Kickstarter is a very different place, compared to the Elektronaut world. Most products there ‘we’ would not recognize. There are some, like the Chorda that have a resemblance, but it sounds like a few people here don’t understand them either. But if you want to play in the KS world, you play by that culture’s aesthetic. Products that appeal here, like the Modal Filtron or the Artisan Nucleus don’t get funded. One needs to keep the KS perspectives to evaluate what gets funded on KS.
2 Likes
if chompi had been $200 it would have been pandemonium. even I would have bought one.
1 Like
5 Likes
The Chorda for me has a resemblence to another instrument recently run on Indiegogo, the Instachord. The Instachord is a little like the Omnichord as well.
ADDED : I see the Instachord failed to reach its funding minimum on Indiegogo. The funding was to launch this product internationally, and to add new features in firmware. The product is still available internationally if ordered from Japan, but then it will not have a warranty outside of Japan. The interface is international and there is a manual in English.
As noted elsewhere their launch video was not the greatest.
1 Like
It reminds me of this somehow.
4 Likes
Will be interesting to see if Artiphon can actually deliver a sound midi controller that does everything they claim Chorda can do.
I looked at user reviews of their previous products, and it’s a mixed bag. The biggest issues are connectivity problems, iffy customer service, and more or less a gimmicky series of devices that on paper look to be really cool, but because of some annoying quirks (all user data is saved within the app and not the device itself, changes to tuning and scales are temporary as they reset after powering off the device, midi connectivity and MPE problems with various interfaces and music programs), falls short of what was hoped for.
Now, it’s not certain as to how sound the limited amount of reviews are. Could be user errors, and it could also be angry customers who didn’t get the answers they wanted, or even people who expected more than was promised, but it does have me wondering how well the product will perform once it gets to customers.
The one thing that has me wondering the most is the difference between the professional advert presented at the top of the page, and the only unedited demo video that I could find which is posted a bit down on the page. With that video they play their “fresh from the factory prototype” and I have to say, their is some disconnect between the two. I have to assume that the recording must be quantized or something, because the recorded arps timing changes, and there’s also a noticeable gap when the loop wraps around. Now of course it’s a prototype, so I’ll assume there was still some work to be done, and the video itself seemed to be shot in a spare of the moment fashion, but if that’s the only actual demo video available, you have to wonder why, and if this thing will actually deliver on what the developers say that it’s capable of.
Really, if the midi is rock solid, and it connects to Koala via BT, I might give it a go when the inevitable resells happen. All the best to them though. Hope it’s able to deliver on all that is promised.
5 Likes
This is a good one. I am impressed that “Tangible Instruments” soldiers on all these years later. There last update was December 2022, and they hoped to deliver this year. Was not aware of this one so good to add to the list here.
3 Likes
Direct link to the aforementioned Tangible Instruments: Arpeggio product page (still accepting pre-orders).
Link to Tangible Instruments: Arpeggio undelivered Nov 2015 Kickstarter where 460 backers pledged $94,713 with a first round delivery date promise of april 2016.
The aforementioned update from Dec 2022 cites chip shortages - which would not have become a problem until at least 5 years after their promise of delivery.
1 Like
Exactly what came to mind!
Brilliant what people did with a 4049 CMOS hex inverter chip.
Yeah, I can’t speak for Tangible Instruments but Paul Vo has been involved in some legit product releases and from 2017 and on has gotten hit by a series of hurdles along the way, with shortages now legitimate distributors are now unwittingly sending counterfeit chips fairly widely out when they do get “stock”.
07/12/2023 : %^#&^$#%!!!
The checks of the circuit board were going well and things looked good, until I came to the basic, relatively straight-forward driver circuitry. In this circuit I used a TLV9032DDFR dual comparator chip. The TLV9032DDFR on my PCB is so far out of it’s specification that the driver circuit would have self-destructed if I’d run it without isolating it to test it. I have 5 of these boards. All 5 have similar versions of this problem. All five chips are out of spec, though with large differences between them. It took me a while to be certain it wasn’t a design error of mine. It isn’t. It’s a bogus chip.
This has never happened to me before. I can only guess at the reason. It may be a “gray market” chip that is a poorly made knockoff. Perhaps it’s a different and slower part that has been marked as a TLV9032DDFR so it could be sold for more? I have no idea and there is no way to know. I’ve just put things aside for a few days while I consider the implications. You see, if I were to spend the money to make 100 or even 500 of these circuits and this or some other chip had this kind of defective behavior, it would be a disaster. For a larger company, it would be an annoying loss, but for me it would be an absolute disaster.
I’m thinking what to do. Obviously I’ll get the old tweezers out and my hot air desoldering tools and my multiple magnifying glasses and replace this tiny thing with a good one. But first, I need a known good one to replace it with. So I have to work up a little test jig to test some from a fresh order of them. Then I’ll be able to finish the verification – this is close; so far so good except for this chip. Then I can finally, finally turn the EMpick on and try it. Of course I’ll do this much. But how to move this forward in quantity without exposing myself to such a risk? I need to make some calls and do some negotiating.
My friend over there in the Philippines, Joel Guzman, had something very similar happen to him just recently too. This is probably still the effects of the chip shortage crisis. We don’t know.
2 Likes
geeezus, reading the comments on kickstarter is really crazy, project started September 2015, raised ~$100k and 8 years later no one got anything. how can anyone say this is not a scam? crazy.
so they make a printed empty shell, took some random pcb board with some leds on it to make it flashy, made some weird sounds in the videos that most definitely not coming from the device or any synth they connect it to, made a nice profit and blame it on … chip shortage???
The Arpeggio project has essentially been on hiatus for the past year as we wait out this chip shortage, but we will hopefully be posting updates more frequently in the coming months.
dude the project is from 2015, there was no chip shortage in 2015-2019/20, that’s 4/5 years to make it happen, gtfo, it’s a scam and they are still up and trying to make money.
obviously kickstarter won’t refund, they get their cut so who cares if it fails? real nice scam economy! 
2 Likes
good news, i’m getting bombarded with scam ads on Instagram using chompi images, maybe they’ll e-packet you some floss for $80!
3 Likes
sales pitch of the year!
expectation:
0:50
reality:
2:59
10 Likes
haven’t laughed so hard since this video
6 Likes
New wind controller. Alternative to something like the Sylphyo perhaps ( ? ) but much more affordable.
Clarii from Robkoo
One of the most annoying KS video i’ve ever seen.
1 Like
Full disclosure, I’m a sax player….
I’m really getting worn out by these wind synths that demo really bad wind instrument sounds. I really want to see an electronic wind instrument that is for players who have zero concern to replicate acoustic sounds. The EWI5000 has some killer onboard sounds, but they’re never demoed well.
3 Likes
That’s beautiful.
Nobody ever goes broke selling to Audiophiles, do they?
1 Like
In theory more upfront capital allows the developer to speed up development. You hire more workers ( probably contractors ), and expedite the design. That’s how adding goals without extending the schedule can work. But adding stuff also gives Murphy more opportunity to step in to manage your project. There are other flaws to this method too, some things just takes more time no matter how many people work on it.
Part of the things to look at when deciding to back a project, and evaluate risk.
As for the Aodyo Omega specifically i am still feeling calm. There is delay, but disaster risk is still very low, and that’s what i try to see coming before i invest.
Adding more staff to a project rarely results in getting done faster. If it’s work that can be outsourced, sure, but in the core project team, not so much.
Also very unworried about the delay, though.
2 Likes