Ah, Jim, I'm not surprised you showed up here. You are, after all, one of the most vocal and prominent users in the various threads where Behringer is discussed. I see you cherry-picked the low hanging fruit and chose to focus on the exaggeration part of my comment; I will admit that it is possible or even probable that there are certain relative newcomers to the world of music gear who have not yet stumbled upon any of the countless discussions about Behringer. My apologies, I understand that in this context, I should be more careful of my semantics and avoid any such tools as exaggeration, extrapolation or hyperbole as that will quickly be used in an attempt to invalidate the rest of my points.
Clearly, some people believe that it's so important to make certain that all potential users or purchasers are "informed" that they continue to beat the dead Behringer hate horse at every opportunity - nay, not just beating, grinding said horse to powder in which they revel like bathing chinchillas. Meanwhile, the occlusion of cognitive dissonance continues.
Take, for example, a comment in the thread about Four Play: "If I saw this module in an artist's rack I'd never buy another album from that artist. Art means nothing without ethics." Does this person hold these values across the board? Do users who make such comments also refuse to own any other product (music related or otherwise) made by companies who operate in the exact same way? If a painter uses cheap acrylic paint and pre-stretched canvases marketed under store brand in mega-corporate chain craft store known for importing mediocre quality products manufactured under dubious work conditions, shall we refuse to cast our gaze upon their works and shun them as lesser artists because they should be using expensive products crafted by small, local artisans?
I think the original point of this thread stands. Most of us aren't here because we want to be inundated with repetitive commentary about why this company or that is evil and should be avoided. Most of us are here because we want practical and accurate information about the functionality of modules we own or are considering. Rather than focus on the debate over how many people are aware vs unaware of the Behringer controversies, why not actually discuss the more relevant points here?
Another example comes from the Abacus thread: "If you care about the euro community avoid this." Why? Maybe some of us could give a rat's tail about the stuck up elitism of the so-called "community" which, while incredibly helpful users are plentiful, seems to be dominated largely by jerks who would snub new users who are dipping their toes into the modular waters with low-investment, low-risk modules that make it easy to get started without spending years researching what modules they need and saving up thousands of dollars. The guitar market has plenty of high end boutique instruments, amps and effects, but they wouldn't sell very well if there was no market because we shunned anybody who bought a low cost entry level guitar and amp made by a large predatory company with Chinese labor to learn on.
I think Replicant phrased it neatly, "Do you own a socket set? If it wasn't made by Snap-On, it's a knockoff....but I certainly can't fault the average person for buying a cheaper one. How many of us have Ikea furniture instead of buying handmade from small designers?"
-m