alt Hacker NewsKorg did it right - budget off-the-shelf processor, most of the money spent on the UI, wildly optimistic prices, no nostalgic ties.
The expensive part of a modern synth isn't the DSP board, it's the industrial design and tooling needed to build the rest of the hardware.
The CZ series was workable, but there really aren't many passionate nostalgic buyers waiting to drop a few hundred - minimum - on an expensive reissue.
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I don't think I buy that argument (that there aren't enough people interested in it).
It's not quite in the ball park of something like the DX 7 or several of the better known analog synths, which have nearly all seen re-issues, mini-versions, software emulations, etc., often several. Damned near every Roland synth from that era has seen a re-issue and official plugin. Yamaha has been more measured in their re-issue plays, but the DX did get a reface DX, along with the CS, CP and YC. FM synthesis has been wildly successful in nostalgia synths as well as novel takes on the idea (e.g. the Elektron FM groove box) and Korg's Opsix (I have two of them, the first gen small one and the big expensive one made in Japan), and Yamaha still ships FM synthesis engines in their high end workstations. And, there's at least four plugins that emulate the CZ (I'm working on a fifth to be released in another month or two).
I don't think all that would exist without some demand. I have a soft spot for early digital synths, and I think a lot of other folks do, too. I don't like to buy from Behringer, but it's the only hardware option out there right now aside from the real thing (I own a real CZ 101, but I wouldn't want to take it out of the studio).
AudioPilz (Bad Gear) even made a video demanding it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb8nMZE-bb0
>Korg did it right - budget off-the-shelf processor, most of the money spent on the UI, wildly optimistic prices, no nostalgic ties.
Korg does put out "nostalgic" remakes of analog synths just as well: MS-20 (complete with patch board), Arp 2600, as well as digital versions like the Korg multi/poly virtual analog.
Agreed. My knowledge/experience with synths is limited but between DSPs that're as available as ketchup and Kleenex for the past few decades and an LLM there's not much to rolling one's one. A watch on the other hand is higher LOE
This is where Behringer absolutely shine - about a decade ago they established a fully automated mega-factory in Malaysia designed around Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio, PLM/MES software, and Digital Twin technology.
Korg 2600 - ~ €1000 Behringer 2600 - €300
CZ Series doesn't have much cachet simply because phase distortion synthesis was the 'we have FM Synthesis at home' cheap alternative to 4 OP FM Synthesis in the 80s. About the only USP they have in that arena is the fact they're responsible for the 'Reese Bass' sound - the 'Wilhelm Scream' of Techno if you will.