That's more about value than price, though. If SE-02 sounded awful, you wouldn't have bought it just because it was in your price range. Price is a factor, for sure, but it's not the sole arbiter of what you end up with. I once went into a car dealership to buy a new $30,000 Fiat can came out with a $70,000 Alfa Romeo (which I only paid $50k for). It wasn't within my budget but I was able to stretch my budget to get what I really wanted.AdvancedFollower wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 7:29 pm (e.g. I'd have liked a Subsequent 37 instead of my SE-02, but since the SE-02 also sounds really good and has a similar feature set, I was willing to compromise on the user interface to save some money).
To put it another way, price is only becomes a factor after all other criteria have been met.
In the time since I placed my pre-order for an Uno Pro Desktop, I could definitely have saved up enough for a Moog One, I just don't see why I would want to spend that kind of money when I don't have to. Realistically, though, my no. 1 priority is size/space. Whatever I buy has to be portable enough that I can fly overseas with it and not incur excess baggage charges. In 2005 that was a Line6 KB37 controller in my check-in luggage and an Alesis Micron with my carry-on luggage. In 2017 it was a Korg Monologue in my check in, plus Waldorf Rocket, KeyStep and a laptop in my carry-on bag. Next time we play overseas, it will probably be Uno, Uno Pro, Seaboard Blocks and a Surface Pro in a carry-on Pelican case, complete with USB audio I/O, all PSUs, cables, etc. Although I am contemplating a MicroFreak, which would probably fit in the Pelican case with the rest.Different people can, depending on their life situation, afford to spend different amounts on luxury items like synthesizers. For some, it makes no real difference to their personal finances whether they get a $150 UNO or a $8,500 Moog One, so they can focus purely on what they want/need without considering the price.
Which is probably what most of us do, don't you think? Or has every single thing you've ever bought been on a whim?For others, even a difference of $250 can mean spending many additional months saving up, postponing other purchases (such as other additional synths) etc.
Except that's not really how they are segmented. They are mostly consumer grade, prosumer and professional, split according to what you are willing to spend, what you can justify, as opposed to what you can afford. Yes, there will be some consumers who buy professional stuff because they can - just look at all the idiots who pay through the nose for a Mac - but mostly it's split along the lines of what a customer is willing to spend and features are added accordingly. e.g. Expensive headphones sound better, they don't just make them with leather instead of plastic and charge a premium for rich people.It's the reason most consumer goods markets are divided into segments based on price brackets. There are luxury cars and cheap cars, expensive computers and cheap computers, headphones that cost anywhere from $20 to thousands, even expensive and cheap houses. It's how the consumer goods market works.
