> I can see why Dieter would be hesitant in developing such a
> module if the A-112 sales are not that great :(
>
> Christophe
No - the A-112 sales are fine. Though I see myself in the first place as a
module designer I'm also a business man and have to keep the company running
(each staff member has to pay his expenses every month :-).
During the last few years I made the experience that the sales of more
complex (and consequently more expensive) modules are a bit poor. A good
example is the morphing filter A-107 and on the other hand the new A-106-6
XP filter. The A-107 has a lot of features and it took more than two years
to design the module (together with a lot of very helpful discussions in
this group). The final design had all the features the customers were asking
for but obviously the price was too high to make the A-107 a commercial
winner (after all the sales did not cover our development costs so far). On
the other hand there is the new A-106-6 XP filter. It has much less features
than the A-107 but offers nearly the same filter functions as the A-107 (but
without the morphing feature). So far more A-106-6 were ordered than A-107's
during it's entire livespane since summer 2003. And the A-106-6 is available
since fall 2008 !
That's what I have to keep in mind if modules with too many features are
suggested. We made the experience that the sales of too complex modules are
not satisfying from the commercial point of view (don't get me wrong: I in
person like the A-107 much more than the A-106-6). So I'm a bit cautious if
modules with too many features that will increase the price are suggested.
There will be always some experts who want to have such modules badly. But
for us it's a flop if we sell e.g. only 25 modules per year as we have to
keep in mind the development costs which are much higher for more complex
modules. If then the sales are worse compared to a less complex module (and
hence with lower development costs) you will understand by concerns.
These are some basic notes that are not related only to the suggested
complex sampler module. But they may explain why I'm a bit cautious with
suggestions of too complex (and hence too expensive) modules.
Best wishes
Dieter Doepfer