Business practices [compilation topic]

The ad says:
What’s new in Analog Rytm MKII?
Sampling capability

Other clues include the button labeling, referring to the new sampling functions, and also the two new sampling inputs:
2 × ¼" balanced sampling input

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Read better guys… He not express his personal point on the subject. He express how he feel in the relationship with his students. His/her students was younger than us so the feel/opression they can feel at this point is of course different than us probably more older and experienced… we do not feeel like this and @secretmusic said very clear it was not his concerned because he actually a convinced elektron user. (and a power one for those who don"t know him but of course it doesn’t close any participation…) Just i think it’s a bit different with what we have read in the thread introduction to new iteration mark2 for AR and A4.

The number inferiority arranging nothing. Remember djshiva in another thread, i do not bring again that in the table but at some point we loose her in the thread exchange and that’s a REAL SHAME when the results is that one. so PLEASE. <3

Also i may have use this arguments in the way like make more music rather to stupdly discuss about gear… and criticize… I think he’s right when he said it’s not because you give your point of view on gear, you not making music on the other side (or less music than they should)… we simply don’t know :stuck_out_tongue: maybe these people makes a lot of music and have time to spend to discuss things here and there.
So… I will not conclude/judging too fast from now on someone (remembering : You are very quick to pass judgement on a lot of people. thanks to @sampleNhold ) now assuming i simply didn’t know what the others do IRL (even if multiplier irritate me at some point). Nice shout for this one.

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Yeah someone I know is also trying to convince me that it’s through OB. So I was just curious.

Let’s see: Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Microsoft - just to name a few of the not so insignificant ones. Pretty much any car manufacturer has roadmaps and model updates mapped out, any publicly traded company releases information to their shareholders about business strategies, which allow you to extrapolate.

Elektron hinted earlier this year that something was going to happen to their product lineup beyond release of DT. Right now I’m just super curious if the MKIIs were it or if there is something else, something genuinely new and exciting.

6 posts were split to a new topic: Off topic 12July17

And I do stand by it. Anyone who buys a product at a specific point in time, serving that intended purpose has no right to accuse a company of being ‘shady’ just because they release a revised product at another point in time sometime in the future.
I’m sorry but that thought is madness in my eyes, and no business should be accountable for that.
A product was bought and it works doesn’t it?
Just curious, for how long after a purchase does this entitlement normally last 1,2,3 years…?

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I did PLM for a living for a few years for a large public company and there is a wide gulf of difference between what is published as product roadmap for public consumption versus managing EoL/strategic product development decisions, etc. Maybe you had a different experience but mine was that these decisions were held close to the vest for what should be obvious competitive concerns.

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Yeah I want to get rid of this crappy Juno-106 I have because Roland didn’t include the Digital Native Dance patch I so adore. I feel betrayed.

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i didnt buy destiny because i knew destiny 2 is coming , but they’ll probably do destiny 3 so i’ll wait for that.
meanwhile i do nothing except browse the internet and post on forums , although i could probably try and develop my own game/synth/plugin/thing of the future which will do everything ever needed with no bugs and no need for a new version in the future because things stand still.

or i could use what i have now , learn it thoroughly , get good results and not rely on the ‘next big thing’
i’ve done it myself in the past , but i know that i’m not able to do anything better , so i just relax and get on with life.

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Hello Friends and Elektron Gods…

I come in Peace.

I am selling all my Elektron gear since the recent MKII drops have got me spooked.

(Please keep all age old comments about obsolescence and the upgrade world to yourselves. We get it.)

The only thing I came hear to ask for is a New way to prepare customers and long time Elektronusers for new product releases. There has to be a way, and I politely request on my behalf as well as any other positive people who agree with this, for Elektron to find a way.

I don’t need loyal dudes to feel the need to come to Elektrons defense, I am a most loyal dude and still feel very strongly about this, There simply has to be a way to give customers a chance/heads up to not lose out on purchasing something today that tomorrow will have to be resold only to lose money/time being forced to upgrade. This applies just as much to legacy boxes as it does to recent releases.

The only moderately negative thing I can say is why not get products right as you can the first time, don’t flood the market with half baked mki’s. I really tried to sell some friends on the basicness of Digitakt but they feared its workflow still.

Cirklon was made by one man and his loyal wife… They hold there price well and sell for more second hand.

Please and Thank you.

I love the new MKII style boxes, and I am mostly curious if the Monomachine or Machinedrum will get an upgrade into this new era…

I can’t at all imagine how this kind of honesty and straight forward relationship with customers would backfire, especially with products you no longer sell.

Hope my sentiments are understood, and if not I will disappear back into my peaceful place.

Very Much Appreciated


[Mod Edit: This frozen @MASTERFADER account can’t receive replies, tag @Semitone instead, same user]

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What we are looking at here is the way business is run nowadays.
This is nothing that makes me too happy as you can see it almost everywhere.
Of course business was always made to make money but somehow the strategies have changed and not for the better.

The consumers have power but they don’t use it.
Not buying something would be the most aggressive move.
But it seems and yes I am one of them: “they are buying it anyway”

I have an old Dual 701 record player that costed a fortune in the early 70ies…
This thing is build like a tank, no wonder it runs today as well as more than 40 years ago…
There is not one chance Dual could have released an unfinished product and get through with this.
Updatable firmware is hell as it enables the companies to release crap and let it grow in the hand of the customer.
Then they are enabling some features that sould have been available from on day one and the customer is happy again… Sounds to simple? I do not think so.

So what you are doing is just right. You have the nerve and courage to abandon a company that is selling
a) unfinished products
b) newer products without giving notice and by that making old customers angry

I do not like that kind of company moral at all…

I wish it would be different as I really like stuff like the MnM and MD or the OT and I am aware that those as well as the others were growing and getting more stable and better in the hands of the customer, they were also released as unfinished products…

I want a better world :slight_smile:

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Yes… There must be a way to share progress or direction.

Dropping new stuff as a surprise obviously has gotten old, and irritated or lost some customers.

Seconded

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I know it’s likely to be a smaller scale than an Elektron machine, but I feel chasebliss is doing a good job atm with pushing their product lines forward. So far they have released mkii versions of a few pedals but more recently they have been approaching the advancements as “mods” and upgrading what they have in circulation if past customers want to spend the $$. They also seem to stick to industry release dates (NAMM is a deluge of releases in the guitar world) so you can typically expect something around then. They also drop little hints in video series that they do about what’s to come or what is on Joel’s mind.

Giving out a road map just doesn’t work for anything public. It sets a company up for failure to meet a timeline or promise. It adds to their stress and I’d claim it forces downward pressure on overall quality. You can see it all over this forum, many users take something said in a video pre production and hold it as the truth to be.

However, Elektron have now set a precedent with mkii models. To me the Digitakt spelled it out on the wall. All the rnd for parts and manufacturing where paid for by the new product… It would have been silly not to update their trinity, refresh the products and give them more time and resources for what is next.

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Also, as far as I understand. Elektron has offered these kinds of hardware modes with the UW and +drive advancements. I’m new to Elektron but kind of enjoy reading a company’s history; let me know if I’m wrong here.

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Cry me a river.
Elektron owes you nothing!
And both my a4 and octatrack still work fine regardless of mk2s!
The onlything you acheived is whine and make some second hand buyers happy! Congrats.

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I think this all depends on your personal philosophy regarding gear and so forth. For some people this move from Elektron is perfectly normal and expected - for others its like an affront to their sensibilities.

There is no applicable universal attitude in this. Its all personally relative to your particular outlook. Therefore the only thing you can do is act or react accordingly to that. Just follow your own dharma.

When I saw the email about the MKIIs I was feeling the same way.

Then I had to remember that the MachineDrum went through the same life cycle so, the writing was on the wall. As far as I know MachineDrum MkI did not sample either.

This one hurts a bit more since they have changed the form factor which hurts the resale value of the MKIs even more.

What I realized was that this is Elektron’s product life cycle since before I preordered the OT. I just didn’t see it, or notice it because I was buying into the next gen.

I’m not sure where to go from here, I was thinking that I may just skip Elektron from here on out but I just love their machines.
and before anyone tells me that my machines are just fine the way they are, I agree, I don’t lust after the new machines really… I have an OT for sampling, I have an AK for external outs per voice, I don’t need CV input really. I don’t use OverBridge. I don’t really care about the screen.

My biggest concern is that these things are investments as well as instruments, and while I do not expect to make money, I also do not expect to lose so much money over such a small amount of time.

The Ak is a good example: they released something at 1850.00. I bought it with confidence because I found it useful, but then to slash the cost in order to try to recoup some of the R&D just… hurt.

I guess my being bitter is because of the idea of an “MKII.”

Not many companies are doing this. But it is the elektron way, I just didn’t see it coming and I should of.

A different product is one thing… A new machine doesn’t exactly make the existing product line lose such value.

So, now comes the question… Do I keep investing in machines that will lose a ton of value as soon as they MKII it?

edit: I guess the answer from me from here on out is that when Elektron releases a product I’ll wait for the MKII + before I buy it.

These are 1500-1800 dollar products, they shouldn’t be loosing 1/3 of their value over 2 years time and they damn sure shouldn’t cut the cost of the brand new product by 400 in it’s first year.

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Don’t mean to stir the pot or come across as a fanboi here but yeah, I pretty much agree with this.

What we’re seeing from many is very similar to attitudes within the mobile phone market (for example). It’s not Elektron’s fault that people just have to have the latest version of something.

For those with MkI’s - and even those who bought into them very recently - you have lost nothing in real terms. These units can, and will continue tom work absolutely fine. Their OS’s are mature. And I’m sorry, I just don’t agree with the whole “investment” argument. The 2nd hand market is not Elektron’s responsibility.

I do want to see some open and honest chat around Overbridge. I’d love to get an inkling/tease on what may be coming next (like Uli did on Gearslutz). But, in terms of firm product releases I just don’t see the problem with the MkII’s other than with the well trodden opinions around design philosophy and how this fits a “masterplan”.

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There is nothing half-baked about the MK1’s (the ‘originals’) for me they are amazing versatile, great sounding and lost of fun- nothing has changed. The Monomachine and Machinedrum are the same, and still trade for high process on ebay considering they are discontinued!

The A4 was released December 2012…its was due an update(and it isn’t a very big update at that). They will sound pretty much the same. I have had my A4 and RYTM for a few years (and just picked up a MK1 OT) and have probably mastered about 20% of what they can do, I feel no need at all to upgrade and have no FOMO!

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