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[RockPianoman]

.

[ih8microsoft]

 

The keyboard manufacturers don't have any motivation to make products that aren't what the consumers want.  If they fail at that, they are really hurting themselves.  If the feature list doesn't match up exactly with what you want, then your real beef is with the other consumers who are demanding features you don't want, and not wanting the same features you do want.

 

Its kind of like listening to the radio, and you're like "who listens to this crap"  Must be somebody or they wouldn't be playing it.

[bigcatrik]

> Ebay is a definite option too where you can buy used top of the line boards

 

I wish I'd gotten an Alesis Andromeda five or six years ago when they were going for less than $2k used and not much more new.

 

Most of the keboards/modules I've bought lately are mono analog and that gets into a whole different story ("you paid *that* for *one* note?").

[ih8microsoft]

 

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bigcatrik wrote:

 

 

> Ebay is a definite option too where you can buy used top of the line boards

 

 

 

I wish I'd gotten an Alesis Andromeda five or six years ago when they were going for less than $2k used and not much more new.

 

 

 

Most of the keboards/modules I've bought lately are mono analog and that gets into a whole different story ("you paid *that* for *one* note?").

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Anybody who has actually used a real analog synth understands why.

[RockPianoman]

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[RetroVintageOld]

There are a ton of factors that go into pricing a product. A company's cost sets a baseline unless the product is intended to be a loss leader. (That is, a produnt you intentionly lose money on to gain something else.) Yamaha has less cost than smaller companies because they have a huge infrastructure in place and can manufacturer thier own parts. They can also afford to put crap out there and rebound later.

 

Things like taxes and regulations and labor come into play. Nords would cost less if they were made in Korea for example.

 

Then there is competition. After you cover your costs the strategy is usually to price your product as high as the market will allow. If your competition is priced highly you can be too. For example, I doubt the Hammond SK1 would be priced so high if the Electro didn't exist.

 

It is also a common strategy to hold back features so you can update a product slowly. This keeps your customers engaged.

[ChipCurtis]

Keith Emerson used the Alesis QS series boards in his rig because one of the programmers at Alesis had made custom programs just for Keith (including samples of his mighty GX-1 used in "Fanfare") and those sounds eventually made it into the QS ram or on Q-cards.

 

As a prog keyboardist I can attest to how good those QS synths are for prog rock, even to this day. It's not about the feature set or how much RAM it has, it's about the kind of samples and programs it contains. Great mellotrons, organs, synth pads, EPs, clav, everything a progger would need.

 

To prove my point, not only the Emerson example, but the two keyboardist's who came before me in the prog tribute band I joined a few months ago, BOTH had a QS 8.2 in their arsenal, and so do I.

 

Although for acoustic piano and better organs and Minimoog emulations, I use other keyboards for that. Best to have something knobby for the lead synth for those morphing changes while soloing.