April is about to end, and no new product release.

[Alaskanulu]

The wave 2 is amazing. Worth every penny! Very underrated in my opinion. Although I do wish they would update it a little more frequently..

[DJKeys]

The wave 2 is amazing. Worth every penny! Very underrated in my opinion. Although I do wish they would update it a little more frequently..

I agree, the Wave2 is a brilliant design and much powerful than it appears from the factory patches and online demos which barely scratch the surface of the instrument. This guy really delves into it:



However, I also believe that Clavia should make some type of public statement as to their intentions for the near future. They have been dark for a long time now-

-dj

[Gambold]

>They have been dark for a long time now<

That's nothing new. This isn't a company that does a lot of outreach with their client base. Reticent Swedes, I suppose. The closest we had on this board to someone who could regularly give updates, or at least commiserate with us on the lack of them, was Pablo Mastodon, and he vanished without a trace or reason...after a long and heralded tenure as Clavia's man-on-the-American-street. Needless to say, he was not replaced.

Kind of makes you wonder.

[Spider]

The closest we had on this board to someone who could regularly give updates, or at least commiserate with us on the lack of them although it was well beyond his required duties and was completely done out of caring and unselfishness, was Pablo Mastodon, and he vanished without a trace or reason retired in 2020 after a long and honorable career.

off-topic-about-this-forum-f22/pablo-ma ... 19749.html

Needless to say, he was not replaced. Clavia still has a fully functioning North American support and customer service.

corrected for you

[analogika]

>They have been dark for a long time now<

That's nothing new. This isn't a company that does a lot of outreach with their client base. Reticent Swedes, I suppose. The closest we had on this board to someone who could regularly give updates, or at least commiserate with us on the lack of them, was Pablo Mastodon, and he vanished without a trace or reason...after a long and heralded tenure as Clavia's man-on-the-American-street. Needless to say, he was not replaced.

He was a support guy who eventually moved on to a different job, and announced his departure here on the forums.

[analogika]

However, I also believe that Clavia should make some type of public statement as to their intentions for the near future. They have been dark for a long time now-

Why should they do that?

No other company on earth is expected to, and the only one that does is Behringer…

[Spider]

It's true that Clavia doesn't communicate much, but it's also true that not many companies do that, as Analogika says. Most of all, companies do their communication after products are released, not before! No company wants to disclose its future plans to competitors. The only one that does is behringer, and only because it's a precise and very aggressive strategy: they know nobody can compete with their prices, so they announce their producs years in advance (when they're just a draft on a designer's table and there's not even a prototype) to discourage the competition to produce anything similar.

Also, companies normally don't communicate on public forums. They may have their own forums, or more often their own social media pages where they have complete control.
Or some employees may participate on public forums on personal basis. But for example, I don't think any Clavia member was ever involved in this forum, and even Pablo always took great care to stress that he was not a Clavia employee, had no more insight than us on future releases, and only represented the North American distributor and customer service. And even in that role, it was not his paid duty to participate on forums and he only did it as an extra-curricular activity out of his passion and commitment.

Any idea that companies SHOULD participate in person to forum and social discussions is just misguided: companies know how impossible to control are those places, and how any discussion may, and will, rapidly spin out of control and damage the brand. This forum is an oasis of peace and well-behaved members, but the reality is that the internet is mostly a toxic place. For a real-world example, just look at any "new product release" thread on Gearspace: in a few pages it invariably degenerates in personal insults, brand bashing, trolling etc.

[analogika]

Note that Behringer also publicly "announces" products that they might not actually ship:
1. they use the public to gauge interest and explicitly solicit feedback on the product implementation, stressing that the product might not be feasible for production at all.
2. they explicitly do not need to make money off these products. Their business is thriving in other areas (note that they’re not as open when talking about their plans for mixing consoles, for example), and the synth market is apparently something they’re really just doing "for fun", and for the renown, not for profit.

Their strategy really does not compare to that of other manufacturers.

[Gambold]

Matthew Wood? First I've heard about him. Anyone see any posts from him on this forum?

Also - it has to be said that Clavia is not Behringer or Korg. Comparing them to a mega-corporation is not particularly apt - plenty of small, boutique companies like Clavia regularly communicate with their customers and maintain a presence on either their own forums or "sanctioned" ones like these. Yes, yes, I know this forum is officially "not affiliated" with Clavia, but we all also know that several people on this board are connected with them, that they ghost the place, and that former support personnel like Mastodon were an integral part of its appeal.

As to Pablo's departure - it was abrupt and yeah, there's an official statement about it but it's nonetheless been a big loss for Clavia that was not filled. If anyone can find anything about "Matthew Wood" on the Internet, please post it here. He's certainly not mentioned on Clavia's website.

[Rusty Mike]

It's true that Clavia doesn't communicate much, but it's also true that not many companies do that, as Analogika says. Most of all, companies do their communication after products are released, not before! No company wants to disclose its future plans to competitors. The only one that does is behringer, and only because it's a precise and very aggressive strategy: they know nobody can compete with their prices, so they announce their producs years in advance (when they're just a draft on a designer's table and there's not even a prototype) to discourage the competition to produce anything similar.

Also, companies normally don't communicate on public forums. They may have their own forums, or more often their own social media pages where they have complete control.
Or some employees may participate on public forums on personal basis. But for example, I don't think any Clavia member was ever involved in this forum, and even Pablo always took great care to stress that he was not a Clavia employee, had no more insight than us on future releases, and only represented the North American distributor and customer service. And even in that role, it was not his paid duty to participate on forums and he only did it as an extra-curricular activity out of his passion and commitment.

Any idea that companies SHOULD participate in person to forum and social discussions is just misguided: companies know how impossible to control are those places, and how any discussion may, and will, rapidly spin out of control and damage the brand. This forum is an oasis of peace and well-behaved members, but the reality is that the internet is mostly a toxic place. For a real-world example, just look at any "new product release" thread on Gearspace: in a few pages it invariably degenerates in personal insults, brand bashing, trolling etc.

Well said, Spider.

A lot of Internet forums are very toxic. I personally believe companies are smart to stay out of the chaos. There are a few exceptions. Mike Martin from Casio is a fairly active participant in the Keyboard Corner, but really sticks to answering specific questions and stays away from errant criticisms. Compared to Gearspace, KC is a relatively civil forum, but they do have their own unique issues which have personally driven me away as a member. As Spider said, any announcement or product introduction turns into a circus on Gearspace. The current threads on Oberheim, the Roland Juno X and any Behringer topic are fraught with trolling, insults and little credible content. They are simultaneously amusing and embarrassing.

A sincere shout out to this forum, which has (for the most part) maintained a level of civility and respect among the membership. Pretty much why it's the only forum that I will participate in.

With regard to Clavia, yes, they have not announced anything lately. To give them a little slack here, we live in odd times. Manufacturing and supply chains are a mess, and Clavia is a small company without the volume or buying power of Roland or Yamaha. And we have no idea how Covid has affected their staff or ability to get things done. Given that Clavia is a privately owned company, they don't owe any explanations.

In reality, it is only our expectations, however rooted, that cause our disappointment. This has nothing to do with Clavia.

I'm looking forward to the next round of product introductions as much as the next person. I'm in a position to upgrade my Stage 2EX. I'm extremely interested in seeing if Clavia starts using the new Fatar TP110 action in their HP instruments, as it has been getting some pretty positive reviews. The Stage is actually more than I need (not really a synth player anymore - piano and organ are just fine), so I'd like to see what the next generation Electro brings.

That said, IMHO, Clavia does need to prioritize the Sample Library 4 so Piano 5 owners don't feel so stranded. It would also be nice to see some trickle down on that as well. To me, that should precede any new product announcement.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy playing my Stage 2EX and Electro 6.