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Ocean Beach Db1 TOO EXPENSIVE

Postby pantelis272 » 30 Oct 2012, 14:14

Don't you agree? You buy a midi controller with 9 faders for 300 euros? Come on...it should be below of 1/2 the price.
With that price you can buy a very good midi keyboard, with faders, drumpads, semi weighted keys..rotary controls..everything!
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Ocean Beach Db1 TOO EXPENSIVE


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Re: Ocean Beach Db1 TOO EXPENSIVE

Postby robferr » 30 Oct 2012, 16:11

I agree. I have as a lower manual a studio logic master keyboard with 9 drawbars and progarmmable buttons : excellent and easy to program. I can use it also for piano as it has a good weighed action.
I had the DB1 and sold it without loosing too musch money.
Keep on swinging.
Roberto 8-)
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Re: Ocean Beach Db1 TOO EXPENSIVE

Postby kwynn » 30 Oct 2012, 23:48

Agreed! When these came I wanted them bad, but couldn't and still can't justify paying that much for midi sliders. That being said, I don't think there is a big market and it probably costs that guys a decent amount to produce them, so he's just trying to make a little money and help Nord users out, but unfortunately they cost way too much for what they are.
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Re: Ocean Beach Db1 TOO EXPENSIVE

Postby JoeCool » 31 Oct 2012, 01:10

They probably are produced in smaller amounts and look as if they are made of metal, where the average controller keyboard is mostly a plastic thingy...but I also have an Novation impulse 49 keys with nine faders and it does the job. And no one is forced to buy an OceanBeach.
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Re: Ocean Beach Db1 TOO EXPENSIVE

Postby OBDave » 31 Oct 2012, 07:01

Yep, that's exactly it. If they were made by the thousands in China, they'd be a whole lot cheaper. But they're not, they're made in the US, the enclosure is steel, and as a result there are lots of additional costs associated with their manufacture. Interestingly enough, the electronics are not that expensive, it's all the mechanicals (enclosure, faders, buttons, switches, connectors) that really drive the cost up. That stuff adds up fast.

I really wish there was a way to manufacture the DB-1 less expensively, but it's a low-volume, niche product. And it's just not possible to do low-volume manufacturing on the cheap.

For comparison you should look at what Hammond-Suzuki charges for the XM-c2. Granted, it's got a couple more knobs and buttons, but it's also a comparatively high-volume product, it's made of plastic, and it's way more expensive than the DB-1. And it's not even programmable nor does it have standard connectors.

Consider also the price differential between the Electro 3 61 and the Electro 4D, where there was no metal box for them to make, no new power supply to design, no new connectors, no additional microprocessor, or anything. The incremental cost of manufacture appears to be have been quite minimal. So I think in that light, the DB-1 fares pretty well. The DB-1 was designed specifically for the Nord and works with every Nord ever made, so when you upgrade or switch from Electro to Stage, you can take your drawbars with you. At the same time, it's also fully programmable so you can use it with VB3 or other VSTi's. I'd love to be able to sell them for 99 bucks but there's just no way to do that.

Regards,

Dave
Last edited by OBDave on 31 Oct 2012, 07:05, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Ocean Beach Db1 TOO EXPENSIVE

Postby jazzystu » 31 Oct 2012, 07:31

Clearly, none of you have any experience with plastics tooling.

I imagine Nord use wooden end cheeks on their stage for this reason.

You are probably looking in the order of $20-30k for the tooling for the bars and the body. That's before you pay anyone.

It's a fair chunk to punt. I wouldn't have.

Well done them for doing it.

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Re: Ocean Beach Db1 TOO EXPENSIVE

Postby Michael Wright » 31 Oct 2012, 08:15

OBDave wrote:Yep, that's exactly it. If they were made by the thousands in China, they'd be a whole lot cheaper. But they're not, they're made in the US, the enclosure is steel, and as a result there are lots of additional costs associated with their manufacture. Interestingly enough, the electronics are not that expensive, it's all the mechanicals (enclosure, faders, buttons, switches, connectors) that really drive the cost up. That stuff adds up fast.

I really wish there was a way to manufacture the DB-1 less expensively, but it's a low-volume, niche product. And it's just not possible to do low-volume manufacturing on the cheap.

For comparison you should look at what Hammond-Suzuki charges for the XM-c2. Granted, it's got a couple more knobs and buttons, but it's also a comparatively high-volume product, it's made of plastic, and it's way more expensive than the DB-1. And it's not even programmable nor does it have standard connectors.

Consider also the price differential between the Electro 3 61 and the Electro 4D, where there was no metal box for them to make, no new power supply to design, no new connectors, no additional microprocessor, or anything. The incremental cost of manufacture appears to be have been quite minimal. So I think in that light, the DB-1 fares pretty well. The DB-1 was designed specifically for the Nord and works with every Nord ever made, so when you upgrade or switch from Electro to Stage, you can take your drawbars with you. At the same time, it's also fully programmable so you can use it with VB3 or other VSTi's. I'd love to be able to sell them for 99 bucks but there's just no way to do that.

Regards,

Dave


Well said. :thumbup:
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Re: Ocean Beach Db1 TOO EXPENSIVE

Postby hammondking » 31 Oct 2012, 08:22

Well the best thing Ocean Beach did was to put out a second version. I got my set of Version1 drawbars on eBay for $100. :-)

If you think $299 is too much, just wait until V3 comes out :-)
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Re: Ocean Beach Db1 TOO EXPENSIVE

Postby Gustavo » 31 Oct 2012, 19:16

I also think it's somehwat expensive. but I agree that since it's made of metal and is fully configurable, that justifies it for me. Still since I do not play that often with drawbars, I'd rather not spend so much. If I absolutely needed them, I would get this instead of a midi controller. Its just more convinient.
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Re: Ocean Beach Db1 TOO EXPENSIVE

Postby FlametopFred » 20 Jan 2018, 21:48

Fast forward. I just picked up a first gen DB-1 and it is great. I thought it would be good, useful.

The box is transformative to the Nord Stage EX organ.

More subtle drawbar settings can be obtained and saved, in addition to the on-the-fly changes you can make.

These Ocean Beach boxes are fantastic, deserve to be reissued. Only complaint is that I wish they could be retrofitted within the panel of the Nord. Which I may undertake as a mod.
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