Nice to meet you Boris!

btw. It's a shame clipping files are published. If they are it shows how a company operates.

Don't worry, this machine will NEVER get into my hands

[This message has been edited by Roel (edited 07-15-2005).]

k

[This message has been edited by domenik (edited 07-22-2005).]

Well for what its worth , i like what i am hearing from the mediastaion. Its hard to tell the true sound quality from the hand held cam mic but even through this, it sounds very good.

Domenic although the audio tracks sound very good it is hard to tell what sounds are coming from the keyboard and what sounds are coming from the audio track. Its almost like a kareoke type function and whilst might be great fun and can be of great benefit for set performances it does not illustrate how versaite the instrument is on the fly. But there is no doubt in my mind that it sounds very promising.

The drums sound a little thin though and lack any real punch or definition. Again it could be just down to the way it has been recorded through the Cam mic.

The jazz demo is excellent and you play very well!! Sounds like a live band for real!!Again though if thats just an audio file it limits where you can take a song and thats why i want to see what the arranger function can do and how accurately it follows chords.

Just listened to the arranger r/b organ video. You are playing your socks off and the organ sounds great but the backing sounds very GM sounding.Tis is a weakness. Are the samples that you use for example the bosendorfer etc accessible for the sounds used on the arranger backing function as they dont sound the same. Overall like i said this sounds very promising

Hi all,
I don't have much to offer from a musician's point of view, I have no experience as a gigging musician, I have no playing dexterity, and I haven't played with many keyboards.
Probably any keyboard in the >$800 range will be absolutely stunning for me, so Tyros, Genesys, G-70, PA1X, Mediastation etc etc, are dream machines well above my musical limits.

So what do I have to say here?

I work in sales, have been working in sales for more than 10 years now. Retail, and corporate. Retail meaning you have to convince everyday folks that what you sell is better that what the others are offering, corporate meaning talking to managers doing the same thing. So I can't talk about music so much, but I can talk about sales.

Domenik, I totall respect your efforts, and your products. I wish you success, infinite riches, and the ability to look back when you are old, and say "I have achieved things". But I have to point out that IMHO you have to get a sales person to represent the company, at least in this forum.

Why?
You said that your background is technical, and that you have been in the field for many years. That is good, but there is a disadvantage to that. What you create as a tech is your brainchild, you love it, and you are naturally protecting your child from every bad person or bad opinion in the planet. The problem is that you act as a normal parent, can't see the (sometimes good, sometimes bad) meaning every opinion has, you seem too busy protecting that child. Techs do that a lot.

Why don't you try to do things a sales person would:

People ask for a video, then try to give them a video. If it is not satisfactory for them, don't bitch about, give them a better video. Do they need better .mp3's, give them better mp3's. Are they clipping? Then make some that don't clip. The finished Mediastation will not clip or distort, so why the demo should? You want to convince them, right?

I think it better to avoid telling everyone here how dreadful your competitors sound. That will not convince them. What will convince them is how YOU and YOUR product sound. Do they sound good? If yes, people here may soon be looking in their pockets for money to buy a MS. But thay won't pay you to hear your opinion on how boring Yamaha's sounds and features are. They have their own opinions, already, and they got them for free.

Observe what other sales persons or store owners do here. Someone asks George Kaye for advice, that will probably won't profit him this time and George answers. He may not get any money at one time, but being professional and truthful, will earn him more in the long end. Same for WDMcM, he is helpful to everyone asking. By the way, check this out: http://www.generalmusic.us/Media/GenEnsforweb.wmv It seems to me that a video like that, with enough sound clarity, would close some mouths around here. It takes effort yes, needs 2 cameras and some stiching, but if you want to impress...

Try to think of people here as potential girlfriends.... you want to befriend them, so they can invite you for a drink. You don't have to tell lies to get invited, and you can't just say "I am a stud like you have never seen baby, all the others are wussies" and expect them to believe you. You have to do things the way they are meant to be done. Both parties will be having a good time.

A better demo for the guys here, will be as flowers for a girl. Isn't it worth it? You'll end up on top in the end.

Again, please have in mind that I absolutely respect you, your products, your company and your efforts here. All the above is no personal grudge, just my observations and recommendations, you may like them you may not. Anyone can comment, agree or disagree.

P.S.
1) Ladies here, PLEASE don't bash me. I mean good.
2) Domenik, Mediterranean hot temperament is not an excuse, at least not for me. I am Greek, I know.
3) Better English, written or spoken, have never hurt anybody, especially if you are talking to Americans. Like it or not, it is THE universal language. If you can't exactly express what you mean in English, get someone else who can to do it for you.

[This message has been edited by trident (edited 07-15-2005).]

Trident,
Excellent post ! .... You ARE a great salesman.

It seems to me that domenik needs two things - a good lawyer (to explain copyright law as it exists in the US and Europe - he has a good chance of losing his company if he practices what he preaches) and a professional PR man to repair the damage his blowhard ranting has done to his company's reputation. If it is true (and after reading his postings it IS hard to make out the truth from the hyperbole) that he is shipping 400 units a year, these are things that his company can afford (along with better videos and mp3's - come on, now, if you can design a keyboard, you should be able to figure out how to convert high-res audio to a quality mp3!!).

If anybody else from domenik's company is reading this forum - PLEASE, for your own good, lock him back in the lab and put a professional in charge of your PR!

Domenik,

I agree with you 100% that LINUX is the
best and most superior OS for many reasons.
Please keep up the excellent work and don't
let a few negative remarks make you think that you are going down the wrong path.
Anyone who can't see the path of hardware based keyboards evolving closer to software based is truly behind the times.

I think the Oriental community is absolutely interested in arranger functions, but they want something ready to turn on and play.
Ironically, the problem with have so much flexibility, is that too many choices just
intimidate many people(myself included).

If for some reason your complete keyboards
do not sell well, I think you should offer
the "guts" as PCI cards to be run with LINUX
on PCs. Much like Emu did with their samplers
(but not Linux).

Domenik
Well at last I can say you finally have some reasonably decent demos up on your site. I watched all the video X76 examples and compared to what you had up before, these are a 100% improvement.

For me it will still take seeing one live in person and getting to play with one. I really too have been interested in your whole concept and approach since the beginning.
Terry



[This message has been edited by trtjazz (edited 07-16-2005).]

By the way, and to Domenik's honour, the Mediastation is quite an interesting product.
the idea is excellent, and I am convinced that you can somehow "sculpt" the product to suit your needs, and I think it will be a nice offering. The price will lower itself as sales grow.

Come on Domenik, get those demos running.
Suggestions:

1) Connect the outputs from the MS to the IN of the camera, don't use the on-camera mic. You probably know how to do it ang get a nicer sound, WAY better than me.

2) If your demo guy cannot express himself in clear English, then let him do what he does well. Just let him play and make sure he is not looking bored. Michel Voncken looks equally "happy" or "positive" regardless which product he plays, be it the most expensive product or a cheap product for beginners.

3)Once you record the guy, get someone with clear English or maybe you, to do a voice over. Make sure the voice does not drown out the keyboard, you want users to be able to hear it. It doesn't matter so much if your accent is bad, because you can always rehearse before, and even record the voiceover in pieces. That way, the player is not stressed to do many things at once, and you can exactly describe what is going on, overcoming cameras's or video's deficiencies.

4) Make sure the voiceover covers what the player is doing, and also focus on what the BENEFITS are for the customers. You can say "we have 32 bit sampling and 1/480ppq resolution in the sequencer that nobody has" or you can say, "your pre recorded music will sound its best through out advanced 32 bit sound system and we have enough resolution on the sequencer to capture the tiniest nuances of your playing". Which one you prefer? (It sounds a little cheesy, but you get the idea.)

5) I would love to see/hear a demo of 2-3 popular songs played like a potential customer would play them, like "a bar patron tipped and requested a song." That way you can be creative on the playing, and you can show how easy is to operate the instrument, select the voices, select the style, etc. I wouldn't like to hear Mozart, I'd better hear "It's now or never". (this is only MY opinion of course).

I am waiting, either for your bashing, or for your video. I hope the best for you.

Theodore

Hi Domenik.
If you a go to Paris(France) I can make for you a good sound in your videos. It's not so difficult ! Just record the sound directely in the computer, and mix it with the voice of the player. You can even do it on your linux keyboard !! and after you have the good sound, put it on the video. They should be synced... If you want help, I can give you.