Why isn't the X-Touch available yet?

[YYR123]

So Behringher came out with this product awhile back and it's still not available....what does the community speculate is the holdup?

I check Sweetwater and the unit is still in preorder status


Just curious

[Drew Mazurek]

Originally Posted by YYR123

Behringher

There's your reason.

[JCBigler]

Originally Posted by Drew Mazurek

There's your reason.

Lol, yep. Vaporware from "pro audio's" most unscrupulous vendor.

I too have been waiting for this unit to be released. It was annouced what 10 or 11 months ago now, wasn't it?

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by JCBigler

Lol, yep. Vaporware from "pro audio's" most unscrupulous vendor.

I too have been waiting for this unit to be released. It was announced what 10 or 11 months ago now, wasn't it?

I think the Alesis ADAT still holds the record for longest time between announcement and actual delivery

[YYR123]

Originally Posted by albee1952

I think the Alesis ADAT still holds the record for longest time between announcement and actual delivery

Which one? They had like 5 models....

LX, XT and the black face. I had one in my garage until recently. As pricey as they were I couldn't bear to throw them away.

[Bill Denton]

Wonder if some folks on here might be eating their words before too long...

Go over to the original AES thread on Gearslutz...probably 50% of the posts ask something like, "Can it be expanded?"

Just like in every other "manufacturing" industry, all of your major audio manufacturers have people out there digging through their competitor's trash, casually buying their competitor's employees a lot of drinks i some bar, the whole industrial espionage game.

So I have no doubt that Behringer knew about, before a lot of the rest of us did, about Slate's Raven (already starting to show up in the "used" markets), Avid's S3 (overpriced for the prosumer market), and everything else happening in the control surface space.

They are also well aware of Avid's changes to their licensing model (good for pros, not so good for the prosumer and lower markets), and that Avid's interest in those markets is waning.

Now, on to the prosumer market...

While it's still true that if you're going to place in the large studio and post markets, you had better have Pro Tools, and often HD and/or HDX, or you better just stay on the porch!

It's no secret among those in the prosumer market (and those who want to start making music), a far larger market than the "pro" market, that for hip-hop, EDM, and other MIDI-based music, there are far better (and cheaper) DAWs out there than Pro Tools.

And if you're not running Pro Tools, you really don't have any need for Eucon (which has its share of problems) or HUI.

Now, I have no intention of getting into a p*ssing contest over this...here's my reality...14 years ago, mixer and multi-effects unit. Between six years ago and four years ago, 2 mixers, 2 PA speakers, 4 mics, a bass amp, a guitar amp, a control surface, and a couple of other things. With the exception of a couple of items that I have stored for a month or two when I wasn't using it, the only time any of this gear has ever been off is when I've moved it (typically from one apartment or house to another)...always on, and I haven't had the slightest problem with any of my Behringer gear. Outside of the X-Touch, there is no reason for anyone else to mention any other Behringer gear.

I am absolutely not talking about anyone here...I know most of you are straight-up guys. But when you go to other forums, and really push some of the loudmouths, you find that the vast majority of the "Behringer is sh*t" talk is coming from people who have never owned one piece of Behringer gear, and who are actually only parroting something "I heard" or "my friend told me"...hardly reliable sources!

I realize there is also a lot of hate around for Guitar Center (and I agree their sales staff leaves a lot to be desired), but they do move a lot of gear, and for a lot of people, that's the only place they can actually pick up and look at a piece of gear.

So, somebody just getting into gear, who's making minimum wage flipping burgers (or running a large studio ), walks into Guitar Center and sees a piece of Behringer gear for $50 when the next step up is $300, which do you think they'll buy. And when it works well, they're going to tell their friends about it.

Unlike most of the other companies that have their gear made in Asia, Behringer can turn on a dime, juggle production schedules, and all of those "flexible" things.

So, Behringer takes their X-Touch to AES and realizes they've misread the market a bit. The market wants expandability!...and with expandability they'll have a huge market. They haven't promised it will be in the stores next week...in fact, they really aren't planning for it to be in stores for maybe six months. Call the engineers, quick!

So, I think we're not too far away from an expandable X-Touch, with up to 48 channels...and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it could also be expanded with a new version of the BCR, with just a bunch of knobs for the MIDI crowd or for plugin control.

I guess we will just have to wait and see...

[guitardom]

Originally Posted by JCBigler

Lol, yep. Vaporware from "pro audio's" most unscrupulous vendor.

I too have been waiting for this unit to be released. It was annouced what 10 or 11 months ago now, wasn't it?

It was announced at Namm last year, so 3rd weekend in January will be a year. I had my hands one and able to mess around with it. Did not seem like it was going to be this long for release!

[YYR123]

It's been awhile now I can't remember exactly

But I think I would like to take it on a Sweetwater 30 day tour of duty.....and get some real world reps on it

[YYR123]

A year....

I don't think I need to expand it at all.....

9 faders I just mainly want to ride automation for my aux stems

Markers are pretty cool, and if the jog wheel works that's a plus, oh yeah and channel solo and mutes are pretty cool, and are placed in a better location than my artist had them

[albee1952]

Hmmm...IIRC, the ADAT was 18 months from announcement to actual delivery. As for the X-Touch, I'd like to have one(at least to try), and I would REALLY like it if it could be expanded to 16 or 24 faders

If not for moving to HDN recently, I would have seriously looked into either the X32 or the new Midas M32(which a friend now has and is loving).

Re Behringer in general, some stuff is "junk" to a pro, but they sell tons to folks on a budget(and those on a tight budget are glad to have the option). IMHO, the X32 is a killer product and beats anything at double the price(except for the Midas M32). I use one of their digital crossovers to custom-tailor my subwoofer(not possible with anything else for less than $2-3K). Their discontinued B215D powered speakers are the best in that class Besides, the X-Touch is nothing but a fancy mouse and passes no audio