Behringer System 100m, hm?

OK...so, apparently, we have these posted here now. Not surprising, given that MG is the de facto modular synth database for all intents and purposes these days.

The problem I have, however, is this: is this real, or is this Uli Behringer teasing something in order to get the Internet to do his market feasibility study for him?

I'm not going to mince words here: I have serious misgivings about this entry into Eurorack by, as per Behringer's usual modus operandi, doing a significant intellectual property lift and touting it as 'innovation'. And perhaps, yes, the ability to get these pretty decent looking System 100m clones at $100 a pop is an 'innovation' of sorts. But when, exactly, will we get them? That's the question. Or even moreso, will we get them, or is this just another hype ramp-up, winding up the synth public up while having a larf and going off to build more substandard MI gear and plundering another saged audio firm.

Case in point: the Model D. It's just started shipping...finally...about effing time, actually...after how many years of wind-up? And why was that, actually? After all, cloning a Minimoog shouldn't be all that difficult with a modern-day robotic board production line. Bob did it with actual workers and such, and built over 10k of them, and they're still making th...oh...wait. Yeah. They're still making them. Might be a tiny, wee, itsy-bitsy IP issue there. Ya think?

Fact is, I have memories of the very first major stink Behringer stepped in, waaaaaay back around the early 1990s. Wasn't smart to clone dbx's gear that they still made. Even less intelligent to reproduce the same manuals. But really frickin' stupid to forget to proofread them and delete all of the references to 'dbx' that got left in (and brought up in court).

If they can do this and make it work, and do this with the same component quality and QC that Roland put into these back in the day, OK. But at $100 per complex module (these ain't something basic, folks...ask Malekko, who did the builds on the System 500 modules in cooperation with Roland), I'm just thinking that certain corners might get cut a tad.

Some will likely disagree, but I have a not-too-good feeling about this.

PS: interesting about how Behringer's been hyping the Neutron...but when you look at Sweetwater's website (probably the prime Internet retailer for music gear in the USA), you see zilch about it. Nothing. Not even a preorder or cursory mention or jack-else. And they did do a lot of pre-hype and pre-order for the Model D, but my bet is that they kinda had a bad taste left in their mouths in Ft. Wayne after B. couldn't deliver for nigh-upon two years for...whatever reason. About which I, of course, have my suspicions as noted above. But if Sweetwater felt kinda burned about being made to hold Behringer's water for that long, I don't think they'll bite on the Neutron until Uli can dropship a few pallet-loads of them first. And that, gang, makes them potentially even less jazzed about thirteen new Behringer twiddlys being amped-up by Uli's 'Tribe', especially something more niche-like such as Eurorack modules.

Quite honestly, this has a slight potential of putting Sweetwater off Eurorack; they've only recently gotten a clue about it (I recall having a discussion with a sales engineer about why SW just might want to stock multiples about 18-19 months back; they had no clue about why anyone would want a bunch of jacks with no electronics attached to them), and if Uli causes some sort of debacle with them over Eurorack, there will be ripple-effects. Guarantee it.

So, Uli...if you're reading this, either do this right, or don't do it at all.

I cant wait for these modules to hit the market! These are fantastic modules for the price, dual vcf, vca, all the stuff you need but dont want to break the bank for. I dont think other eurorack manufactures havr to fear from this, its a great gatrway into the euro rabbithole. I really hope this will be a reality soon, i will be on the preorder list in no time, this is a no brainer really, a full m100 system for 1200€ ? Uli is a hero!

This post was necro'ed (brought back up to relevance) recently. Interesting read.

Behringer is definitely cloning. Everyone is entitled to their opinion about it. I like it. It's what people have been asking for but it's either ignored or the prices are extreme.

Surface mounted electronics have brought down the cost of electronics manufacturing. The levels of automation allow for smaller design and much better quality control. But the savings, generally, were not passed on to the consumer.

Behringer's costs of production and even R&D are the same as any other major music manufacturer or at least within their realm of possibility. Affordable, great sounding instruments seem to be Behringer's mantra... and they are going back and giving everyone a taste of the classics.

More over, the experience gained in redesigning what is starting to shape up as every major analog synth of the 1970's and 1980's gives their engineers an advantage when producing new instruments. They've had hands-on experience with anything that was popular.

I detest their marketing versus delivery. Only a handful of models have hit the market, yet they've been marketing and hyping a vast number of synths and instruments that have still yet to hit the market several months after their announcement and prototyping.

Sweetwater and other dealers had to wait and wait as the Neutron was pushed back and back. But the huge numbers of pre-orders seemed to make up for it. If your inventory is sold before it even arrives, you already have a successful product.

Speaking of Sweetwater, I note they're offering the Behringer 104 hp Moog-a-like cabs now. No power, but the price is dirt cheap. After all, it's Behringer.

And yes, Ronin...their vapor-to-product ratio sucks, and I'll second that opinion about their hype methods. While they might have a Eurorack cab now, those sorts of skiffs are easy to make: extrude metal, cut to length, add ends and sliders. No brainer. Sooooo...where are all those $100 modules? Little more difficult to make those, ainnit, Uli?

It seems that all Uli needs to do to press that "play" button on the hype-o-phone is to post up some CGI mockups and then hop on Gearslutz to make everyone there go batshit crazy. "Ooooo...ULI BEHRINGER is listening to us!!!" Don't you be fooled...Uli's doing what he wants, and he knows that TROLLING (essentially, that's what I see this as) his user community results in a frenzy that's better than (and cheaper than!) a million-dollar ad campaign. Frankly, I think he needs to STFU and deliver on all of this much-hyped vaporware like the Pro-One clone, the 100M clones, his supposedly-coming-eventually polysynth clones, the 808 and 909 clones, etc.

Gear talks, bullshit walks. Uli needs to put up AND shut up.