I can’t say I’m surprised at least as far as the tribute stuff goes, I like Volcas, little noise makers and so on, but the reality is that they are never going to be a mainstay because of their lack of features, I think most of the Behringer clones also come under this sphere, once the novelty wears off you are left with a fairly limited instrument.
Nothing inherently wrong with that, but you don’t really want a room full of one trick ponies with limited midi spec, you need other stuff as well. Once you have a few you probably don’t feel the need for more, and once you have say 4 £300 replicas you might realise that the £1200 might have been better spent elsewhere, suddenly they start to look expensive, and they don’t have the value or vintage appeal of an original, and the second hand prices are typically 30-40% less than what you paid, because they are so common.
To be honest it isn’t just Behringer gear which suffers from this though, but most other gear of a similar price at least has modern midi and the companies don’t have so many of the same type of gear eg monosynths.
The only problem is that B is a provider of a lot of components to various manufacturers, so they will continue to buy companies and scale regardless of direct sales. The brand would be diminished though, which is not nothing.
Hopefully a drop in direct sales will reduce their cultural influence at least!
Benn Jordan’s video was spot on. I was unaware of just how extremely aggressive they’ve been in ”protecting their brand”. Slapp lawsuits? Registering someone’s last name? Photoshopping products for social media with the sole purpose of defamation?
When we were thinking why B would release Swing at only 20-30€ less than the OG Keystep, someone brought up the possibility of B having a grudge against Arturia. I thought a real company would never do something as petty as that but now I think that’s actually a very plausible explanation for Swing.
Yeah I guess it depends on the item, though I tend to think more carefully and do more research before shelling out for higher priced items than I do for casual purchases. Also if you buy a higher priced item that isn’t suitable you are probably more likely to return within the return period IME.
Cool Audio chips are widely used, but they definitely are not the only source of such chips, I think initially they were but now other companies are making Curtis and SSM clones etc. Even then though unless you specifically require clones of old chips, manufacturers have a wide choice of chips, so it might end up Behringer damage the Cool Audio brand too.
Given the choice I’d actively avoid buying a product with Cool Audio components from now on, nothing to do with “virtue signalling” I just have a low tolerance of douchebags and contributing to their wealth, even more so when they operate from a tax haven.
Totally understand! That information can be hard to come by and there’s only so much due diligence many people will do before buying something, but if you are willing to put in the work, great!
It might be a problem that solves itself, assuming economics of scale don’t kill off alternatives. Arturia is most likely heavily motivated to not use anything Behringer in their supply chain now, for example.
Is Cool Audio actually a Behringer subsidiary directly, or just another company in the Musictribe portfolio? Assuming it’s the latter, well, I’m curious to see if the parent company starts pushing to protect the rest of their portfolio or not.
Couldn’t agree more, Ben. I also have (and have had) Behringer gear and me and my friends have regularly discussed the giant gap in the market Behringer decided to fill…Like a fully analog 808 clone or Juno 60 people were BEGGING Roland to do for YEARS and nobody ponied up. That list goes on and on. And yeah there’s a whole host of arguments to be had there (Roland doesn’t want to re-tread, ACB is actually pretty good and so are the TR-8 and Roland Aira, 808 is same old same old why bother, etc.) but the fact is the market existed and Behringer filled that hole.
That being said, you’re right that a line has to be drawn somewhere. Their public interaction is frankly weird and edgelordy, and doing a clone of the Swing is just dumb.
You’re also right about the weird tribalism, as if this is somehow winner-takes-all and baby-with-the-bathwater thinking. I can like Behringer sometimes and hate them other times…That’s fine by me.
This is really just a facet of human nature under capitalism. Consumer acquisition is tied to identity, you are what you buy. I’d much rather be an Elektronaut than a Behringer-naut, but ultimately all identity is hollow. I am no more my Octatrack than I am my Cuisinart or my Birkenstock sandals. But you will make judgements about me if I tell you I use buy these brands.
The video isn’t about cheap guitars, it’s about a corporate culture at Behringer that will use frivolous lawsuits to retaliate against individuals it dislikes. That’s the worst form of might-makes-right corporate entitlement.
Except he didn’t donate any synths. Uli just pulled a Trump, wanted the credit with none of the effort. To the entitled capitalist, the poor are just another prop for him to use. I think that part killed my interest in Behringer deader than it already was.
Yeah, enough taking the bait with the copy trolling. Behringer’s real crime is being an aggressive unethical metaconglomerate.
I don’t REALLY think of the MS-20 or an Octave CAT as limited per say, but subtractive mono synths do largely sound the same to the untrained ear.
I think the only tribalism I have seen is on the hardcore Behringer fan side where any criticism is met with denial or irrelevant whataboutery. Most people who criticise Behringer are not doing so to elevate another brand, just calling out bad and often very telling behaviour about Uli. Often some of the people who criticise them own or owned Behringer gear too.
I don’t for one moment think that all people who buy Behringer are all the same, nor are people who choose not to. I do think the people who hang off every word uttered by Uli are a bit gullible and naive though, believing the whole Robin Hood bollocks without any critical thinking is foolish. But ultimately it is their choice and their money to do with what they please, no amount of criticism will change their mind, but that does not mean that others can’t or should not discuss it.
The lower sales are definitely the result of ‘Behringer fatigue’. Had the continued the path of the Deepmind I think they would be fairing much better.
Another aspect might be general ‘analog fatigue’. I’m seeing way more digital and hybrid synths released these last few years, and reception to them has been very positive for the most part.
Yes all good comments. But what’s the alternative, you haven’t mentioned one.? Expensive and overpriced big players who use their names like demi-gods… Or ridiculous second hand prices. Thats not good for the casual user who need a lot of stuff for little money.
But what’s the alternative, you haven’t mentioned one.?
I am not sure I understand. An alternative to what? Behringer brands? Capitalist consumer identity? Affordable analog synths?
Software effectively emulates any of the synths behringer makes. You basically need web access and you can make any device a synthesize. The tools are getting better every day.
