Stanton Prepping New Firmware, Drivers & Presets For SCS.1 – Is It Too Late?
Stanton is currently beta testing new firmware, drivers and presets for their beleaguered SCS.1 (System One) premium MIDI DJ turntable Controller and Mixer. Stanton’s introduction of the SCS.1 was pretty much a complete bust due to a variety of performance issues that the company either didn’t anticipate or wasn’t equipped with deal with when the product debuted. What’s worse is that the product was overly hyped by the concern with the web countdown: “The Future Of Digital DJing on Mac and PC” in January of 2008 — But wasn’t even able to even deliver a stable version when it did bow over a year later. Yes, you read right, January ’08 – Not good.
Stanton understood that it had a lot on the line with the SCS.1 when we spoke with CEO Tim Dorwart at the time, but the company continued to stumble badly and was only able to save some face by introducing the System 3 products, SCS.3d and SCS.3m, which delivered on their promise (See our Stanton SCS.3d review. —Ed.) and garnered some fans.
Only now, over two years since its first announcement, has the company apparently gotten its arms around the product thanks to extensive testing, savvy employee additions and some serious praying at the Firmware/Driver alter. But is it too late?
The Stanton brand has taken one beating after another as of late and we’re wondering how much more the public will stand before it gives up on the namesake being an innovator. The company really hasn’t done much since 2005 and most likely had to rush out the SCS.1 before it was truly ready so they could announce something after years of stagnation. But was that really a savvy strategy? Especially for a company looking to regain consumer trust and position itself as an industry leader, the answer is no.
Luckily for Stanton, their DJ CD decks and cartridges are still getting the love from consumers, but at some point you’re going to have to deliver on your brand promise.
The Future:
» Is it time for Stanton to outsource product development?
» Is it time for Stanton to revamp their marketing strategy? (ahem, DaScratch…really??)
» And is it time for Stanton to address the company’s leadership?
