Aurora

[Paul Maddox]

Joost,

yup, all the figures will work out in bulk.
What I'll be doing, once it's built and debugged is getting prices for
assembled boards, different cases, etc and then spending a week in
spreadsheet hell costing the options up.

This'll give me the basis for the "price breaks" for the crowdfunding
project and give me an idea of what's needed.
however, do the math based on your equations, that's a kick starter project
that needs $250,000 of funding to get started, that is HUGE money to be
dealing with in anyone's books.

to be honest, that kind of scares me. but it does show that in volume a
realistic price is achievable.
it'd certainly scare the heck out of people like Dave Smith, Access and
Waldorf.

But, let's not count chickens yet, I have to finish it first :)

Paul

On 7 December 2012 21:09, Joost Schuttelaar <joost at joostschuttelaar.nl>wrote:

> I think that making it as an instrument just for yourself, to play,
> actually play, then to see what (can) come after, is a very smart thing.
> Like you mentioned, a 3500 UKP instrument is not realistic, unless it is
> something truly extraordinary.
>
> 120USD for 1000 boards gets you in the kickstarter range though... 100
> orders, 1000 boards... 1200+300 (case)+200 (keybed)+200 assembly = a 2000
> USD instrument. Add 500 for your time. 2500 USD for a 10-voice awesome
> polyphonic synth. Makes you 50K. That's OK for a 'hobby' project for 2
> years.
>
> --
>
> Joost Schuttelaar
> The Hague, NL
>
> On 7 dec. 2012, at 20:21, Paul Maddox <yo at vacoloco.net> wrote:
>
> > Thanks for the input, I'll try and respond to some of the questions, if
> I miss one, just ask again :)
> >
> > 1) Why are the voice boards expensive? well basically there's a lot on
> each one, each is complete monosynth. and it's not just the cost of the
> parts that needs factoring in, there's the PCB and also assembly costs.
> When I last looked at getting boards made and assembled the quote I had was
> around $120 US dollars, minimum order of 1000. That was over 5 years ago..
> Now I'm sure I could get less made, but that'll mean the PCB cost will
> rise. Plus prices for parts have risen in general across the globe.
> >
> > 2) Expandable, start with one or two voices and expand. This is
> something I've been giving serious thought to. In theory, yes this could be
> done, it would require a bit of forethought but it ought to be possible.
> I'll let it sit in my mind whilst I work on the board. Hopefully by the
> time I come to doing the voice control part I'll have worked through any
> issues.
> >
> > 3) Perspex cases, actually they're not that cheap. Each GorF/Tron/Zira
> case costs £30, 6mm perspex just isn't cheap and 3mm is a bit on the thin
> side.. plus I'm not sure I want to build a gleeman pentaphonic.. It might
> be fine for small fun products, but I'd prefer something a bit more sturdy
> for a professional grade instrument.
> > At this stage I honestly don't think there will be a keyboard version,
> from memory fatar will ship orders with an MOQ of 1000.
> >
> > 4) Kit options, not something I really want to do long term, counting
> resistors and diodes and putting them in little bags is very soul
> destroying.
> >
> > 5) Funding, thanks for offering guys but i'm currently thinking
> something along these lines;
> > a crowdfunding project (probably kickstarter as I believe they now
> accept UK projects),
> > with lots of break points, starting from a few quid getting a VacoLoco
> mug through a single voice unit for say £800, a dual voice unit, an 8 voice
> unit, 16 voices and so on. Perhaps a "uber" prize of getting the original
> prototype and a mention on the website.
> >
> > The idea of crowd funding appeals for two reasons;
> > 1) I'll find out if people actually want it, if not enough people pitch
> in, then I know the idea is a non-starter and it saves me investing huge
> chunks of my money and life.
> > 2) by using different options (desktop monosynth, rack 2 voice, etc) I
> will get a feel for price points and what people are looking for.
> >
> > One thing I will be looking for, is beta testers and also peoples
> opinions of the feature set. what would be nice is to come to europe, meet
> up with you guys for a weekend somewhere and let you all have a play with
> it, see what you think and if you feel there's something missing.
> > I can do the same in the UK with the SynthDIY meet (though I doubt it'll
> be ready by July next year).
> >
> > Thanks again for your support and input, you guys are just awesome :)
> >
> > Paul
> >
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