TC Group bought by Behringer (including TC Electronic)

[Al Walker]

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Dear Forum Members,[/size][/font]
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I felt that a few comments on this forum have been made based on inaccurate information and speculation, and respectfully, I would like to take the opportunity to respond.[/size][/font]
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Modern electronic manufacturing is highly automated so the location is irrelevant to quality, which is driven by component selection, quality assurance testing and control of the production process. Historically, Chinese manufacturing was initially attractive because of the lower labour costs, but wages now are close to those of western countries, which has led to the widespread use of automated assembly to remain competitive. Music Group invests heavily in such equipment, including a state-of-the-art $20m manufacturing facility dedicated to digital console production in our existing factory and a $100m investment in our new purpose-built factory.[/size][/font]
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The reason why so much manufacturing takes place in China is because of the critical density of companies operating here, and the massive (and accelerating) investment in supporting infrastructure that has made the Pearl River Delta region, encompassing Shenzhen, Dongguan, Guangzhou, Zhongshan (where we are located) and Zhuhai, as well as Hong Kong and Macau, the largest concentration of manufacturing in the world. It's fair to describe this region as the manufacturing equivalent of Silicon Valley, and of course many famous companies headquartered there also do their manufacturing here for the same reasons as us. I would urge you to visit this part of the world to see for yourself, and of course you are very welcome to come to see us.[/size][/font]
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How were we able to reduce the price of our existing products? The acquisition by Music Group brought benefits in both directions, and speaking from the perspective of Midas, we were able to benefit from the highly developed sourcing process that Music Group operates, which offered us not only a massive step change in the scale of economy in component procurement, but also the knowledge to buy from the original sources, rather than going through several layers of distribution, each in turn making their own margin. We're also no longer paying third party contract manufacturers to assemble our products, and not paying their associated overheads was an added cost saving to the other benefits of achieving total control of the production process [/size][/font]
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When Music Group took over Midas, the company was in a very dire position, and today we’re doing very well and rolling out innovative products such as PRO X digital console and its NEUTRON signal processing engine. Since the acquisition, the revenue of Midas has increased close to six-fold and all profits are continuously reinvested. I have been with Midas for close to 20 years and I am currently based in our Midas China facility which is managed by British engineers, some of whom have been working with us for ten years and more and all came from our Kidderminster facility - so we have far from vanished! I can honestly say that the investments that have been made by Music Group both on the engineering as well as the manufacturing side are way beyond anything that Midas has ever seen in its entire history. [/size][/font]
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Regarding the comments made about the Midas PRO Fader, we were unhappy with the quality and durability of the motorised faders we we were buying in (at considerable cost) and felt that we could do better ourselves. Prior to the Music Group acquisition, we had not even contemplated the idea of producing our own fader, however the resources that Music Group offered us allowed us the opportunity to do so, and this decision yielded many other benefits, including total quality control over the manufacturing process and lower costs that could be passed on to customers. [/size][/font]
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As a digital console manufacturer, Midas has a perspective on the actual application of motor faders that a component manufacturer would not have. The multi-disciplinary development project combined mechanical design, electronic hardware and software optimisation with a rigorous testing programme and an investment in material science to produce the best possible performance in actual operation in Midas PRO Series consoles. Semi-precious metals are used for the wiper fingers for their hard-wearing properties, and precision resistive tracks were created that offer highly linear positional accuracy, coupled with long-term durability and even response in use. The PRO Fader is rated for up to a million cycles – three times that of other leading manufacturers - and provides high linearity, robustness, and smooth feel during operation. [/size][/font]
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You can find out more here:-[/size][/font]
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[u][url="https://mail.music-group.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=RVI3cXQ4Q0izN64bYPO4wzi_hkthWtIIx0BcAM0PnrceRSlP4vJnAXMdcWnSWr1JixPDjpYG9QQ.&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.youtube.com%2fwatch%3fv%3dRD4Ebwvc_so"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD4Ebwvc_so[/url][/u][/size][/font][/color]
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Contrary to the impression given by one of the posts here, the Midas digital console engineering team (which has been in existence for well over a decade) has grown from 8 to 80 people under Music Group ownership, with an additional 12 job openings waiting to be filled, in our dedicated Manchester research and development facility. I encourage you visit us both in our Manchester and also our China facility so we can show you an operation we are very proud of. If you have any further questions about Music Group, please feel free to ask. [/size][/font]
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Al Walker[/size][/font][font=Verdana][size=3]
Music Group[/size][/font]

[spacey]

You do understand the people in China do not have a choice if they want to work at one of these factories, refusal to do forced Labour can result in execution.
For this reason alone, I refuse to buy any mass produced Chinese electronics where an alternative option exists .

Some reading :
[url="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/14/forced-student-labour-china-apple"]http://www.theguardi...our-china-apple[/url]
[url="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2492998/Revealed-Appalling-conditions-factory-workers-make-Dell-computers-forced-work-seven-day-74-hour-weeks-live-dorms-hot-water.html"]http://www.dailymail...-hot-water.html[/url]

I Understand people with ethics are very short supply these days, most just want cheap stuff and to make as much money as possible as quickly as possible.

I am very sorry, but I will not be buying or using your products mass produced by forced Labour.

Edited May 5, 2015 by spacey

[72deluxe]

Very informative Al, thanks. I didn't watch the video but I will later. (There's a tracking URL on it though - not sure if that was deliberate?)

So, is the X32 > Pro6 (the one with black buttons, not the white Behringer ones)? It's certainly more portable! And price-conscious / affordable. It's probably much better than the DDX3216 I had, but in fairness that really was a bargain, particularly when coupled with a capable ADAT recorder and the ADAT option card(s).

Is the Kidderminster facility just a repair house now though? Did all the engineers relocate to Manchester?

I wonder if the P-bass copies have been using different woods or something? I'm not really knowledgeable about it. I did have a Fender Jazz which was lovely but never did try a copy / clone / "upgrade" of one.

Edit: I agree with dincz's rant on power ratings!

Edited May 5, 2015 by 72deluxe

[Al Walker]

Dear Spacey,

I think perhaps that you have never been to China, if you had you might not be posting such comments. Many outsiders are surprised when they visit here just how free and liberal the country is, sure there are some restrictions (as with any country), but people absolutely do have freedom of employment. Any accusations of forced or slave labour are way off the mark, and Chinese labour laws (which Music Group fully complies with) are rather more pro-worker than you might imagine, for example the government mandates annual pay increases for workers which companies have to pay.

These are some other articles of Chinese labour law regarding the protection offered to company employees:-[list]
[*]A company cannot dismiss an employee except under designated circumstances in labour law and the company is required to pay compensation, unless the employee is, for example, found in serious breach of company regulations or to have committed criminal activity.
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[*]There is the requirement for a legal framework for a company to dismiss an employee. A company is fully responsible for dismissing an employee, and a company is liable to pay the employee at least twice the normal level of compensation if the company did not follow the legal process or violated any legal regulations.
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[*]An employee can file a case for free in the Labor Arbitration Committee and in court if they feel that the grounds for their dismissal are unfair.
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I don't think this is too far different from employment law in any other industrialised country.

Unfortunately the western media frequently paints a very distorted view of life in China, if you came here you would find a very friendly, progressive and rapidly advancing country. Many of my Chinese colleagues and friends are degree educated, speak three languages (Mandarin, Cantonese and English) and more than a few have, or are studying for, postgraduate qualifications. At best, I feel that they would be bemused by the comments you have made here.

Regarding conditions in our factory, as pointed out in my previous post, our assembly processes are highly automated, and I thought I would share a link that offers a look inside our operation:-

[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MQF--npBlA"]https://www.youtube....h?v=-MQF--npBlA[/url]

Again, I would urge you to visit this part of the world to see for yourself, and of course you are very welcome to come to see us.


Dear 72deluxe,

We still have an engineering team based in Kidderminster, they are focussed on new product introductions and work very closely with our Manchester, German and Chinese locations.

Kind regards,

Al Walker
Music Group

Edited May 6, 2015 by Al Walker

[mike257]

[quote name='Monckyman' timestamp='1430518997' post='2762351']
The Behringer x-air range is about to be solidly thumped by the Soundcraft Ui range,sonically and financially.
Got mine waiting to be picked up. Will report later!
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That's been floating around for years as the SMPRO UMix series, Harman bought them out to get the tech. I tried the user interface demo before the acquisition and it doesn't appear to have changed under Soundcraft, just had the branding slapped on. I did a comparison on features for my boss at one of the production companies I work for, I'm angling for an X32 Rack or at least an XR18 for our small conference jobs, he's set on the Soundcraft because he gets a good discount from the distributor. I'd take the X Air over the Ui any day. It's definitely not a Soundcraft product in anything but name.

[Monckyman]

Mike, you're the second person to say that!
Nonetheless, it does exactly what I need in a small remotely controlled mixer, has total multi platform wifi control and is very competitively priced!
I also have had it recommended by an engineer who's ears and opinion I very much trust.
Pedigree Soundcraft it may not be, but with Soundcrafts guarantee and backup, I reckon it'll do me for my "carry in one hand" lightweight mixer that I can use for small pub to medium function sized shows without having to take my Soundcraft SI out.
I'll post up an opinion and user review as soon as I get it.

[mike257]

Oops, missed the other comment, sorry! I'd be interested to hear how you get on and how responsive the HTML5 interface proves to be in a real world situation. Look forward to your review!

[Monckyman]

No prob,I don't think Soundcraft would risk their growing digital reputation with a sub standard product. To be honest the interface looks a little bit like "my first digital desk",but again, so long as it sounds good and works fine, am ok with that.

[Kiwi]

So...Mark King's now playing a 'Behringer'. Who'd have thought...?

[jezzaboy]

[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1431446224' post='2771469']
So...Mark King's now playing a 'Behringer'. Who'd have thought...?
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Im just waiting on him pulling out his new Harley Benton bass sig model

Edited May 12, 2015 by jezzaboy