Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Re: Follow up on Inuke 12000 release date

Dear Per,

Thanks for the excellent questions.

One has to understand the dynamics that drives these developments. The PC/Telecom business with its massive volume is the key driver for most communication standards and its related hardware solutions, which are generally developed in cooperation with leading semicon manufacturers.

The audio industry is way too small to have any major influence on the strategic directions that these large companies execute on. The good news is that many of the solutions that flow into the audio industry, would have never been available if they hadn't been developed for the PC/Telecom business.

Look at the incredibly powerful DSP’s and FPGA’s that have made it into audio products. These highly sophisticated semicons were developed first and foremost for the telecom industry and audio companies are now able to enjoy those components.
However, for the same reason, the audio industry is also at the mercy of these semicon manufacturers once they decide to discontinue certain components.

This is exactly what happened to our previous digital console DDX3216, where the core processor was discontinued and we had to stop making an otherwise successful product.

It is remarkable that even companies such as Archwave are suffering from the same dependencies on their suppliers. The fab that made the DM1500, recently decided to change their manufacturing processes in order to allocate priorities to large volume customers. The component had to be discontinued.

Archwave is a fine and innovative company and their new DM2500 is a great chip that will allow for direct USB-to-HD recording. Once the drivers are finalized, we intend to offer an optional card for all our X32 products.

In the meantime we have developed a new USB2.0 recording card based on a powerful Xmos solution, which will be our new standard expansion card for all our X32 products. It is a high-speed, bi-directional 32-channel interface which has proven to be very stable.

The AES50 recorder is actually an idea, we discussed some time ago. However with a USB-to-HD recording card in the making, I am not sure how viable this recorder would be.

Warm regards

Uli
 
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Turbosound

Dear Uli

Long time lurker and first time poster....I'd like to know what your plans for Turbosound are? There seems to be a lot of staff leaving there and wondered what plans there are to resurrect this brand, are they confined to designing drivers for Behringer PA cabinets?
 
Re: Follow up on Inuke 12000 release date

Uli Behringer said:
In the meantime we have developed a new USB2.0 recording card based on a powerful Xmos solution, which will be our new standard expansion card for all our X32 products. It is a high-speed, bi-directional 32-channel interface which has proven to be very stable.

The AES50 recorder is actually an idea, we discussed some time ago. However with a USB-to-HD recording card in the making, I am not sure how viable this recorder would be.
Click to expand...

Uli, thank you for your answers.
Is the new standard expansion card likely to be ready in time to be included in the first shipments of the Rack and the other new members of the family?
Are you planning to offer this card for sale when it becomes available?

Yes, I realize that a solid recording interface or direct to drive recording interface will diminish the attraction of a standalone AES50 recorder, but the idea of being able to record 48 channels straight off a AES50 stream surely is an attractive one at the right price :)~:)~:smile:
 
Re: Follow up on Inuke 12000 release date

Per Søvik said:
Yes, I realize that a solid recording interface or direct to drive recording interface will diminish the attraction of a standalone AES50 recorder, but the idea of being able to record 48 channels straight off a AES50 stream surely is an attractive one at the right price :)~:)~:smile:
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Uli, would it also not be possible to use the dm1500 to its full potential by enabling access to all 128(firewire) or 36(usb) channels for streaming?

I can definetly see the use for the extra streams when recording. This is even more obvious if you connect additional s16's to your x32.

The dm1500 also have native support for adat. Wouldn't it be nice to use this 'superchip' to its potential?

I can only guess right now that the dm2500 and xmos have similar capabilities to tap into, even if firewire now is missing...

It would also be nice to use the p16 streams for recording. According to my investigations the protocol is more or less aes3 192/24 and a simple balun converter should enable 2x8 channels of direct recording into any 192/24 capable interface or be converted into adat quite simple.
 
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Re: Turbosound

Color me "not surprised." Not for sinister reasons; buyouts and acquisitions are natural times to make career moves, doubly so if you've successfully helped your employer create/launch/support an entire model range.

My best to Jason and Jay as they venture on.

Simon Andrews said:
and now it seems everyone is leaving Midas!

Former Midas marketing men join Cadac | Pro Audio industry news | Audio Pro International

SSL Appoints Jason Kelly as Product Manager for New

AV: Solid Stage Logic Appoints Jay Easley As Vice President Of Live Consoles - Pro Sound Web
Click to expand...
 
Re: Turbosound

Tim McCulloch said:
Color me "not surprised." Not for sinister reasons; buyouts and acquisitions are natural times to make career moves, doubly so if you've successfully helped your employer create/launch/support an entire model range.

My best to Jason and Jay as they venture on.
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Not being a Midas console owner or immediate prospective customer I find this interesting (and not surprising) only in a general sort of way. However, Jay was also the top guy in the US for Turbosound since Uli's purchase which is of personal interest to me and my company. I had recently had business dealings with Jay and will miss him ( and Simon Blackwood and Dom Harter and Dan Orton and...). Fortunately, some of these folks moved to different companies that I also have business dealings with, so the relationships and good conversations continue, just the topic changes. These are all top notch folks that will do well wherever they choose to go and will be a big asset for whomever they associate themselves with. Best to all.
 
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Re: Turbosound

Hello,
im much interested in x32 producer in order to mix small bands live and for home recording.
For the first purpose i feel the need of using the full 16 faders to control my channels, not only the first 8. For simple situations it would be easier than assign channels to bus faders.
I understand that x32 family compatibility leads towards this behaviour (banks of 8 faders plus 8 bus-dca faders) but expecially for the producer i would appreciate the possibility to change the use of the 8 bus faders making them control input channels instead with a sort of flip switch (or maybe just have this possibility assignable on a user key).
Thanks for the nice discussions and confrontations :)
Daniele
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Rob Spence said:
Dear uli

You may not want to or be able to answer this but here goes.

I sure would be interested in a X32RH ( to steal some Yamaha terms ). Reduce the surface cost by removing most of the local I/O. I would use it like an A&H GLD model with remote stage boxes.

Perhaps after the current demand for the X32 and the stage boxes?
Click to expand...

For the Behringer folks listening in, I'd like to second Rob's suggestion, and add a little more.

It would be awesome (for me) to have a separate control surface, with no analog I/O, with touch-sensitive moving faders, that could be used both with the X32 Core and also as a standalone DAW controller.

Conceptually something like the Avid S3L. Basically the control surface of the X32 'ripped out' from the I/O section. Even if the channel strip controls didn't work in the DAW, it would be useful as a fader pack. Maybe as an option (just thinking), the channel strip controls are in a separate chassis to keep the fader banks smaller to fit on a studio desk...

A live system would be the control surface, an X32 core, and a couple S16 stage boxes.

In the studio the same setup could be used, or in my case, I'd just use the control surface with scribble strips and my existing preamps and converters. There still aren't any reasonably priced 24 channel control surfaces for the studio.

You'll get at least one sale out of this strategy.
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Mark McFarlane said:
For the Behringer folks listening in, I'd like to second Rob's suggestion, and add a little more.

It would be awesome (for me) to have a separate control surface, with no analog I/O, with touch-sensitive moving faders, that could be used both with the X32 Core and also as a standalone DAW controller.

Conceptually something like the Avid S3L. Basically the control surface of the X32 'ripped out' from the I/O section. Even if the channel strip controls didn't work in the DAW, it would be useful as a fader pack. Maybe as an option (just thinking), the channel strip controls are in a separate chassis to keep the fader banks smaller to fit on a studio desk...

A live system would be the control surface, an X32 core, and a couple S16 stage boxes.

In the studio the same setup could be used, or in my case, I'd just use the control surface with scribble strips and my existing preamps and converters. There still aren't any reasonably priced 24 channel control surfaces for the studio.

You'll get at least one sale out of this strategy.
Click to expand...

I don't see how this product can NOT be on the horizon ;) It is obvious.... and easy to implement for Behringer.
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

Hi Uli,
To change the subject from hardware to some software issues I noticed that all Behringer applications are a fixed window based on the old 4:3 form factor. Using today's computer hardware this can be a problem especially if the background is bright. What are your thoughts on this? As a software consultant I have for some time recommended using the Web browser for the GUI to my clients. This gives you platform independence and many other benefits. I want to commend you and your team for using the open software OSC and not locking your products to Apple as others have.
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

It would be awesome (for me) to have a separate control surface, with no analog I/O, with touch-sensitive moving faders, that could be used both with the X32 Core and also as a standalone DAW controller.
Click to expand...

Scott Bolt said:
I don't see how this product can NOT be on the horizon ;) It is obvious.... and easy to implement for Behringer.
Click to expand...

An important point in this is the need for touch sensitive faders. A studio control surface is a non-starer without them. They are essential for manipulating pre-recorded automation. I don't now if the X-32 has them, but the value isn't as high in live sound unless you have a fully automated show.
 
Re: Turbosound

Tim McCulloch said:
Color me "not surprised." Not for sinister reasons; buyouts and acquisitions are natural times to make career moves, doubly so if you've successfully helped your employer create/launch/support an entire model range.

My best to Jason and Jay as they venture on.
Click to expand...

Dear Tim and all,

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nigel Beaumont and I lead the Professional Division of the MUSIC Group, which encompasses the brands MIDAS, KLARK TEKNIK and TURBOSOUND.

Let me start by saying that I second your emotion in wishing Jay, Jason and Richard Ferriday the very best in their future endeavours. To a man they are among the best I have worked with in the industry and although a loss for us, we all wish them nothing but success in their careers going forward. That said, it is important to recognise that we still maintain one of the best technical and product support teams in pro audio. In fact, MIDAS have been nominated for a Pro Sound Award for exemplary after-sale service to be presented at the legendary Ministry of Sound in September.

Prior to joining the MUSIC Group, I was in a senior role with Harman for more than ten years and despite having been in a very established position, the opportunities, immense focus and demonstrated success of the MUSIC Group convinced me to make the move. Having been with the Company for two years I can honestly say that there is no other company out there with such growth, track record, focus, resources and passion for the audio business. Since taking the reins of the Professional Division earlier this year I have set a goal for MIDAS, KLARK TEKNIK and TURBOSOUND to grow the product lines and make our organisation more accessible than ever. Our emphasis is on the less glamorous but decidedly more substantive components of engineering and product support.

I think you’d agree that in the professional audio world it is far more important to deliver the feature set, reliability and support that users demand than fancy marketing campaigns, and that’s where we want to focus our efforts. What’s important to our users and dealers is deep understanding of the products, applications and support both before and after the sale. On both these counts we continue to lead with people based in Manchester and Kidderminster in the UK, Las Vegas for the Americas, and most recently from our base in Southern China for pan-Asian support.

In keeping with this strategy, we acquired a US$ 4 Million state-of-the-art building with 24,000 sq. ft. of space and have since grown the Manchester Centre of Excellence team to almost 60 engineers (there were only 8 when MUSIC Group acquired MIDAS three years ago); and we have still have 20 more open positions to fill. We have also made some pretty important new hires in other departments and will be announcing them very soon.

Our investment in Research and Development as well as Technical Support is second to none and we currently count more than 260 engineers worldwide. With Uli’s engineering background, he truly understands and supports the value of IP creation and hence the massive investment in R&D.

Since bringing manufacturing entirely in-house in our own factory and investing US$ 20 Million in high-tech equipment, not only have we vastly improved first-pass yield, but we have also cut development time by half. Through a full integration of design, development and manufacturing engineering plus a large MIDAS team stationed permanently in China, we are designing and building even better products and bringing them to market more quickly. In fact, MIDAS has launched more products in the past three years than it did during the ten years prior to acquisition by the MUSIC Group. The PRO-2 and PRO-1 consoles have become industry standards almost instantly upon launch.

Over the past three years, MIDAS/KLARK TEKNIK has grown almost four times in revenue and we have reinvested all profits into these celebrated brands’ future. It is a very exciting time as we’re in the process of writing a truly new chapter. Someone mentioned not to expect any new products within the next 2 years. Please remember this thread and let’s see if we can surprise you. ;-)

While my extremely busy schedule keeps me an infrequent participant in this forum, I welcome any questions about MIDAS, KLARK TEKINK or TURBOSOUND, all of which are part of the Professional Division of MUSIC Group.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
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Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A Question and suggestion Re ,X32

Dear Uli, the FCA 1616 is now pushed back to September on the BH Photo site. Is there a new problem arising or what else? Can you explain that to us. Thank you. Dan
 
Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A

X32 RACK.jpg

Dear Mark,

thank you for your question.

The X32 RACK is currently in full production and the first shipments are leaving the plant right now. The attached picture shows our aging test where each unit is "burned in" for 4 hours.

Large shipments of the X32 CORE have already left the factory and you can expect units to be in stores in a few weeks.

Mass production of the X32 PRODUCER is planned to start next week.

Warm regards

Uli
 
Re: Uli Behringer of The Music Group Q&A Question and suggestion Re ,X32

I know I am a little late to the party, sorry.

Turbosound - Was disappointed in the display at InfoComm. The couple of speakers that where displayed did not even have labels on the display. Music Group has limited stock available with no powered speakers or amps available. Allegedly they are in a warehouse waiting for some kind on UL approval since last year.

Question - Is Music Group / Behringer trying to run Turbosound into the ground in the US market so they can label them Behringer speakers?
 
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