I’m not into these cheap builds either. I’d pay that bit extra to get premium materials.
Well I’ve personally never bought any music gear that felt this cheap before. Other products in this price category have all been pretty solid such as the MC-101 and Circuit. They have a much higher build quality in my opinion.
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For what they are the volcas are fine. Nts-1 is fragile by design. Microkorg is fine I guess, feels somewhat hollow. Mines slightly busted (pot, 3 keys) but a cabinet fell on it so I’m more surprised that it’s alive, it busted my record player and bendt my beyerdynamic 880 out of shape.
Minibrute is slightly wonky (mod wheel, some pots, but does feel solid. And the kaoss pad 3 is massive, feels way more expensive then I payed it.
Model cycles is plastic but doesn’t feel cheap at all and next to the kaoss pad 3 and push 2 feels top notch. Prices paid (push 2 new):odel cycles 220€, kaoss pad 250€ and push 2 450€
That’s why I’m worried if this is 400€ but cheaply bildt, and where the MSRP of 600€ would be a no go.
Initially I was expecting less limitations and better build quality, so 600€ wouldn’t have felt to much.
Edit:
Then again Korg seemingly wants 170€ for 2 capable tool but bare PCBs… (Nts-1 MK2 and nts-3)
Yes, firmware was updated. As soon as one connects the app it tells you there is a firmware upgrade to do. The button issue is likely to be a manufacturing defect
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and then there’s the tracker mini which is… €699 and the thin plastic housing feels like something you’d pick up in tesco 
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Really? Oh come on.
There are enough examples for cheap looking/ cheap feeling abusable Hardware, and for luxurious builds that you would be afraid off to scratch.
But feeling cheap AND not being abuse proof, for a price? That’s a joke.
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Wild that people would pay 200 or 300 euros more for the same product but made of metal. I bet they could make it for the same price and still make a profit, why offer to pay more? insane.
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personally I’m not saying I’m happy to be ripped off. but if hypothetically the real world cost to manufacture something + tight margins meant that quality materials would equal a higher price, I’d be happy to pay. (product / company / price depending)
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Single destination only.
I have not delved deeply in yet so can’t answer the other 2, yet.
I think on the sound/capabilities side most will be happy, it is just a shame about the build quality.
On the build - I think if it had a steel baseplate it would have a bit more rigidity and heft, the encoders seem fine, the switches on the side and the keyboard keys are a let down.
Just as a comparison the Donner B1 is better construction.
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Maybe 10 euro, not 200 or 300 euro……
I think £349 is overpriced
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Looks like I was right. You can disassemble the case in 3 parts.
I’m thinking of buying 2, and make a dark gray + orange combo :)))
I did that with the Electribe 2. I wanted a gray sampler :)) so I switched logic boards.
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That’s a great idea!
Do you think the battery could be replaced with a larger capacity?
In theory it could work, if you find a bigger one at the same size. Space seems pretty small in there.
And also, depends how the battery board is programmed. If it knows it has X MAh… and you put a bigger one, if might get confused.
I would get one of those slim USB c batteries and velcro it to the back.
That’s how I run most of my gear. Useful as a stand too 
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I can’t think of anything else with this much functionality at this price.
The price comparable competitors are Cycles, Samples and Circuit Tracks and Rhythm.
All do a lot less (though have more robust build it seems)
I suppose when you jump up in price to the £450 mark you get the MKI Play, Tracker and the MC-101 and SP-404 which are all very well made and quite feature packed.
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Nope, 1-2 for good build AND less limitations on the software side/some more features?
Yeah.
Just a metal case? Nope. And it’s not even metal. Playability seeing how the buttons on the side are meh, longevity if the case is more robust. Keep the Plastik, but don’t have 3 wobbly pieces on top. Give it an aluminium base plate for rigidity.
Effectively: make it a mature product that keeps its value and reaches beginners as well as more serious producers/musicians on the go.
For just way better build quality I could see 100, but that does not just mean “metal instead of plastic”, I’ve seen my fare share of bad aluminium notebooks…
That’s a lot of PCP and not a lot op battery. No wonder it’s only 3-4 h.
Crap that the connector for the battery seems to be under the first PCB there. But at least it seems easily replaceable.
Thoughts on the speaker? Good enough for occasional use, possibly with other synths, etc, connected too?
G