Have you played one or are you just watching videos?
3 Likes
Oh itās one of those magic devices where video canāt possibly translate the sound of it?
A lot of people are watching videos before dropping $600 on something.
I donāt see in the specs where anything is analog on it. Am I wrong? Happy to be informed.
1 Like
Yeah, sometimes things donāt translate over YouTube vs in person. That happens a lot actually, in my experience. I have one and it sounds great.
Not sure why youāre writing so abrasivelyā¦
7 Likes
I could say the same for you, the way you phrased that question. We all understand that it compresses the videos and the sound is not pristine. I always factor that in. Came off as pretty condescending especially since you know most people donāt have one yet since itās brand new. If you did not mean it that way, then no worries.
This morning I saw that tinez did a deep dive on his and I got a 35 minute listen to it. He knows how to record gear and give a pretty good idea of how it sounds. He was also disappointed that you canāt adjust the volume of each sample after recording in and didnāt rave about the sound either. The pitch in it was awesome and it got me interested in watching the whole vid.
Lot of people commenting were stunned that it was $600 and tinez also was pretty meh on it.
1 Like
Ok
1 Like
In a way its kinda embarrassing to admit you pre orderded a Chompi. Its not a toy. But it sure pushes that boundary.
3 Likes
A toy, a tool, itās all about how you use it
7 Likes
Yeh i get that. Like the Omnichord the Gorillas used on Clint Eastwood.
1 Like
Bingo
1 Like
Iād love one of these but the price is straight up offensive here in Canada after exchange rate and shipping, like $1000.
2 Likes
Thereās a guy near to me selling the pink one for Ā£700.
Was tempted for a second.
1 Like
I dont wanna be against gear for beginners, or simple tools because limitations can be inspiringā¦but come on, 700$ for this? Itās a bit embarassing. Big markup being paid for all the hype around this thing. At this point may as well shell out the bit of extra $ and get a used OP-1, and put in the extra couple hours needed to understand it.
11 Likes
I think thereās a markup because itās a boutique item, so thereās naturally going to be higher cost to feature ratio.
I think people were saying the same thing about the Sonicware ELZ-1.
Once they were able to get the ball rolling on the synth, they ended up knocking the price down on that synth and then continued to offer items that had a much more compelling feature to price ratio
2 Likes
Honestly even for a boutique item it seems, a bit extremeā¦ its not like it has a bunch of custom parts, its made of PCB, I is running on a daisy seed I believe? I think the pricing more so reflects that it is run by people who specialize in marketing and product development but not electrical engineers and programmers, wouldnāt be at all surprised to hear that all of the technical side of the device had been contracted outā¦ which I think is reflected in the cost.
Doesnāt change that the device has captured the interest of a bunch of people though. Approachability is a big factor in grabbing a bigger market in technology I think.
9 Likes
I had to calculate this and yes, itās just shy of $1000 CAD to get one in Manitoba. That is far, far too expensive.
1 Like
Yeah, especially when you can buy an EP-133 and a 404 MkII for that price.
4 Likes
ā¦and a used op-1 + Korg nts-1 ( for the āMagicā)ā¦
If this is aimed at learning/education like the kickstarter suggests, then the price should reflect that, or at least offer more - I get a feeling this is not aimed at that beginner crowd, but rather tries to capitalize on hype/fomo/aesthetics/collectorcult - the interface doesnt even seem that straightforward (unlabeled buttons? how) it seems like this is just a chip with a sampler patch and a cute look, and you can get so much better things at that price that are also beginner friendly -
I think this falls in a weird spot in between - for absolute audio beginners this is still too weird to use just intuitively and get good results, for intermediaries looking to get into more seriously into gear or want a sampler for their setup, this will hamstring you because it a) canāt do almost anything b) once you dig deeper into other gear you will find you will need to put in the work and read a manual anyways or watch a video tutorial (which you do for this one too cause nothings intuitively labeled and theres button combinations). So for both of these types of beginners, this doesnt really tick the box
I think back on the first little synth thing i bought when I got into making music, a monotron delay synth for like 40ā¬ - that is what I think āabsolute beginnerā gear should be like - you push keys, turn knobs, make freaky sounds, get intrigued and marvel at where you could possibly go and get hooked.
For intemediaries looking for a samplers theres better option at lower cost that are easy to understand+offer a lot of deeper functions too.
I thought chompi could have been that, because samplers are amazing starter gear, but Iād even recommend something like polyend play for a beginner instead - basic workflow is easy to understand but if you want to, theres lots to explore. or something like model:samples
i understand that its hard for companies these days to get started and make something cool and new - its all getting super expensive to make gear. But they could have put a bit more effort into this I feel, especially since itās chip based and they even claim on their kickstarter that chompi can be āeasily programmedā using arduino or the like. Well, why did you leave your device this barebones then?
7 Likes
It does look indeed a bit like a cheap DIY raspberry-pi-powered gadget outsourced by a GitHub nerd. PCBs are cut somewhere in China so you have to assemble the thing yourself. Kickstartercore.
At first, when that type of gadget started appearing everywhere it was cool because it encouraged people to hack, mod, build, and rebuild stuff. Especially young people. And these things were cheap. Accessibility was its primary driving force.
Today, products like these are becoming some kind of vanity. I think itās now a legit market, as we see even brands like Korg or Moog doing such stuff. And as you mentioned, because of FOMO and foolishly wasteful culture, a lot of people buy them.
Honestly, I wouldnāt even pay for it if it was the third of its price. It is interesting and in some way perhaps even genius, but this is just too much.
2 Likes