Modal Announces US Price Drops On Its Synths

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Modal Electronics has announced price cuts to the US pricing of most of its line of synthesizers, noting:

Modal regularly monitors changes in currency exchange rates, and in particular the changes to the £:$US – as a result of these, Modal is pleased to announce the following price REDUCTIONS to US MSRP, effective immediately.

Here are the new prices:

  • Modal 008 – Was $5,495 – Now $4,995
  • Modal 008R – $3,495
  • Modal 002 – Was $5,200 – Now $4,495
  • Modal 002R 12 voice – Was $2,995 – Now $2,795
  • Modal 002R 8 voice – Was $2,595 – Now $2,495
  • Modal 001 – Was $1,995 – Still $1,995

No changes to the UK £’s sterling or € Euro prices at this time.

26 thoughts on “Modal Announces US Price Drops On Its Synths”

  3. the best wishes to MODAL it looks like a very professional and serious company.
    They remember me the times when CLAVIA appears on the landscape with their first NORD LEAD in the beginning of the era of VA synths in 1995.
    Actually the competition in the market of new analog synths is strong and I hope they survive these massive release of analog products.

    I don’t think Im the target of their actual product line but hope someday i’ll have the chance to try one of their synth in person.

  4. Is this based on some weird concept that people in the states being poorer than the rest of the world or are Europeans stupid enough to pay more??

    2. in europe, companies are obliged to quote prices including all taxes, the quote is the total amount a buyer actually has to pay. in the US sales taxes are added to the quoted price, so it is substantially higher than quoted.

      for example an apple TV 32 GB in the apple store:
      US quoted price US$ 149 plus taxes (say 10%), final price US$ 164.
      german quoted price € 179 (US$ 193), price excluding tax (19%) is € 150 (US$ 162).
      so, it is US$ 149 vs US$ 162.

      the difference of US$ 13 (without taxes) or 8% is not as big as it may appear first. this difference mainly originates from higher labour costs in europe (salaries and insurances) – which do make people with lower and medium incomes (who most of us are) in northern europe (as an average) wealthier than US citizens. rich people in the US, though, are richer than europeans. there is more inequality in wealth in the US than in northern europe.

      professional buyers in europe get fully reimbursed on their sales taxes.

      1. I am sorry but i fail to see your point.. if taxation, income and all of these details were to taken into account modal synths should cost in China 10 times less, in Southern europe 2 times less, etc etc.

        Basically what they are doing, is trying to promote their synths in the us market sending a giant f@#& note to anyone who bought this synth in Europe…

        1. to make it clearer: i was talking labour costs for selling and marketing the device in a given country. so, you are right, these costs are 10 times lower in china than in the US. obviously, production costs are fix after a unit has been produced, so these do NOT depend on the country it is sold in.

          most people have not too much of an idea of how small actual production costs of any device are compared to its retail price. so marketing and selling costs DO matter.

    3. I think part of it might be that in America, we have Moog and Dave Smith, and most of the software companies, so we are less inclined to buy this pricy beast regardless of its features, when for the same amount, one can have a Prophet 6, a Sub 37, Omnisphere 2, and enough left over for a Korg Minologue if my math is correct.

  5. I have not been impressed by many ‘high end ‘ synths in spite of having bought and sold a few .
    The budget lower end of the market is where it’s exciting for me.
    Modal seem expensive and I am sure there are some very concerned manufacturers at the moment as a result of the lower end of the markets, dynamic products.
    Even for example Strymons Big Sky Reverb? That must have hit the ‘high end ‘ reverb manufacturers?
    A great time for music tech , but yes seeing very low US prices but not seeing the equivalent price in pounds stinks.

  6. Really? Exchange rates? Why did rates help more at $5200 (now $4495 = drop of $705) than at $5495 (now $4995 = drop of $500) and how about $2995 (now $2795 = drop of $200)? And of course, there are no exchange differences on $1995? Where are you looking up your exchange rates? I love these synths. I would love to own a Modal 008. They sound fantastic but these price changes appear to be arbitrary.

    1. Because some of the change difference was already took on the constructor margin to stay competitive on a foreign market with first entry prices products. What every single manufacturer does, including American products for exportation. Not even mentioning higher custom taxes on more expensive products. It’s business 101…

  8. Got to play their flagship for a bit before it locked up and bricked itself. Gorgeous sound, dangerous OS, and way too expensive IMO. I wish them success but I don’t see them flying off the shelves. I wonder if they’re running in the black? I hope so.

  9. i got to sit down in front of a 008. i was excited about it and was even contemplating its very high price (they are $8000 here in AU).

    i could barely hear it in the headphones at full volume. thats apparently “how they are”. then i tried the main outputs into a mixer to listen in headphones. Every keypress alternated the note left and the next note right in the headphones. it cant be changed into a normal stereo out, every note must alternate left and right. i was told “thats how they are”. at this point i decided the quirkiness was too much for me. i honestly thought they were taking the piss. what the hell. on top of that price i decided i might “wait a bit” and see. Shame.

    2. I have an 002 and an 008. I should add that there are four modes to the Modulus 008, Poly (what Darren was using), Mono, Unison, and Stack. The 008 DOES alternate channels between voices in Poly mode, but outputs on both channels in the other modes, so you’re not forced into this weirdness. The Poly mode is a little quirky in the manner Darren describes, and I’m hoping they reconsider it in future OS changes.

    3. As far as the alternating notes are concerned, this is not “how they are”. I own a 002 and contact their support about this issue. You simply need to plug one of your cables into the left channel out and plug the other two outs of your cables into your mixer/interface. I was told this splitting of the signals is for keyboard splitting and sound design. This will enable you to have say two sounds playing at once, each on their own channel with maybe one playing an arpeggio and the other playing notes. You’re correct about the alternating notes but not about this being “the way they are”.

  10. Modal Electronics is a revolutionary new company. Putting the cloud into every one of their products essentially guarantees British hegemony in the pop charts. Nobody will be able to keep their secret hooks secret any more! This is British intelligence (gathering) at its finest.

    😛

    Seriously though, kids .. this is a fantastic sounding synthesizer. Trouble is, there are so many other fantastic sounding synthesizers out there right now as well, and .. some of them are about 1/4 of the price, and represent better value. I think the Modal millionaires (boys and their toys, tut tut..) should be spending their efforts on developing the next, Next-Generation British Synthesizer, which has to be way, way more affordable. This stuff has elite status all over it. (Fun for a little while, but hard to sustain a business on it..)

  14. Hmmm… You could already get an 008 for $4995 in the US if you knew where to look. Actually, if you order an 008 in Germany from the US, you can get it for even cheaper.

    Glad to see the price will become more commonplace.

  15. lots of comments about the left-right alternating but no-one denying the headphone-out amp is almost completely useless to work with due to its low level.

    At the end of the day these are quirks. The 008 sounds MASSIVE and is the closest thing to a modern-day analog VCO Jupiter 8. Actually if Roland had badged this thing as a “Jupiter” then i would say people would be creaming in their shorts.

    Just feels..unfinished to me because of these quirks…i got frustrated just auditioning it and gave up. Obviously Poly mode is going to to be the main mode its used in. Personally i think it should be the same price as the Prophet 6 or OB6. Then these “quirks” might be more forgiving…maybe a V2 for 3K will clinch the deal one day in the future. Heres hoping. i do sincerely hope Modal is successful. We need healthy competition in the marketplace from companies such as this.

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