Behringer is exploring “direct-to-customer shipping” with delivery from its factoryTired of lengthy wait times, shipping delays, and the disappointment of dealers not stocking the gear you crave? Music gear enthusiasts may soon have reason to celebrate as German audio equipment manufacturer Behringer says it is exploring a “direct-to-customer shipping” option with delivery straight from the factory.

READ MORE: YouTube reportedly offering “lump sums of cash” to major labels for AI music licensing deal

The move would “help ensure faster delivery and access to all our products, especially those not carried by our retailers,” says Behringer in the Facebook post.
“We do cherish our super partner relationships and would consider this as an additional channel to ensure we can reach customers in areas currently under-served,” the company adds.

As it stands, the proposed direct-to-customer shipping model would represent a significant shift in Behringer’s distribution strategy. Currently, like most manufacturers, Behringer relies on a network of retailers and distributors (e.g. Sweetwater, Thomann, Amazon) to get their products into the hands of users.
By cutting out intermediaries and shipping directly from their production facilities in China, Behringer could significantly reduce delivery times and potentially reduce costs associated with traditional distribution channels. For fans, this means quicker and greater access to the company’s wide range of products and new releases.
And while the response to Behringer’s latest suggestion appears to be mostly positive judging by the comments section (“This is great for people who live in remote areas,” said one) several users have also raised questions about how the company would deal with issues like returns, gear repairs, and customer service.
“Great idea, but it should include the same kind of return policy/ guarantee that a dealer normally gives,” wrote user John Rasmussen, while another warned: “You’d have to be able to do a great job at it. Sweetwater is great. I get great service from them. I’d want Behringer to match or exceed the service I get from them.”
Visit Behringer to see its latest lineup of products.
The post Behringer is exploring “direct-to-customer shipping” with delivery from its factory appeared first on MusicTech.

Martinic AX Chorus is FREE for 24 hours (only A FEW hours left!)
Martinic is offering the AX Chorus plugin for FREE to celebrate the Holland soccer team’s success in the European Cup. The AX Chorus plugin emulates the MN3009 Bucket Brigade (BBD) chip, a key component in AKAI’s AX73 and AX60 synthesizers. While these analog keyboards may not have achieved the iconic status of classics like the [...]
View post: Martinic AX Chorus is FREE for 24 hours (only A FEW hours left!)

Seed VCs are turning to new ‘pro rata’ funds that help them compete with the big firmsThree companies with new funds deploy capital to support seed and Series A VCs looking to exercise their pro rata rights.
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China to ramp up brain chip program after teaching monkey to control robotThe country’s current progress appears to be on par with Elon Musk’s Neuralink.

New Battery Has no AnodeConventional batteries have anodes and cathodes, but a new design from the University of Chicago and the University of California San Diego lacks an anode. While this has been done before, according to the University, this is the first time a solid-state sodium battery has successfully used this architecture.
Sodium is abundant compared to lithium, so batteries that use sodium are attractive. According to the University of Chicago’s news release:
Anode-free batteries remove the anode and store the ions on an electrochemical deposition of alkali metal directly on the current collector. This approach enables higher cell voltage, lower cell cost, and increased energy density…

Of course, there are also downsides. In particular, making anodeless batteries with liquid electrolytes can be easier to build, but the liquid forms solids that impede the battery’s performance over time.
The new battery uses an aluminum powder as a current collector. Interestingly, while this is a solid, it flows more like a liquid. Combined with a solid electrolyte, the battery flips the usual idea of a solid cathode and a liquid electrolyte.
We are always interested in new battery tech. However, we rarely see them out in the wild. Maybe AI will have better luck.

C Compiler Exists Entirely in Vim8cc.vim is a C compiler that exists as pure Vimscript. Is it small? It sure is! How about fast? Absolutely not! Efficient? Also no. But does it work and is it neat? You betcha!
Ever typed :wq to write the buffer and exit in Vim? When you do that, you’re using Vimscript. Whenever one enters command mode : in Vim, one is in fact using a live Vimscript interpreter. That’s the space in which this project exists and does its magic. Given enough time, anyway.
Vimscript itself was created by [Bram Moolenaar] in 1991. The idea was to execute batches of vim commands programmatically. It’s been used for a variety of purposes since then.
8cc is a lightweight C compiler that has been supplanted by chibicc, but that doesn’t matter much because as author [rhysd] admits, this is really just a fun concept project more than anything. It may take twenty minutes or more to compile “hello world”, but doing it entirely from within Vim is a trip.

ESI launch Xkey portable MIDI keyboards Boasting an ultra-compact, lightweight design, ESI’s latest Xkey models promises to provide users with the ultimate mobile MIDI keyboards.

Waymo robotaxi pulled over by Phoenix police after driving into the wrong laneA police officer pulled over a self-driving Waymo vehicle in Phoenix after it ran a red light and pulled into a lane of oncoming traffic, according to dispatch records. The incident took place on June 19, but local media including Arizona Republic released bodycam footage of the traffic stop this week, showing the vehicle weaving […]
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Roaring Kitty fraud suit dropped, Ethereum Foundation hacked, and more: Hodler’s Digest, June 30 – July 6Roaring Kitty fraud lawsuit voluntarily dropped, Ethereum Foundation email server hacked, and Circle becomes first MiCA-compliant stablecoin issuer.

2024 Business Card Challenge: a Battery Tester with BlinkenlightsReaders of a certain vintage will no doubt remember that for a brief time, some alkaline batteries came with a built-in battery tester. Basically, you just pushed really hard with your fingernails on the two ends of the strip, and it either lit up the little strip (or didn’t if it was dead), or made the word ‘good’ appear if energized.
But those days are long gone. What you need now is to either grab the voltmeter, stick out your tongue, or build yourself a battery-testing business card. Even the normies will enjoy this one, mostly because LEDs. Forty-seven of them to be exact, which will come to life and demonstrate that [Greg] is capable of making working electronic gadgets. No way does this card end up at the bottom of a desk drawer.
As far as grasping the batteries goes, [Greg] had several ideas, but ultimately landed on pogo pins, which we think is a fabulous solution. Be sure to check out the neat interactive BOM, somewhere in the middle of which is the CH32v003 RISC-V microcontroller. In the video after the break, you can see [Greg] using a Flipper Zero to program it.

Arduino PLC Keeps the BeatFor most of our prototype, hobby, or one-off electronics projects it’s perfectly fine to use a development platform like an Arduino Uno or something to that effect. They’re both easy to program and easy to wire up to projects without breaking the bank. But if you step into an industrial setting where reliability is paramount even in places that are noisy, vibrating all the time, hot, or otherwise unpleasant for electronics, you’ll want to reach for a programmable logic controller (PLC) that are much more robust. There is actually a PLC from Arduino, and if you want to dip your toes into the PLC world then take a look at this drum kit based on the Arduino Opta.
With the PLC at the core of the build, it’s on to making the drumming mechanisms themselves. For that, project creator [JC Audio] is using a series of solenoids attached to camera mounts with a custom 3D printed part that allows for quick assembly and disassembly so he can get the positioning of each drum sound just right. The high hat is taken care of by the noise of an internal solenoid, with the other drums striking various real drums and other solid objects in his shops. The solenoids themselves are driven by a solid-state relay expansion module to ensure there’s enough power
While the build doesn’t sit inside a factory and run for years at a time, a musician’s stage is certainly a rough enough environment that we might reach for a PLC over a standard development board for its benefits. The code for this project is available as well at the project’s GitHub page for those looking for a more advanced timekeeper to play along with their music practice, and for more details on why you might choose a PLC for your project take a look at this Arduino vs PLC showdown from a few years ago.

AIR Legends Pack Is $9.99 (94% OFF) On Plugin Boutique
Plugin Boutique’s summer deals continue, and today, we will look into a great discounted bundle with some old but still quite useful instruments. AIR Legends Pack from AIR Music Tech is currently on sale on Plugin Boutique for the low price of $9.99 until July 5. That is a whopping 94% off. The bundle includes [...]
View post: AIR Legends Pack Is $9.99 (94% OFF) On Plugin Boutique

Tackle cymbal spill with THR deBleed The latest plug-in from THR is a specialist noise gate that has been designed specifically to remove cymbal bleed from the likes of kick, snare and tom mics.

Apple approves Epic Games’ marketplace app after initial rejectionsAfter multiple rejections, Apple has approved Fortnite maker Epic Games’ third-party app marketplace for launch in the EU. As now permitted by the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), Epic announced earlier this year it planned to bring both the digital storefront and its flagship game, Fortnite, back to iOS in Europe. However, on Friday, Epic […]
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Bitcoin miners ‘near capitulation’ as profits dry up alongside BTC sell-offCryptoQuant analysts say Bitcoin miners are showing signs of “capitulation” as profit margins tighten in the post-halving climate and BTC price falls close to $50,000.