day they are in the cart, there will be 30 of each boxed up and
> sitting
> on the shelf for < 1 week delivery.
>
> But I will say this: if these modules, for whatever reason, do not sell
> in
> sufficient numbers then I will most likely stop 5U R&D and concentrate
> elsewhere. And, I'm *NOT*, repeat not "blaming" anyone reading this: if
> anything *I'M TO BLAME* but that does not change the fact that with
> over 30
> other modular vendors to choose from, and many MOTM people preferring
> DIY
> over assembled coupled with Euro taking off so that higher ESP
> (expected
> selling price) is the norm, it just doesn't make economic sense to
> spend the
> time and $$ only to sell 12 modules in 6 months.
>
> When I started MOTM, my goal was to sell 500 modules *in 3 years* and
> buy a
> nice stereo. I had several people laugh at that and say I'd be lucking
> to
> sell 1/2 that ever. Well, 12 years later, almost 8900 modules in 3
> formats
> later, I'm still puttering along. I've had *3* job changes (including a
> 14-month layoff when MOTM lost over $54,000), the death of a close
> friend
> and MOTM evangelist (Larry H.) the near-fatal stroke of my business
> partner
> in the kit business (Paul H.) and Vishay taking 14 MONTHS to deliver
> log
> pots (then jacking the price from $2.80ea to over $7 each) and lastly
> the
> whole RoHS nightmare. Hasn't been a picnic exactly.
>
> But I'm *still trying* as best as I can. Please understand that I don't
> "favor" anyone in terms of orders (ask the Chemical Brothers if you
> don't
> believe me), I abuse everyone equally.
>
> I have the best customers of anyone. I truly believe that. And I
> promise
> that everyone WILL get their stuff as soon as I can get it made.
>
> Paul S.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

On Mon, 26 Apr 2010, Paul Schreiber wrote:

> But I will say this: ...

Well, ummm, how's the stereo working out for you?

--
Monty Brandenberg

I once had a professor tell me that I was verbose and therefore no one would read my missives, but to hell with him, we hacked his office server and found horse porn. With that in mind...

Firstly, as one of your, erm, major share holders I think this is an appropriate business decision and a courageous one at that. I say that with an immensely heavy heart, of course. I am that DIY customer of whom you write and a sometimes critical one to boot. But I'm still a booster for your vision.

Second, a bit of that criticism. I'm all on board for the MOTM-102 but I think billing it as a 101 replacement is sort of dooming it to fail. This is an awesome ASR, a cascadable one, iirc, at that. Knowing you, it will be the best one on the market so it deserves its own salvo.

Third, I don't know anything about this new bandpass, but it sounds somewhat utilitarian. Nothing wrong with that (4U for a bandpass using 2x 420s is kind of a waste of space), but the Synth Tech filters all have individual colors that make the product line unique. Having its own color is going to be the breaking point.

Fourth, as you've posted, the biggest bread winners are the sound sources. As a cheerleader, I'd rather shake my pom poms for the cloud or the terrarium and I'm 100% certain the list will back me up on this.

Fifth, can your boosters count on a consolation? Namely 15V or 15/5V power connectors with potless PCBs on them? I pledge to commission panel runs from Bridechamber or The Beast if you'll commit.

your customer always,
eric w f

--- On Mon, 4/26/10, Paul Schreiber <synth1@...> wrote:

From: Paul Schreiber <synth1@...>
Subject: [motm] Update/semi-rant
To: "MOTM List" <motm@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Monday, April 26, 2010, 12:22 AM

I will have time this week to work on the backlog, I have a stack of 14
orders that will ship this week and probably 1 or 2 more. This is 2.0, kits
and some assembled.

This weekend I did repairs & mods at have been accumulating the last couple
of months (BTW: did someone send me a Frac 1485 with white knobs?).

The first 3 weeks of May I will have limited MOTM time (not zero, just
limited) but the last week of May will have more time on the schedule. The
summer is a LOT better because I get every other Friday off from Jun-Sept
and that's usually 100% MOTM time.

Assuming no orders come in this week that I can't do a "turn" (ship out the
same week it is entered), there will be 65 orders that need to be shipped
and 18 partial orders to be shipped. This is from a total of 1611 orders
received in that same period. So I have ~ 5% backlog. Which sucks if it is
YOUR order.

But my point is: the backlog is shrinking fairly fast, as ironically the
main reason is new orders coming in for assembled modules is pretty low.
Which is probably due to them taking so long to ship (a sort of Catch-22).

If you lump all the orders to 83 outstanding, I expect that number to be ~
50 by July 1st and < 20 by Aug. 1st.

If you do not want to wait, *just tell me*. If you want a refund for a prior
purchase *just ask me*. I cannot "speed things up", it is what it is
(shrug).

When the backlog is < 20 *and not until then*, I will have 2 new modules to
sell: the MOTM-102 digital noise & 4-section cascaded S&H (the MOTM-101 will
be retired) and a new 1U wide bandpass VCF. These will be tooled up so that
the day they are in the cart, there will be 30 of each boxed up and sitting
on the shelf for < 1 week delivery.

But I will say this: if these modules, for whatever reason, do not sell in
sufficient numbers then I will most likely stop 5U R&D and concentrate
elsewhere. And, I'm *NOT*, repeat not "blaming" anyone reading this: if
anything *I'M TO BLAME* but that does not change the fact that with over 30
other modular vendors to choose from, and many MOTM people preferring DIY
over assembled coupled with Euro taking off so that higher ESP (expected
selling price) is the norm, it just doesn't make economic sense to spend the
time and $$ only to sell 12 modules in 6 months.

When I started MOTM, my goal was to sell 500 modules *in 3 years* and buy a
nice stereo. I had several people laugh at that and say I'd be lucking to
sell 1/2 that ever. Well, 12 years later, almost 8900 modules in 3 formats
later, I'm still puttering along. I've had *3* job changes (including a
14-month layoff when MOTM lost over $54,000), the death of a close friend
and MOTM evangelist (Larry H.) the near-fatal stroke of my business partner
in the kit business (Paul H.) and Vishay taking 14 MONTHS to deliver log
pots (then jacking the price from $2.80ea to over $7 each) and lastly the
whole RoHS nightmare. Hasn't been a picnic exactly.

But I'm *still trying* as best as I can. Please understand that I don't
"favor" anyone in terms of orders (ask the Chemical Brothers if you don't
believe me), I abuse everyone equally.

I have the best customers of anyone. I truly believe that. And I promise
that everyone WILL get their stuff as soon as I can get it made.

Paul S.

>> But I will say this: ...
>
> Well, ummm, how's the stereo working out for you?
>

Actually, the damn thing *blew up* (only 1 channel I think) about 2 months
ago. I'm debating on if I should repair it or sell "as-is". It's a Mark
Levinson 383 that was ~ $7,000 new. It's will cost $300 just to ship it to
the service center and get an estimate.

Sign from above? :(

Paul S.

Being a Mark Levinson, isn't there a sort of lifetime warranty on those things, as they are usually bullet proof... (or did you push a raw sine wave from a MOTM-300 through it at full blast??) :-)

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Schreiber" <synth1@...> wrote:
>
> >> But I will say this: ...
> >
> > Well, ummm, how's the stereo working out for you?
> >
>
> Actually, the damn thing *blew up* (only 1 channel I think) about 2 months
> ago. I'm debating on if I should repair it or sell "as-is". It's a Mark
> Levinson 383 that was ~ $7,000 new. It's will cost $300 just to ship it to
> the service center and get an estimate.
>
> Sign from above? :(
>
> Paul S.
>

> But I will say this: if these modules, for whatever reason, do not sell in
> sufficient numbers then I will most likely stop 5U R&D and concentrate
> elsewhere.

Paul,

I'm pretty much an old style, hand built, all-analog kind of customer. As you introduce new products, it would be helpful if you could make it clear whether it's analog and possible to hand assemble. I've heard your justifications for going digital, but I already have a Chameleon--any time I want to simulate analog in the digital domain, I can turn it on and load it up. I'm not doing music production right now because of a startup I'm running, but I would certainly be interested in buying new products to queue up for the arsenal. That said, my MOTM racks are hand built and analog, and they are going to stay that way. Otherwise I can turn to my Chameleon and the Kurz.

Thanks,
Andy Valencia

> I'm pretty much an old style, hand built, all-analog kind of customer. As
> you introduce new products, it would be helpful if you could make it clear
> whether it's analog and possible to hand assemble. I've heard your
> justifications for going digital, but I already have a Chameleon--any time
> I want to simulate analog in the digital domain, I can turn it on and load
> it up. I'm not doing music production right now because of a startup I'm
> running, but I would certainly be interested in buying new products to
> queue up for the arsenal. That said, my MOTM racks are hand built and
> analog, and they are going to stay that way. Otherwise I can turn to my
> Chameleon and the Kurz.

The MOTM-102 is 100% digital, the VCF is 100% analog but it's SMT.

People that are still intent on the full-on DIY route will be better
serviced elsewhere for future products. The current MOTM analog stuff will
still be available for DIYers. I suspect JH will be offering many of his
designs in black pcb form.

BTW: the MOTM 5U Cloud Generator is still going to ship as I have 90% of all
the parts and front panels already purchased. If I sell at least 40 of them,
I will release the Expander module later. But not if I sell 11 of them :(

Paul S.

Fine. So we're to be held hostage now. Buy these or no cloud generator for you! Soup nazi.

Where is the Cloud generator and the Morphing Terrarium? You've promised that these would be next many times. These are modules I would actually buy, as opposed to reworked versions of stuff I already have.

Good luck. I think you're going to need it with this new approach.

Steve Drake (who still uses 600$ 20 year old Yamaha amplifier that works like new)

On Mon, Apr 26, 2010 at 12:22 AM, Paul Schreiber <synth1@...> wrote:

When the backlog is < 20 *and not until then*, I will have 2 new modules to
sell: the MOTM-102 digital noise & 4-section cascaded S&H (the MOTM-101 will
be retired) and a new 1U wide bandpass VCF. These will be tooled up so that
the day they are in the cart, there will be 30 of each boxed up and sitting
on the shelf for < 1 week delivery.

But I will say this: if these modules, for whatever reason, do not sell in
sufficient numbers then I will most likely stop 5U R&D and concentrate
elsewhere.

--
------------------------------------------------------------------
Stephen Drake
sduck409@...
makeme1witheverything@...

"When the backlog is < 20 *and not until then*, I will have 2 new modules to
sell: the MOTM-102 digital noise & 4-section cascaded S&H (the MOTM-101 will
be retired) and a new 1U wide bandpass VCF. These will be tooled up so that
the day they are in the cart, there will be 30 of each boxed up and sitting
on the shelf for < 1 week delivery.

But I will say this: if these modules, for whatever reason, do not sell in
sufficient numbers then I will most likely stop 5U R&D and concentrate
elsewhere."

I have to say I'm personally a bit disapointed that these 2 modules that are not high on my list of wants seem to be determining the future of 5U MOTM. I've been looking forward to the Cloud Generator since I heard it demoed at the sdiy meet up we had in Dallas almost 2 years ago. I seem to remember the Cloud Generator being high in the poll that was done 6 months to a year ago on here. I don't remember either of these modules mentioned at that time, but my memory may be faulty.

That said, if it is determining the future then I'll likely order at least one (probably the S&H)if I can pry the credit cards out of my wife's hand.

Ross Stapf

Cedar Hill TX

>I suspect JH will be offering many of his designs in blank pcb form.

Yes, and I will stick to the analogue niche.
I've bought a Spartan 3E-something emulation kit a couple years ago, but I never even powered it.
I'll leave digital to those who can do it better, and will go on offering analogue designs.

JH.

I once had a professor tell me that I was verbose and therefore no one would read my missives, but to hell with him, we hacked his office server and found horse porn. With that in mind...

Firstly, as one of your, erm, major share holders I think this is an appropriate business decision and a courageous one at that. I say that with an immensely heavy heart, of course. I am that DIY customer of whom you write and a sometimes critical one to boot. But I'm still a booster for your vision.

Second, a bit of that criticism. I'm all on board for the MOTM-102 but I think billing it as a 101 replacement is sort of dooming it to fail. This is an awesome ASR, a cascadable one, iirc, at that. Knowing you, it will be the best one on the market so it deserves its own salvo.

Third, I don't know anything about this new bandpass, but it sounds somewhat utilitarian. Nothing wrong with that (4U for a bandpass using 2x 420s is kind of a waste of space), but the Synth Tech filters all have individual colors that make the product line unique. Having its own color is going to be the breaking point.

Fourth, as you've posted, the biggest bread winners are the sound sources. As a cheerleader, I'd rather shake my pom poms for the cloud or the terrarium and I'm 100% certain the list will back me up on this.

Fifth, can your boosters count on a consolation? Namely 15V or 15/5V power connectors with potless PCBs on them? I pledge to commission panel runs from Bridechamber or The Beast if you'll commit.

your customer always,
eric w f


--- On Mon, 4/26/10, Paul Schreiber <synth1@airmail. net> wrote:

From: Paul Schreiber <synth1@airmail. net>
Subject: [motm] Update/semi- rant
To: "MOTM List" <motm@yahoogroups. com>
Date: Monday, April 26, 2010, 12:22 AM

I will have time this week to work on the backlog, I have a stack of 14
orders that will ship this week and probably 1 or 2 more. This is 2.0, kits
and some assembled.

This weekend I did repairs & mods at have been accumulating the last couple
of months (BTW: did someone send me a Frac 1485 with white knobs?).

The first 3 weeks of May I will have limited MOTM time (not zero, just
limited) but the last week of May will have more time on the schedule. The
summer is a LOT better because I get every other Friday off from Jun-Sept
and that's usually 100% MOTM time.

Assuming no orders come in this week that I can't do a "turn" (ship out the
same week it is entered), there will be 65 orders that need to be shipped
and 18 partial orders to be shipped. This is from a total of 1611 orders
received in that same period. So I have ~ 5% backlog. Which sucks if it is
YOUR order.

But my point is: the backlog is shrinking fairly fast, as ironically the
main reason is new orders coming in for assembled modules is pretty low.
Which is probably due to them taking so long to ship (a sort of Catch-22).

If you lump all the orders to 83 outstanding, I expect that number to be ~
50 by July 1st and < 20 by Aug. 1st.

If you do not want to wait, *just tell me*. If you want a refund for a prior
purchase *just ask me*. I cannot "speed things up", it is what it is
(shrug).

When the backlog is < 20 *and not until then*, I will have 2 new modules to
sell: the MOTM-102 digital noise & 4-section cascaded S&H (the MOTM-101 will
be retired) and a new 1U wide bandpass VCF. These will be tooled up so that
the day they are in the cart, there will be 30 of each boxed up and sitting
on the shelf for < 1 week delivery.

But I will say this: if these modules, for whatever reason, do not sell in
sufficient numbers then I will most likely stop 5U R&D and concentrate
elsewhere. And, I'm *NOT*, repeat not "blaming" anyone reading this: if
anything *I'M TO BLAME* but that does not change the fact that with over 30
other modular vendors to choose from, and many MOTM people preferring DIY
over assembled coupled with Euro taking off so that higher ESP (expected
selling price) is the norm, it just doesn't make economic sense to spend the
time and $$ only to sell 12 modules in 6 months.

When I started MOTM, my goal was to sell 500 modules *in 3 years* and buy a
nice stereo. I had several people laugh at that and say I'd be lucking to
sell 1/2 that ever. Well, 12 years later, almost 8900 modules in 3 formats
later, I'm still puttering along. I've had *3* job changes (including a
14-month layoff when MOTM lost over $54,000), the death of a close friend
and MOTM evangelist (Larry H.) the near-fatal stroke of my business partner
in the kit business (Paul H.) and Vishay taking 14 MONTHS to deliver log
pots (then jacking the price from $2.80ea to over $7 each) and lastly the
whole RoHS nightmare. Hasn't been a picnic exactly.

But I'm *still trying* as best as I can. Please understand that I don't
"favor" anyone in terms of orders (ask the Chemical Brothers if you don't
believe me), I abuse everyone equally.

I have the best customers of anyone. I truly believe that. And I promise
that everyone WILL get their stuff as soon as I can get it made.

Paul S.

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Schreiber" <synth1@...> wrote:

> When the backlog is < 20 *and not until then*, I will have 2 new modules to
> sell: the MOTM-102 digital noise & 4-section cascaded S&H (the MOTM-101 will
> be retired) and a new 1U wide bandpass VCF.
>
> But I will say this: if these modules, for whatever reason, do not sell in
> sufficient numbers then I will most likely stop 5U R&D and concentrate
> elsewhere.

So, let's get this straight, the last ditch effort for MOTM to generate 5U format sales is to release a noise module and a stripped down BP filter (the 7th VCF in this format).

Really?

I can't imagine an analysis that wouldn't show the demand for these modules as less than, well, just about anything. Yet the (loyal) user base is being told to buy these 3 months from now, or else.

Really?

I feel I've been a steadfast customer. When Paul released the MOTM-730, I bought one, not because I needed one, but instead out of a sense of loyalty. The module is well made and offers some unique functions. It's also the only module I've ever sold - because I didn't find it useful. Another time, Paul made a plea for sales because of a family crisis, so I bought a mixer. I didn't need it, but wanted to help out. I'm sure there are many examples of staunch support among MOTM customers.

You don't have to be a loyal customer to be interested in some of the announced product. I think there's significant demand for Cloud Generators and Morphing Terraria. I know I'd buy these the moment they became available, along with any expanders, and maybe even multiples of these. The demos are very promising.

But despite my history with MOTM, I will not be bullied into buying redundant modules I don't want and don't need.

Sorry Paul, but the customer comes first, not the product.

With the best of intentions and with regret,
Roger

On Mon, 26 Apr 2010, Paul Schreiber wrote:

> Sign from above? :(

The Krell want your money....

--
Monty Brandenberg

As a very early customer of Paul's (I would guess that I am amongst the first to buy his products) I've never been particularly bothered by the way things have gone with MOTM. Probably because being around from the beginning I had very few expectations. The module offering has been beyond what was every expected initially. I guess it is all a matter of perspective.