db3 wrote:Now available to preorder. Not impressed by somewhat inflated price and new option to purchase "premium" Overbridge.
https://www.elektron.se/products/digitakt/
for the first 1.5 years of an Elektron product's life cycle, you should consider your purchase a 'preorder' ... you're basically beta testing the unit for that time period, until they get it operating as per advertising spec. Be an Elektron early adopter at your own risk, and be prepared to accept the fact of experiencing many bugs and sending many bug reports. Sometimes even hardware issues (see: paint peeling issues, razor sharp edging on faceplate issues)
I say this as a current owner of three of their flagship products (five if you include peripherals, six if you include selling a MDuw mk i to upgrade to mk ii), and a long, long time Elektron User going back to the launch of the MDuw mk i. (not to mention the TE OP-1, though that's obviously an off-shoot)
I'm not an Elektron 'hater' by any means, on the contrary, but I will never buy anything they make until it has been on the shelves for at the very least 1.5 years... because experience.
The Overbridge 'Premium' thing is tacky, really tacky imo considering the typically high pricing of the hardware. First question that comes to mind is if this 'premium' license is transferrable, or if this isn't just a way of taxing used sales (besides the obvious gouging element). Second question is, going forward, is there going to be an 'Overbridge Premium' for new/other products ? or will one 'Premium' license apply for all your 'Premium' capable Elektron hardware ? Given the wording, it seems like it might be a specific license per product.
Looking at the 'revised' price (850 euro, all in, instead of 650 - and the possibility that you may not be able to sell/transfer your 'overbridge premium' license) ... its appeal, based on pricing, has really shifted from the low/mid budget market to mid/high.
For this kind of pricing, they may as well have gone the extra mile and just developed an Octatrack II.
At any rate, I'll be keeping an eye on this product of course, maybe it's all kinds of amazing and as such amounts to the bargain of the century. But as always with Elektron, regardless of how moist the fanbase are, my jets will be well and truly cooled until 1.5 years from the first units being dispatched.
