Doepfer

that's really interesting stuff dieter. 

one thing i've wondered about it sharing the developer costs in the
community, a lot of people are asking about digital modules, and i
wonder whether the general purpose digital module that has been in the
pipeline for a while could be released openly with just a few
functions, and enough information for people to write their own
programs for it if they feel nerdy enough. not necessarily write whole
filters and things, as that's a bit unrealistic, but especially for
controller things it would be perfect, and simple, and a public
library would build up fairly fast i think. 




--- In Doepfer_a100@yahoogroups.com, <yahoo@...> wrote:
>
> > I can see why Dieter would be hesitant in developing such a
> > module if the A-112 sales are not that great :(
> >
> > Christophe
> 
> No - the A-112 sales are fine. Though I see myself in the first
place as a
> module designer I'm also a business man and have to keep the company
running
> (each staff member has to pay his expenses every month :-).
> 
> During the last few years I made the experience that the sales of more
> complex (and consequently more expensive) modules are a bit poor. A good
> example is the morphing filter A-107 and on the other hand the new
A-106-6
> XP filter. The A-107 has a lot of features and it took more than two
years
> to design the module (together with a lot of very helpful discussions in
> this group). The final design had all the features the customers
were asking
> for but obviously the price was too high to make the A-107 a commercial
> winner (after all the sales did not cover our development costs so
far). On
> the other hand there is the new A-106-6 XP filter. It has much less
features
> than the A-107 but offers nearly the same filter functions as the
A-107 (but
> without the morphing feature). So far more A-106-6 were ordered than
A-107's
> during it's entire livespane since summer 2003. And the A-106-6 is
available
> since fall 2008 !
> 
> That's what I have to keep in mind if modules with too many features are
> suggested. We made the experience that the sales of too complex
modules are
> not satisfying from the commercial point of view (don't get me
wrong: I in
> person like the A-107 much more than the A-106-6). So I'm a bit
cautious if
> modules with too many features that will increase the price are
suggested.
> There will be always some experts who want to have such modules
badly. But
> for us it's a flop if we sell e.g. only 25 modules per year as we
have to
> keep in mind the development costs which are much higher for more
complex
> modules. If then the sales are worse compared to a less complex
module (and
> hence with lower development costs) you will understand by concerns.
> 
> These are some basic notes that are not related only to the suggested
> complex sampler module. But they may explain why I'm a bit cautious with
> suggestions of too complex (and hence too expensive) modules.
> 
> Best wishes
> Dieter Doepfer
>