Members Marzzz Posted March 11, 2009 Members Share Posted March 11, 2009 Sounds cool and everything "But" still too overpriced...especially nowadays, If a product like wants to get off the ground they need to revise the price for sure... with this economy I doubt everyone could afford a $3599 synthesizer ... The cost of a DSI PEK and PER would have been on the order of $4000, and a lot of people went for those- this synth has all the Prophet VS waveforms and then some. Speaking of DSI- there seems to have been some price cutting on new gear there.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OFM Posted March 11, 2009 Members Share Posted March 11, 2009 Speaking of DSI- there seems to have been some price cutting on new gear there.... This is what companies have will have to do in these hard times ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members girevik Posted March 11, 2009 Members Share Posted March 11, 2009 Sounds cool and everything "But" still too overpriced...especially nowadays, If a product like wants to get off the ground they need to revise the price for sure... with this economy I doubt everyone could afford a $3599 synthesizer ... They're not marketing to "everyone" . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Purity_Control Posted May 14, 2009 Members Share Posted May 14, 2009 Any news on this yet? Not much seems to be going on on their website? Just been listening to some demos and i have to admit that this is seriously teh {censored}... can't think of a VA that ever sounded this good, i'd well go for this if i didn;t have a lot of it's sonic territory covered already... amd i am still tempted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seamonkey Posted May 14, 2009 Members Share Posted May 14, 2009 We are hoping for an update shortly. Purity, remember if you go for the pre-order price with a $1000 deposit you will save money off the final retail price or even more if you prepay in full(see purchase info on the John Bowen site)Also John is offering a full refund price within two weeks of delivery)From the site:The Solaris comes with a 1 year warranty on parts and labor. All sales are 100% guaranteed; if you're unhappy with your purchase, you can return it within 2 weeks for a full refund as long as the synth is still in new condition. (I'm not sure how the VAT would be handled in that case, so I will need to check that.) You would also have to pay shipping on the return. Any damage to the unit (scratches, dings, etc.) will be accounted for by a deduction of your refund. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundxplorer Posted May 14, 2009 Members Share Posted May 14, 2009 i paid that for a new z1 years back Really? I thought the Z1 was in the $2,500 range, but maybe my memory is failing. I didn't buy mine until it hit the "discontinued, blowout" price of around $1,200. But anyway, I don't think the Solaris is overpriced. It's a boutique company. The UI is very well laid out, with all the displays above the encoders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Purity_Control Posted May 14, 2009 Members Share Posted May 14, 2009 Yeah, i saw that Seamonkey. Tempted, but there is other stuff i want too... and perhaps in the current economic climate, a little cautious of what could happen to my dosh if things go pear shaped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members setAI Posted May 14, 2009 Members Share Posted May 14, 2009 the scope xite-1 is out- so you can run the Solaris plug-in on that and probably get more voices than the hardware will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Purity_Control Posted May 14, 2009 Members Share Posted May 14, 2009 I might check that out. Didn't mean to imply from the above btw that i think there's anything wrong with Bowen or his company... am just thinking that a lot of {censored} can happen between now and when the Solaris starts shipping, currently September at the earliest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seamonkey Posted May 14, 2009 Members Share Posted May 14, 2009 I thought your comment was quite clear, with the way the economy is, it's wise to be conservative with large pocketbook items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChromaLord Posted May 15, 2009 Members Share Posted May 15, 2009 Typically, when a product takes this long to make it to production it wont be released. Im not the harbinger of doom and gloom but I have not heard or read anything about his companies financing or investors. The wording at their website causes some concern to me as a lot of the language is in 1st person, even in their "purchase" and "support pages" which is very odd from a company. Its as if John himself is accountable and I cant believe that knowing what I know about business.They have taken a considerable amount of deposits both full and partial. It was listed to be released last May, then that got bumped to last fall, then to this spring- and spring is nearly over.The synth looks and sounds wonderful, I truly hope it flies but I am deeply concerned.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Acid Hazard Posted May 15, 2009 Members Share Posted May 15, 2009 It'll get released. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sad Darwin Posted May 15, 2009 Members Share Posted May 15, 2009 This thing looks like genius pie. Iwannit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seamonkey Posted May 15, 2009 Members Share Posted May 15, 2009 Chroma, if this were another company I would probably agree with you but this is John Bowen we're talking about and his reputation speaks for itself. Many people said the same thing about the Mattson Mini Modular and while they're not flying out the door, the people who ordered them now have what I believe will be a collector's item plus a great sounding unique synth. John does have a partner, he has spoken of him in his comments on the forum plus he has a working relationship with Sonic-core. I spent some time in manufacturing(hey this is michigan)and with any new start up project there are always delays, transferring concept to material goods is always trial and error, taking things from a blueprint and then getting the right materials while holding down costs takes time. As you begin to piece things together you find out the things that were supposed to work on paper, don't fit with the overall concept. Then there are the vendors, usually the first prototypes need some fine tuning, and when you adjust part A to work, then part B no longer works with part A so they all need to be refined. Often you are at the mercy of the vendors time schedule. There was the change in the coding, when that happened they really had to start all over again plus Sonic-core was busy trying to finish their new product so Solaris had to be put on the backburner until the coder could get back to it. I think John has learned a lot from this experience, I'm sure he thought this would've flowed a lot easier than it did but from these lessons learned any new John Bowen hardware will have a much faster finish date. John has been very good about keeping in contact via email with the pre-order people and sometimes that information is for our eyes only until he is ready to release it publicly. Solaris is basically done, it's just a matter of fine tuning it and packing it in that beautiful white or black case. Do I want my new Solaris now? YES Do I sit in my studio and see it under my Voyager? YES Am I frustrated it's taking longer than expected? YES Will I sleep with it the first night I get it? YES:lol: Apologies for the long post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Purity_Control Posted May 15, 2009 Members Share Posted May 15, 2009 Well i have to admit that i'm still tempted, and i emailed John to ask about UK shipping and got a personal reply: Hi Marie,Thanks for your interest!The units for European customers will be shipped from Siegburg, Germany. (For customers in the States, first I'll get the units shipped to me in Washington state, then I will handle shipping them out from here.)Regards,John Bowen So i'm guessing they're being manufactured in Germany, which is a good sign. I might go for this, but for now, i think i'll wait another 4-6 weeks while i see what develops, by then i should have some idea of the stability of my own work situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seamonkey Posted May 15, 2009 Members Share Posted May 15, 2009 Well i have to admit that i'm still tempted, and i emailed John to ask about UK shipping and got a personal reply:So i'm guessing they're being manufactured in Germany, which is a good sign. I might go for this, but for now, i think i'll wait another 4-6 weeks while i see what develops, by then i should have some idea of the stability of my own work situation. Yes, they are being manufactured in Germany, in fact part of the delay has been the Solaris has had to "get in line" to have the cases made.I was going to add in my previous comment, part of the delay IMO is the fact he is dealing with the Germans who have a reputation for "correcting" until they feel everything is perfect, which to me is a good thing. I have to admit, with all the delays I've thought about just getting a vintage synth such as a Prophet 5 but then I think that only does one thing, whereas the Solaris can sound like many things, and, with it's open structure, more options can be expanded as they are developed.With the ability to load wav files, the sonic possibilities are endless, several members(scope4live) are already working on sample files which can be shared with other members. I hope all works out with your employment, I'm fortunate I was able to prepay mine after selling gear but since have been unemployed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RonJoseph Posted May 15, 2009 Members Share Posted May 15, 2009 I'll second the comments about John's handling of the various delays. I prepurchased my Solaris ( #8) a while back. We've had quite a few delays since then, several due to John listening to feedback from the buyers to add various features. Any time I've e-mailed John he's responded within a day or two and addressed my concerns. Frustrated a bit? ...yes. Worried about it seeing the light of day ?...not at all. For my patience I'll be rewarded with a significant price discount as well as a top notch synth that has been thoroughly vetted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChromaLord Posted May 15, 2009 Members Share Posted May 15, 2009 Chroma, if this were another company I would probably agree with you but this is John Bowen we're talking about and his reputation speaks for itself. Many people said the same thing about the Mattson Mini Modular and while they're not flying out the door, the people who ordered them now have what I believe will be a collector's item plus a great sounding unique synth. John does have a partner, he has spoken of him in his comments on the forum plus he has a working relationship with Sonic-core. I spent some time in manufacturing(hey this is michigan)and with any new start up project there are always delays, transferring concept to material goods is always trial and error, taking things from a blueprint and then getting the right materials while holding down costs takes time. As you begin to piece things together you find out the things that were supposed to work on paper, don't fit with the overall concept. Then there are the vendors, usually the first prototypes need some fine tuning, and when you adjust part A to work, then part B no longer works with part A so they all need to be refined. Often you are at the mercy of the vendors time schedule. There was the change in the coding, when that happened they really had to start all over again plus Sonic-core was busy trying to finish their new product so Solaris had to be put on the backburner until the coder could get back to it. I think John has learned a lot from this experience, I'm sure he thought this would've flowed a lot easier than it did but from these lessons learned any new John Bowen hardware will have a much faster finish date. John has been very good about keeping in contact via email with the pre-order people and sometimes that information is for our eyes only until he is ready to release it publicly. Solaris is basically done, it's just a matter of fine tuning it and packing it in that beautiful white or black case. Do I want my new Solaris now? YES Do I sit in my studio and see it under my Voyager? YES Am I frustrated it's taking longer than expected? YES Will I sleep with it the first night I get it? YES:lol: Apologies for the long post. Cool , thanks for the comforting info:thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members InsideLookinOut Posted May 15, 2009 Members Share Posted May 15, 2009 I have no concerns about the the release of the Solaris. There are a lot of i's to be dotted and t's to be crossed. This is a classic synth before it's even out the gate. So, it's worth the wait for those of us with the foresight to follow John Bowen and his vision from the beginning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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