From djacques@csulb.edu Fri Apr 20 16:01:55 2007
Subject:Re: My live C1 review (was: Nord C1 review in Keyboard mag)

I am sorry, but with all due respect money does talk in this business.



I know that Clavia makes good products, and your review in Keyboard may be
justified. I just believe that we can all agree that for some reason these
reviews do not tell the full story.



I remember when Keyboard reviewed the Hammond XK2. This was a board with a
severe defect (the sound would beat whenever you played it through a real
rotating speaker). Keyboard never mentioned this major design flaw. Instead
the organ was praised by the editorial staff.



Now, I agree that the writers and editors of Keyboard are accomplished
musicians. Do you really think that this defect passed unnoticed? And if
they did notice them, why not report it in the review?



I am not a conspiracy theorist, just a realist.



Congratulations on your review of the C1. A bit of advice from this little
fish, I have money to spend too. and if you indeed monitor this list you
will know that there are many others like me who could be spending their
money on Clavia products. But like you said, there are plenty of other fish
in the sea... Sound business advice? Hmmm.



Now, I must get back to the re-runs of "Curb Your Enthusiasm".



_____

From: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com [mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of claviamech
Sent: Friday, April 20, 2007 11:01 AM
To: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [CWSG] Re: My live C1 review (was: Nord C1 review in Keyboard mag)



--- In CloneWheel@yahoogro ups.com,
"David Jacques" wrote:
>
> I am also not surprised. Clavia is a huge advertiser in Keyboard
Magazine.
> Nothing against the actual qualities of the C1, but you will NEVER see a
> negative review of a product from a company that spends thousands of
dollars
> taking out full page color ads in their magazine.
> The same goes for Hammond/Suzuki and Korg.
> Get real folks.

I take exception to that statement, and I believe Keyboard Magazine
would, too.

If you keep up with Keyboard, you'll realize we're NOT a "huge"
advertiser. We take out 3-4 full page ads per year, to usually
coincide with the release or announcement of a new instrument. I make
the ads myself, and try as much as I can to cram as much objective
non-marketing language into each one as possible. We don't buy several
pages per month, so you'll never see an add with a simple picture and
a clever slogan and nothing else. I'm a firm believer that INFORMATION
sells technology more than crafty marketing gimmicks.

I can't speak for Keyboard on this, but the accusation that their
reviews are colored by how much their advertisers spend is complete
BS. I've read many negative reviews of products from companies that
advertise a lot for them, and they've reviewed many products from
companies that rarely advertise at all.

You might argue that Keyboard doesn't provide *objective* reviews, but
that's really not possible after a certain point. It will naturally
include a bit of the reviewer's personal tastes, an understanding of
what is or isn't possible given current technology, and several
applicable contexts: competing instruments, former instruments from
that MFR, trends in technology and performance & production, etc.

What you get from Keyboard is simply this: professional, seasoned,
talented, and smart musicians that have had their hands on a lot of
gear and interviewed thousands of other pros. Reviews aren't there to
tell you whether or not you should like it, but to let you know if the
instrument actually lives up to its features.

Keyboard has not always provided great reviews for Clavia, but most of
them are very positive. I often joke that they have to look hard to
find a flaw in a Nord keyboard, but that's just playful snarkiness.
The truth is that Keyboard gives Nord good reviews because Nord is a
great product. It may be complete rubbish to you, and if so, that's
fine by me - there are plenty of other fish in the sea.

But a cynical accusation that our business buys great reviews IS rubbish.

Jason Stanfield
Nord USA



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