Why is Nord 3 rack more expensive than Virus Ti?

[Smag]

Hi,

Just from looking at Turnkey, the Nord 3 rack is ?150 more expensive than the Virus Ti desktop.

But the Nord is a fair few years older, no effects and more limited in scope (much less integration than the Ti, less features, OS not being developed on it any further).

Who justifies these prices because they don't seem right to me, it should be the opposite shouldn't it?. What do you think?

[Tomer=Trance]

i dont think clavia ever meant the NL3 to compete against the access Virus series.
the NL series is very much a stage synthesizer IMO in compere to the virus which is more of a studio VA. (simple is better you say? )

[Smag]

My understanding was they were kind of rival racks - both aimed at the desktop producer, it just looks like you can do more with the Virus Ti than the Nord 3 rack, if you got the choice you'd go for the Ti right?

[DIGITAL SCREAMS]

Hi Smag

Turnkey quite often get their prices mixed up. I once tied to snag a Nord 3 for ?650 (well thats what it was advertised on their site....legally they should honour that? )

Check out their prices man....for example their Nord 2X's have gone up from ?750 to ?1029......the Alesis ION was ?408 now its ?650. Christmas always comes early for those bastards.......and im sure some unfortunately customer *will* pay those prices out of naivity. Just so happens the ION and N2X are probably amongst their best sellers....and their just exploiting that. I dont like Turnkey.

Ok, back to your original question.....why is the Nord 3 more expensive than the TI (we're talking desktops here)? Well, I should imagine their overheads are more expensive.......certainly more than Access'. Access probably use Eastern European seasonal workers to assemble their synths whereas Clavia probably dont have that luxury.....

Other factors....quantity, materials, exchange rates, cost of stone and wood....ermmm...red paint....

The ironic thing is....if you really wanted to cover Nord 3 type ground you could just simpy buy an ION and DX7 and save ??? a shitload in real terms. Question is....what purpose does the N3 now serve? I dont know the answer to that....

DS

[Smag]

Cheers DS, I'm not sure what the Nord 3 rack is for now either as the ?1349 price tag no way seems justified. Maybe they would sell one cheaper I don't know. I suppose it does come down to simple economics between Access and Clavia at the end of the day.

[Khazul]

Shop around - try www.dolphin.co.uk, GAK etc

It probably just means that turnkey havnt been pestered enough about thier price.

Normally the NL3 rack is about 950-1000UKP in the UK.

Also if you try european dealers and find it cheaper and can prove it, I find Turnkey will generally beat the price if you ask them - They've done it for me several times even for special order items.

[DIGITAL SCREAMS]

Khazul

I could buy a new Nord 2X keyboard from the USA for $999. At current exchange rates that equals roughly ?550. In the UK the cheapest deal for a new N2X is ?750.

My question is this. How much do you reckon would it cost to import a N2X from the USA? Alternatively....would a shop like Turnkey...when presented with this figure price match it?

Cheers

DS

[Timo]

Originally Posted by DIGITAL SCREAMS

My question is this. How much do you reckon would it cost to import a N2X from the USA?

Just imported a brand new Motu Traveler soundcard from the US. ?442 (?478 including intnl. shipping + insurance) and the shop labelled it as a low-cost item gift. When it arrived here I had to pay ?75 for VAT (no customs/import due to it being a "gift"). = ?553 total. Not too bad, I guess. A far cry from the ?700 charged by Turnkey/DigitalVillage here.

Alternatively....would a shop like Turnkey...when presented with this figure price match it?

No. Only European prices.

This place has cheap European prices

www.musicians-gear.com

The Nord 3 Rack there is 1511 Euros = ?1025 GBP, so quote that to Turnkey (or whomever) and get them to beat it.
Similarly the Nord2X 4-octave kbd there is 1244.00 Euros = ?848 GBP.

[Wandering Kid]

My question is this. How much do you reckon would it cost to import a N2X from the USA? Alternatively....would a shop like Turnkey...when presented with this figure price match it?

ive had experience importing gear from the states to the uk and the bottom line is that it just isnt worth it after all is said and done.

i cant sleep so ill explain.

you can get a NL2X from ebay in as new condition for less than $999 but lets just call it an even ?550 since thats a bargain in the UK anyway.

shipping on something that weight and size will come to around ?40 to ?50 via air mail unless you can blag cheaper shipping from a US seller. unlikely though.

air mail delivery times are between 5 days and 3 weeks normally. via ground you are looking at over 5 weeks easy but its cheaper. my delta 1010 was bought from the states and that took 5 days. delivery was ?35.

on top of delivery you will have to pay import duty to the tune of 17.5% of the listed value of the item. in this case it would be

?550/100 x 17.5% = ?96.25

now, they are pretty good at checking this and it is difficult to convince sellers to declare it as anything else to circumvent import tax. if they bust you you will just pay a service charge which will work out roughly the same anyway.

on top of that, the US use different mains supply - 110 volts. therefore you need to buy a step up transformer matched to the voltage and amperage of uk mains which is 230 volts.

you may get lucky and be able to buy a replacement supply from clavia that runs on uk mains. i did this for my delta 1010 and it came to 40 quid!

this doesnt include insurance, and i assume you will want to pay for that because of the distance this thing is going to travel. this will also vary according to the seller and courier.

lastly, and the big one, buying overseas will invalidate your warranty. because US dealers are legally not authorised to ship between territories.

so in the end you will be paying:

?550 + ?40 shipping (conservative estimate) + ?96.25 import tax + ?35 for a step up transformer (conservative estimate) which will come to

?721.25 not including insurance

you will lose your warrantly automatically and it will take alot longer to be delivered.

i bought my m-audio delta 1010 from the states from an ebay seller, selling as new. it was shrink wrapped and everyhing and initially i felt like i got a really good deal. before the shipping cost. the import duty. the new powersupply. i ended up paying a little under uk retail price for it and it was alot more inconvenient.

sadly, the laws governing sales between territories are designed to really fuck uk consumers in the ass and this wont change. otherwise we would buy all our gear from the states. but these taxes and delivery costs effectively make it pointless to buy abroad.

if you can find a NL2X for ?750 in the uk and get free shipping then thats as good as you are going to get really. it costs about 30 quid more but you keep the warranty and dont have to worry about returns or damage in transit since they will replace it. provided you buy from a reputable dealer of course. uk dealers will only price match other uk mainland dealers (and they dont count sale or b-stock items either. so if imuso sell a NL for ?650 on sale, turnkey will tell you to take a running jump with regards to a pricematch. and fair enough i guess).

the logic is simple really, if uk mainland distributors price matched overseas, everything (and i mean *everything*) would cost approximately 1/3rd to 1/2 of its current value.

but turnkey suck for bumping up the price of a NL2X > considering how old that synth is and how long it has been at ?750 for the keyobard version im a bit pissed off they think they can get away with the christmas price hike. fuckers. more than likely come january they will lower it back to ?750 and advertise it as 25% off january sale.

fuckers!

[Targon]

Man just look at a NL3 next to a Virus. The NL3's build quality is much better than that cheaply put together Virus. Look at the Rotary encoders on the NL3, the components used in the NL3 are measurably superior to what they used in the Virus. The LCD displays every frequency for the filters and any other info abstracted from moving the knobs.

I think the NL3 is a beautiful work or engineering art.
I think of the Virus as a machine built as cheaply as possibly for maximum profit.