FAW Circle2 Rent-to-own

[Guenon]

Noone only has one or two plugins or synths though... 200 € is insane IMO.

Echoing rod_zero there, the general direction for prices has been down, not up. Adjusted for inflation: Zebra 2 cost clearly more when it came out in 2006, and the humble Pro-53 back in 2002 cost even more. The same year, Albino came out and was about the equivalent of what Serum is today. VAZ Modular was the equivalent of $500. And so on.

And on topic, great that FAW has gone on board the rent-to-own plan ! A payment model like that is a very nice option, especially for those who are just starting out.

[Timfonie]

That's an interesting concept. The best aspects of buying and renting combined.
I just can't find if it's 12 monthly payments to own the product or perhaps 24 or more.

[Guenon]

That's an interesting concept. The best aspects of buying and renting combined.
I just can't find if it's 12 monthly payments to own the product or perhaps 24 or more.

At least with the Serum plan they offer, you can just divide the full price with the monthly sum, and you see how many payments you need to make. There are no extra costs or interest when compared to the full retail price.

[chk071]

Zebra 2 cost clearly more when it came out in 2006

Says $199 here: https://www.amazona.de/test-u-he-zebra-2/3/ And it's still $199 now.

I don't see how "adjustments for inflation" wouldn't have to apply to both sides anyway (and i don't see how this is supposed to be an argument at all).

[Guenon]

Zebra 2 cost clearly more when it came out in 2006

Says $199 here: https://www.amazona.de/test-u-he-zebra-2/3/ And it's still $199 now.

I don't see how "adjustments for inflation" wouldn't have to apply to both sides anyway (and i don't see how this is supposed to be an argument in any case).

$199 was more money in 2006 than now in 2017.

In any case: flagship synthesizers have never been as affordable as they are today.

[Shuffle34]

What is the total price for Circle2 Rent-to-own? It doesn’t show on the webpage.

[chk071]

Zebra 2 cost clearly more when it came out in 2006

Says $199 here: https://www.amazona.de/test-u-he-zebra-2/3/ And it's still $199 now.

I don't see how "adjustments for inflation" wouldn't have to apply to both sides anyway (and i don't see how this is supposed to be an argument in any case).

$199 was more money in 2006 than now in 2017.

Again, this applies to both the customer, and the company side.

In any case: flagship synthesizers have never been as affordable as they are today.

I can't see how Avenger and Rapid, both for 200 € plus, could be called "affordable". Even something like Spire is 189 €, for the VST, and the RE version. I'd rather call 100 - 120 € "affordable". Might save companies from getting warezed too much too.

[Guenon]

$199 was more money in 2006 than now in 2017.

Again, this applies to both the customer, and the company side.

Heh, yes, naturally. $199 was more money in 2006 than 2017, regardless of the one actually holding the money

I can't see how Avenger and Rapid, both for 200 € plus, could be called "affordable". Even something like Spire is 189 €, for the VST, and the RE version. I'd rather call 100 - 120 € "affordable". Might save companies from getting warezed too much too.

Buying a top of the line synth has become cheaper, not more expensive. So again, they are more affordable now than ever; adjusted for inflation, €200+ in today's money was a common price way back. And for lesser synths at that, when compared to what the top of the line is today. You will find that many synths went way over today's €200 monetary value back then. Of course there are the Falcons and Omnispheres of today, but then again, the first Omnisphere was introduced at about $570 when inflation is taken into account. And so on.

I get that synths are generally too expensive in your opinion, and that's of course perfectly okay . Just want to dispel the notion that they are somehow ever increasingly expensive. It's actually going the other way.

[chk071]

Ok, fair enough. Thing is, my DAW (Studio One) is, in a normal case, 399 € (i bought it for less than half of that BTW...), and, you'll get a full fledged hardware synth like the Blofeld already for 389 €, which is about double of the plugins i mentioned, and, the DAW comes with gazillions of plugins already, and is very complex in itself, and, for the hardware synth, you'd even have to add the material costs on top.

Ok, talk is cheap, and companies will charge based on what people are willing to pay, in extreme, this is apparent with apps for mobile devices, and a soft synth which costs 150 € on desktop OS's will be 20 €, so, this discussion may indeed be a bit pointless. All i wanted to say, as you pointed out already is, that i think soft synths could be in the 100 - 120 € area, which would make them very accessible for hobbyists even. I won't complain though, as i personally usually buy on sales, and they're very affordable then, mostly. Shall the "i need the plugin on day 1" crowd pay more then.

[Guenon]

Yeah, sales for me it is, as well. Don't remember when I last bought something at a full price up front, really [edit: speaking of plugins here ]. I think these rent-to-own plans are a good alternative (like I mused above, especially for those who are getting started and want to add one or two premium pieces of kit to the setup, like Serum for example), as long as the total price stays in line with the history of up-front plugin prices. Currently that is the case, but if the total prices start climbing up as a result in the long run, I'll be sure to comment on it

[ere2learn]

What is the total price for Circle2 Rent-to-own? It doesn’t show on the webpage.

16 x $7.99 = $127.84

[VariKusBrainZ]

$199 was more money in 2006 than now in 2017.

Thats debatable as a lot of peoples wages have been pretty static since 2008