DIYSB dream come true? Or cruel tease...

[garcho]

[EBK]

Makes sense, just like it eventually made economic sense to manufacture BBD reproductions.  And, similar to that experience, don't expect them to be any cheaper.  It will be more like a freeze on whatever the current market rate is for comparable existing germaniums.
I should add that such pricing would be entirely appropriate and fair.

[Kipper4]

What?
Is it like transistor crowd funding?

[Mark Hammer]

Consider that Coolaudio make devices for Behringer, and that Behringer now owns TC Electronics.  I don't think they are crowdfunding in the traditional sense.  I think they want to know if  reviving them would make for commercial clients over and above Behringer/TC.  Coolaudio has resurrected a number of "dinosaurs", including the MN3205 and MN3207, as well as a couple of Curtis Electromusic chips (3340, 3320) that I gather Behringer uses in the Deepmind synth.

And if it did make economic sense for them to bring back production, that would be like the equivalent of $35/barrel oil for the boutique market.  How on earth could people continue to charge $200 a pedal for simple circuits made of unobtanium, when Behringer could churn them out for $30 retail?

I suppose the good news is that, if this came to be, it would guarantee usable NOS trannies for several decades to come.  The current strategy of buying lots of 50 year-old stuff to find a few decent ones is getting kind of old, if you ask me.

[smallbearelec]

I hope they do this. Just imagine the possibilities for hyping "genuine NOS" over "modern re-issues/new production" 

[mth5044]

I'd imagine they have already decided on the answer to that question and posted it on Facebook to drum out excitement about it.

[amptramp]

They don't have a product - they are just asking the question to determine if they were going to have any customers.  In the past, some companies have floated vapourware specs for a "new" device.  In fact, no such device existed, it was just a marketing survey, but if they could get sufficient buzz about a product, they would design and manufacture it.  Designers who had thought it was real were often caught flat-footed when no such device existed or ever would.

There are some companies that have made a killing in the military market by buying up abandoned silicon and germanium foundries and producing devices to enable maintenance of obsolete equipment.  If the choice is between a new $10 transistor or a redesign that may cost millions to retrofit including design, test, qualification and production of something for an airframe that may be obsolete already, the choice is usually to pay exorbitant prices for new obsolete devices.  I do remember the salesman's name in one such company that made a presentation to us:  Mr. Rusty Key.

Modern silicon foundries for cutting-edge IC production may cost several billion (that's right - billion = 10⁹) but a germanium foundry for small scale production may be only a few million dollars.  Germanium is a "natural" substance to make a transistor out of - if it vaguely looks and smells like a transistor, it will work.

[R O Tiree]

Germanium Diodes would be nice...

[rankot]

I have just learned last night that 2SK170 and 2SJ74 are produced by http://www.linearsystems.com/ named LSK170 and LSJ74 in both TO-92 and SMD versions! And not only them, J201-203 and J308-310 amongst many other JFETs!

[thermionix]

Coolaudio make devices for Behringer

I just bought a VD400 (analog delay) the other day.  $24.99 shipped, unreal.  I can't build a simple PT2399 delay for that.  Opened it up and it has the Coolaudio V3205 and 3102 in there, just like the internet said it would.  Really nice sounding delay, but flimsy plastic enclosure.  I already voided the warranty, drilled a hole in the top for access to the delay time trimmer.  We can't just leave something stock, can we?

[Electric Warrior]

I hope they do this. Just imagine the possibilities for hyping "genuine NOS" over "modern re-issues/new production" 

It's not as if this hadn't been happening for years.  Germanium transistors are still being made, but not all of them are specd like their vintage counterparts. DSI OC81Ds are notorious for being low gain. Some people were even selling pedals using them, claiming they were NOS.

[garcho]

all things being equal, i'm way more excited about Electric Druid's new LFO on an 8-pin IC. No more gnarly multi op amp LFO rosebushes, AND has external sync, for tap tempo, or more importantly for me, when you play with a wired-up drummer or do electro crap.

[ElectricDruid]

all things being equal, i'm way more excited about Electric Druid's new LFO on an 8-pin IC.

Thanks Garcho! I'm glad you like it. I regard it being more exciting than a new germanium transistor as a high honour!

Tom