Re: ASR-X Pro vs. MPC2000

[Doug Tapia <dtapia@unoco.edu>]

>Subject:     Re: ASR-X Pro vs. MPC2000
>Sent:        9/2/98 10:34 AM
>Received:    9/3/98 8:15 AM
>From:        Laurie Hatch, lahatch@dnai.com
>Reply-To:    Loopers-Delight@annihilist.com
>To:          'Loopers-Delight@annihilist.com', 
>Loopers-Delight@annihilist.com
>
>On Wednesday, September 02, 1998 3:44 AM, Stew Benedict 
>[SMTP:stewb@earthlink.net] wrote:
>>
>> Has anyone bought from this SoundOnSound outfit in Japan?  Their
>> prices on Roland and Akai are incredible, but I'm a little hesitant to
>> just send a check off to Japan...
>
>Stew, I've been hangin' out on a Roland list, and at least 10 people 
>(from 
>several different countries) have posted with very positive, enthusiastic 
>results about doing business with SOS.  (Nope, they're not paying me for 
>this 
>endorsement, but I could definitely get into some barter...  %^).  No one 
>has 
>posted any complaints so far -- SOS seems to be competent, fast, and 
>reliable. 

You might want to be careful here.  Aside from the issues mentioned by 
Laurie, both Roland and Akai are fairly protective of dealer territories. 
 There's a lot of care taken by larger companies to keep asian business 
in the asian dealer system, european business through european 
distributors, etc.  While none of us probably care about the invisible 
lines of demarkation set up by the electronis industry giants, it may 
make getting service a bit of a problem at times.

Another thought:  While most of us are on limited budgets and want to get 
the most for our money, I would encourage everyone to patrionize their 
local music stores as much as possible.  I know that some retail goons 
can be a real pain, but it's worth trying to find someone with whom you 
can build a relationship.  I depend on being able to try gear extensively 
before I buy it.  In recent years, I've seen a number of _good_ music 
stores fold under the preasure from the big catalogs.  Most local dealers 
will match price, so it's a good idea to buy from them, as it's usually 
worth the extra money (ya gotta pay tax) to be able to have a 
relationship with a person.  Hopefully, this person will be responsible 
for getting prompt service with any problems that you might have, and 
will be able to keep you abreast of all the latest gizzies.

  
> One thing ya gotta check/deal with is whether the voltage on hardware 
>products 
>is compatible with where you are located.  (Is it 220 in Japan?)  I 
>haven't 
>looked into that piece of it myself, so I don't know for sure.
>
>Another variable is whether one will be charged customs duties here in 
>the 
>US. 
> Several of the Roland list guys have been charged (usually 2.9%), others 
>were 
>charged nothing.  My guess is that it depends on what kind of mood the 
>customs 
>dude/dudess is in when the package rolls by.  Send 'em some Wizard of Oz 
>and 
>Pink Floyd to distract them...
>
>Yet another consideration is the product warranty being registered 
>through 
>an 
>out-of-country retailer.  This may potentially be a costly problem on 
>some 
>products if you need repairs, but not necessarily on others.
>
>I can send you more particulars off list if you'd like.
>
>http://www.soundonsound.com/index-e.html
>
>ciao,
>laurie
>