Action against Storm Digital - Page 16 - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

Cousin Patty · 06-02-2007, 12:08 AM

Well the 31st has come and gone and we're now into the latter part of the 1st and I have received no word from Ken on the status of the DAC's. Anyone else hear anything?

rincewind · 06-02-2007, 04:25 PM

I chatted with him this morning. He knows he's slightly behind schedule now. He's in the final stages of testing. Hard to get hold of him on MSN recently. The PCB factory finished one day after he expected and he forgot about a public holiday in the past week, which didn't help. I guess this put him a day or so behind. I've mentioned to him it would be best if he kept his customers in the loop (other than the few like me who just message him and wait a few hours for a reply to find out what's happening). When his replies are this infrequent on MSN, it means he's at his testing area instead of answering mails etc.

Ken's expressed that THIS time around, he won't be sending out the DACs until he's done thorough testing himself (he's not trusting any 'friends' this time). I am under the impression that after his testing is complete, it will be a few days of burn in, I think only then will he be completely satisfied. He's just making sure there are no issues at all this time. His phrase was 'better find before than after!' or something like that, and he's absolutely correct.

While I think he should have given himself a bit more 'leeway' in terms of delivery date (if it was gonna be this close), we've seen the pictures, and having discussed his progress, this morning he said he should be finished after one more business week. He knows he's past the 'deadline'. I'll leave it to him to contact individuals of course, but I thought this little info would help the rest of us know what's going on.

I discussed the testing he has left to perform, and he really is down to the nitty-gritty stuff now, to make sure things are perfect - better safe than sorry.

Cousin Patty · 06-02-2007, 06:00 PM

Originally Posted by rincewind

I chatted with him this morning. He knows he's slightly behind schedule now. He's in the final stages of testing. Hard to get hold of him on MSN recently. The PCB factory finished one day after he expected and he forgot about a public holiday in the past week, which didn't help. I guess this put him a day or so behind. I've mentioned to him it would be best if he kept his customers in the loop (other than the few like me who just message him and wait a few hours for a reply to find out what's happening). When his replies are this infrequent on MSN, it means he's at his testing area instead of answering mails etc.

Ken's expressed that THIS time around, he won't be sending out the DACs until he's done thorough testing himself (he's not trusting any 'friends' this time). I am under the impression that after his testing is complete, it will be a few days of burn in, I think only then will he be completely satisfied. He's just making sure there are no issues at all this time. His phrase was 'better find before than after!' or something like that, and he's absolutely correct.

While I think he should have given himself a bit more 'leeway' in terms of delivery date (if it was gonna be this close), we've seen the pictures, and having discussed his progress, this morning he said he should be finished after one more business week. He knows he's past the 'deadline'. I'll leave it to him to contact individuals of course, but I thought this little info would help the rest of us know what's going on.

I discussed the testing he has left to perform, and he really is down to the nitty-gritty stuff now, to make sure things are perfect - better safe than sorry.

Cool

braillediver · 06-19-2007, 02:44 PM

Any word or is everyone enjoying thier new Dacs? I hope this all comes to a happy ending for all parties.

Mitch

Cousin Patty · 06-19-2007, 02:47 PM

Apparently Ken is in the final testing/burn in stages and should hopefully be sending units out this week. We'll see.

rincewind · 06-20-2007, 09:46 AM

Ken will ship the DACs as soon as possible, and provide refunds to the few who have requested them as soon as his means allow.

Apparently these first few DACs will ship (within the next week I think) to some customers who paid long before any Head-Fi members. Head-Fi members' DACs will be assembled next (all the parts are sitting in his workshop and he can build about 2-3/day). I suspect testing of the next batch will be much quicker than this round, as this was the very first set of Pandora's to be built, and as mentioned before, Ken wanted to be 110% sure they were up to spec before sending anything out.

I've heard that 1 or 2 parties are talking about going to authorities again. If Ken is hindered in his work, things take longer. Let's say Ken got locked up, what purpose would this serve? Noone would get DACs and noone gets refunds. Best leave the man to do his work. It has to be bleedingly obvious now, that he isn't running away with anyone's money, and that good things will come to those that wait.

I gotta say, looks damn good IMO

Cousin Patty · 06-20-2007, 02:09 PM

Sweeeeeet. Looks awesome. Especially the inside. So clean and organized. Look at all those connections! Cant wait.

braillediver · 06-20-2007, 03:18 PM

Nice, real nice. After all this I hope that DAC sets the standard for future performance.

"I've heard that 1 or 2 parties are talking about going to authorities again."

IMHO- you've waited this long: Give Ken a chance to finish this. He hasn't run away and he seems to be making every effort to finish this. Even the best of intentions off times go astray so please give him a chance to make things right.

Mitch

Omom · 06-20-2007, 05:16 PM

Nice pictures.. I am really curious how it ends

rincewind · 06-20-2007, 10:29 PM

To those wondering where the battery has gone, the standard Pandora doesn't include a battery, it's an add-on. Some will notice the extra 'floating' green PCB with 8 DAC chips on it. the standard 8 chips are UNDER this PCB, on the black main PCB. These extra ones are an upgrade to the Pandora, giving it 16 chips. Every who is receiving a Pandora as a replacement for a D02 is receiving both the 16 chips and the (now external) battery add-on. The chips will be included in the DAC on receipt. The battery case will come later, as it is more costly to manufacture (it has a similar nice casing as the DAC), and as Ken is pushed for resources, it will simply have to follow later (within a few months I suspect). Many who had the D02 had trouble distinguishing between battery/AC power anyway.

Also, for those questioning where the RCA input jack is, an RCA > BNC adapter will be included for coaxial input.

Ken wishes (in his own words) to say that the apparent new-found patience displayed in this thread is REALLY appreciated. He's basically redesigned this DAC from the ground up from the D02 since mid-last year, and would love to see his customers enjoy the results of his hard work.