I did not say the product is the hardware. I did not read all the reviews but those that I did read also did not put the main focus on the hardware, suggesting that the reviewers get it too (either that or they grokked very quickly that the hardware is nothing special and they focused on the one aspect that was different from anyone else).

But look at it this way. You are a new rock/pop/jazz band. The product you want to sell is the music, not the medium. Does that mean the medium on which you send the demo to the critics/publishers does not matter?

About the licensing - you do not know what is going on behind the scene. Let us see how that pans out.