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By the mid-80s the analogs were seen as last decade's sound for last year's people. They were immensely unfashionable, and by the beginning of the 90s they were

By the mid-80s the analogs were seen as last decade's sound for last year's people. They were immensely unfashionable, and by the beginning of the 90s they were being sold off for bargain prices. The low end of the analog market had been captured by budget polysynths from Korg and especially Roland which had most of the sound at much less of the price. The problem wasn't the cost of digital R&D, it was commoditisation which turned a high-margin super expensive boutique professional market into a low-margin semi-pro and amateur commodity market with cheaper, less exclusive and less prestigious products. The high-end market essentially disappeared and so do its distribution and promo channels. What was left supported a much smaller number of companies. All of the headline synth companies went under at that point, no matter what tech they used - Sequential, Oberheim, Moog, PPG, ARP, Ensoniq, E-mu, and even Fairlight and eventually Synclavier. As well as also-rans like Octave, Gleeman, Crumar and Siel. Korg also went under and were bought out by Yamaha. Yamaha survived because it's a huge zaibatsu with deep pockets. Even with the DX7 the synth division is a sidenote on its bottom line. Roland are also a huge corporation - mostly immensely profitable while also having street-level cool - and weathered the 80s and early 90s with some functional but clever hybrid models at relatively affordable prices. Around 2005 the boutique market started to reappear, but aimed less at professionals and more at now-affluent collectors and dabblers who "always wanted one of those", and/or are willing to drop $$$$$ on something spendy just to prove they can. So you get hipster-toy module makers in the Eurorack space, wildly overpriced Veblen toys like the OP 1, remakes of Classic Brands™, and various clones and reissues in both hardware and software form. It's very nostalgic and backward looking, and I suspect there will be another shakeout before the end of the decade.

piva00 4y ago
> So you get hipster-toy module makers in the Eurorack space Which are used by artists all around (from amateur hobbyists to professional acts), they aren't "toy modules", there's been a lot of innovation in Eurorack and painting all of them as "toys" is a huge disservice to the whole format...
radiowave 4y ago
What ended up working during the late 80s and through the 90s were ASICs that could be reused in areas other than just "pure" synthesizers - digital pianos, home organs, PC soundcards (IIRC both Emu and Ensoniq ended up being bought by Creative, the SoundBlaster company). So this worked out well for those companies that were in a position to do a good job of both the ASIC and logic board development, and also use the resulting technology to address those broader markers - Yamaha being the pre-eminant example. (I agree with the point about the DX7 being a sidenote, but I'd say that all the other product lines that the tech eventually flowed into will have ended up being rather more than just a sidenote.) Regarding the current market, despite all the retreads, I do think there's more interesting stuff going on than there has been for a long time (certainly in comparison to the analogue synth revival of the 90s), and I hope that manages to continue happening, even as I also kind of hope that the retro-appeal stuff will simmer down a bit.
- musicale 4y ago
  The A6 in the Alesis A6 Andromeda name refers, of course, to ASICs.
musicale 4y ago
I am a fan of the analog renaissance! They sound great and are fun to play. It's not just classic reissues (and improved versions) or clones either - there's a huge range of analog from cheap pocket synths to monster synths to hybrid to modular. One particularly great development is more affordable analog from the IK Multimedia UNO to the Korg Minilogue to the Sequential Take 5 to Behringer's Deepmind and Neutron (not to mention their clone army if it ever reaches production.)

piva00 4y ago

> So you get hipster-toy module makers in the Eurorack space Which are used by artists all around (from amateur hobbyists to professional acts), they aren't "toy modules", there's been a lot of innovation in Eurorack and painting all of them as "toys" is a huge disservice to the whole format...

radiowave 4y ago

What ended up working during the late 80s and through the 90s were ASICs that could be reused in areas other than just "pure" synthesizers - digital pianos, home organs, PC soundcards (IIRC both Emu and Ensoniq ended up being bought by Creative, the SoundBlaster company). So this worked out well for those companies that were in a position to do a good job of both the ASIC and logic board development, and also use the resulting technology to address those broader markers - Yamaha being the pre-eminant example. (I agree with the point about the DX7 being a sidenote, but I'd say that all the other product lines that the tech eventually flowed into will have ended up being rather more than just a sidenote.) Regarding the current market, despite all the retreads, I do think there's more interesting stuff going on than there has been for a long time (certainly in comparison to the analogue synth revival of the 90s), and I hope that manages to continue happening, even as I also kind of hope that the retro-appeal stuff will simmer down a bit.

musicale 4y ago
The A6 in the Alesis A6 Andromeda name refers, of course, to ASICs.

musicale 4y ago

I am a fan of the analog renaissance! They sound great and are fun to play. It's not just classic reissues (and improved versions) or clones either - there's a huge range of analog from cheap pocket synths to monster synths to hybrid to modular. One particularly great development is more affordable analog from the IK Multimedia UNO to the Korg Minilogue to the Sequential Take 5 to Behringer's Deepmind and Neutron (not to mention their clone army if it ever reaches production.)