[monsieurfromag3]

Really sad to see them go. They made great products, but it looks like they were a little bit too ambitious. Wireless ANC is really hard to do, especially for a company of less than ten people. I hope my pair doesn't break too soon. They must have lost a lot of money seeing that they had a stock capital of 42 million euros.

Their capital was only 42.250€, not 42 million; they were surviving product by product, and any misstep could spell the end of the whole endeavor. It’s a sorry state of affairs. France is not a good place to take risks - esp. not Paris. Or you need backup from an established structure instead if doing things indie like they did.
I actually had an e-mail from Thomas on the 9th, they day after Aëdle entered liquidation, offering me to drop by to fix my unit. Something was off, I could tell - Thomas replied from Lucas’ address, and also I had inquired about the new set of batteries and the best time to return my unit and the reply was... evasive. I’m kicking myself for not going, but I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have happened anyway.
@Monsieur Sans Honte if you know more about that mofo of a supplier I’d love to hear about them. PM me if you like. But I think they definitely deserve to be named and shamed.

 

[Monsieur Sans Honte]

@monsieurfromag3 Unfortunately, Aëdle chose not to disclose the name of their supplier.
They did say that they were expecting the replacement circuit boards in October, which was revised to November when I last spoke with them.
The initial supplier refused to cover the cost of replacing their faulty circuit boards and chips and Aëdle were forced to find a new supplier to procure new components to replace the ones in our headphones. Unfortunately, they couldn't generate enough sales to keep the lights on until the problems were resolved.

You can call it speculation, but I'm pretty certain their supplier is based in the same place that produces the fake-reviewed cheap rubbish sold on Amazon, Indiegogo and Kickstarter which tends to fail within a month.

It was this 5 month delay that proved to be Aëdle's undoing; any new orders would have been fulfilled with faulty boards and thus returned for refund or repair, and the knock-on effect was a blow to their reputation, resulting in fewer orders. Time simply ran out.

I'll still use the VK-X for as long as they last (the constant power drain can't be good for the life of the battery), but they'll be relegated to non-essential use. I'll get a pair of Master & Dynamic headphones to use in their place for what I intended.

 

[Monsieur Sans Honte]

Here's a tip for anyone whose VK-X suffers from battery drain:

Charge your headphones, pair them and when you're done using them, disconnect, but don't power them off.
Turns out the battery lasts much longer if you leave them on standby, as you would your phone.

Not ideal, but at least they'll have some juice when you come back to them in the morning.

 

[WBJM]

Such a shame. I'm listening to my VK-Xs now and I really enjoy them. I managed to get my headphones fixed by Aëdle at the end of June - after their first major software update - I just hope some kind of installer/help will surface for the rest of you who didn't get their headphones flashed with the new software. Can't say I experience any noise out of the ordinary and I only charge my headphones once or twice a week and I use them every day more or less.

 

[Monsieur Sans Honte]

There's one good thing that has come out of this, I guess.
Now that I have my Master & Dynamic headphones to use for professional work, I can stop treating these Aëdle headphones like they are made of glass.

(Obviously I will still need to handle them carefully now that repairs are out of the question.)

The result is now I have one pair of VK-X (Classic) for use at home, and one pair of customs (British Green & Gunmetal) to wear when going out, which is good because the seasons are changing and wireless cans are better than wireless earbuds in the cold months.

 

[Monsieur Sans Honte]

Update to the battery/standby mode tip:

I fully charged both pairs of headphones on Friday afternoon and have been using both (see previous post) on and off since then.
It's now mid-morning Sunday and both pairs are showing 50-60% when connected to my phone, which is already better than I was seeing when powering them off after use.

I will update with the total usage and charge duration once both batteries have run flat.

 

[shield07]

Below is an email I just received from Baptiste. It is officially bankrupt, but it appears that some other company may take over the business. I hope it all works out.


--------------------


Dear Customer, Follower,

It is with great emotion and deep disappointment that I announce today that aëdle has closed its doors and had to file for bankruptcy on October 8th, 2019.

We are no longer able to maintain our business despite all the efforts and sacrifices produced for 8 years and since August 2011, when we first started this adventure. Unfortunately, the traditional economic model that we pursue within a hyper competitive market did not play in our favor when looking for financial support.

Having literally started in a garage, the company constantly fought against the lack of resources that never allowed it to be structured properly, or even to achieve the level of quality that it pursued. At the cost of great sacrifices and with intense passion, we managed to exist and develop our activity thanks to the successive releases of VK-1, VK-2, ODS-1 and more recently the VK-X.

Despite an extraordinary community supporting us step by step, we have not managed to build and maintain a healthy and sustainable business.

These are 8 years of my life, full of memories, joy, tears and sweat that end today. I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to pursue the vision that animated me, that of timeless products, sustainable, locally assembled, where the quality and the human outweigh the logics of obsolescence and volume.

I wanted to send you a message thanking you once again for believing in us, bringing your feedback, your criticism or your support.

That being said, it is quite likely that a company capable of carrying our business will take over in the weeks and / or months to come. If this is the case, I will do everything in my power to support any policy or action oriented towards our customers and those who believed in us.

See you soon, and a long life to all of you.

Baptiste

--

Some practical information below:

• The company is no longer under our control, it is therefore impossible to provide customer service and this service had to be closed.
• For customers with a product already in transit / waiting for repair / waiting for their VK-X V2 from our workshop. I will personally contact you soon by email or phone for further instructions.

 

[WBJM]

So, this VK-X v.2, is that the software update I wrote about or did they manage to source new circuit boards?

 

[macroscopes]

Too bad, they made great products.
I'm confused though why only some people are getting info and Baptiste isn't simply contacting all of us.

I wonder if "waiting for repair" includes people they didn't send it back yet (I was suggested to wait until October)... It would be nice if they released a new firmware.

 

[Monsieur Sans Honte]

It would be great if someone was able to revive the brand, but only if that someone would keep the same level of commitment to quality and customer service that Aëdle had established, as opposed to watering down the quality. If they plan on just using the name and putting out cheaply made trash, I'd rather they not bother.
The mention of "quality" and "customer service", might have some of you rolling your eyes given how this has all played out, but I'm going all the way back to the original VK-1 when I say that.

For example, I'm waiting to see what happens with Bragi's Dash earbuds after they were acquired by a third party.

@WBJM I'm assuming that the V2 refers to the tweaks to the original design, based on customer feedback and (what would have been) newly sourced components, but I might be wrong.

 

[dajw]

I had sent detailed feedback to Aëdle including recordings of the various noises that shouldn’t be there when I got my VK-X. Baptiste and Lucas were super helpful throughout, and after a while took the headphones back in and issued an updated firmware and other changes that pretty much addressed all of the issues. I’ve owned all of their products over the years, it is a sad end.

 

[Monsieur Sans Honte]

Using standby mode I was able to get five days from my VK-X headphones, with a level of usage roughly on par with other headphones/earbuds that I have.

That's a major gain on the day and a half I was getting with them powered off. I even got to a point where I'd forgotten to take my backup earbuds out with me.

 

[WBJM]

Still loving my VK-Xs and they have been my daily drivers for almost a year now. Such a shame Aëdle had to call it quits.

 

[SeanB13]

Hi - I've followed this thread for awhile and found it helpful. Perhaps I can return the favor by posting my experience, including recovery after the workshop closed.

Background - I’ve been a long-time fan of Aedle stretching back to the early VK-1s. Baptiste and I have exchanged emails off and on. I backed the VK-X campaign when it launched and followed the updates with anticipation. After months of waiting the shipment arrived. They looked glorious. And... within seconds of listening my ears honed in on a digital defect that could not be unheard. Spectrum analysis showed steady noise at around 3.3khz and 5khz, and intermittent around 7.5khz. Minutes later back in the box they went. I sent a note to Aedle and Lucas confirmed the worse. They had heard from others and we're already working on the solution. I shipped them back to the Aedle workshop in France. Months went by and I received updates periodically up until Aedle’s closure.

Not long after, I received a tip on how to recover my headphones (which I’m incredibly grateful). Baptiste had personally upgraded them before the closure and set them aside with my name on the box. The next task was to recover them from the holding company. This part took time, perseverance, and a lot of luck. Just when my headphones had been located and were about to be returned, France shutdown due to the Covid epidemic. More months went by. I finally received notice they were ready to ship (once I wired a reasonable international shipping fee). The auction house Artus Enchères was professional and easy to work with. It shipped promptly and arrived safely in the original Aedle box that it had shipped a year earlier.

True to his word Baptiste had fixed them. They sound great.

What happened to Aedle is a sad chapter in a story about a great little company that built remarkable products. They passionately stood by their products and supported their customers to very end. They knew it was critical blow, yet still they did the right thing. They paid a high price. If the company should resurface, I absolutely would buy from Baptiste again. I really hope it does.

If you’re still trying to recover your headphones, feel free to PM me. I can’t do much to help, but I can share some tips. Good luck!

 

[monsieurfromag3]

Hi - I've followed this thread for awhile and found it helpful. Perhaps I can return the favor by posting my experience, including recovery after the workshop closed.

Background - I’ve been a long-time fan of Aedle stretching back to the early VK-1s. Baptiste and I have exchanged emails off and on. I backed the VK-X campaign when it launched and followed the updates with anticipation. After months of waiting the shipment arrived. They looked glorious. And... within seconds of listening my ears honed in on a digital defect that could not be unheard. Spectrum analysis showed steady noise at around 3.3khz and 5khz, and intermittent around 7.5khz. Minutes later back in the box they went. I sent a note to Aedle and Lucas confirmed the worse. They had heard from others and we're already working on the solution. I shipped them back to the Aedle workshop in France. Months went by and I received updates periodically up until Aedle’s closure.

Not long after, I received a tip on how to recover my headphones (which I’m incredibly grateful). Baptiste had personally upgraded them before the closure and set them aside with my name on the box. The next task was to recover them from the holding company. This part took time, perseverance, and a lot of luck. Just when my headphones had been located and were about to be returned, France shutdown due to the Covid epidemic. More months went by. I finally received notice they were ready to ship (once I wired a reasonable international shipping fee). The auction house Artus Enchères was professional and easy to work with. It shipped promptly and arrived safely in the original Aedle box that it had shipped a year earlier.

True to his word Baptiste had fixed them. They sound great.

What happened to Aedle is a sad chapter in a story about a great little company that built remarkable products. They passionately stood by their products and supported their customers to very end. They knew it was critical blow, yet still they did the right thing. They paid a high price. If the company should resurface, I absolutely would buy from Baptiste again. I really hope it does.

If you’re still trying to recover your headphones, feel free to PM me. I can’t do much to help, but I can share some tips. Good luck!

... That was the best story I’ve ever read on Head-fi. Epic! Congratulations on getting them back all the way from California, and I hope you enjoy them.

To everyone out there in a weird situation, I had no idea how things progressed with Aëdle, nor that proceedings were at the auction house phase. But: I live literally a 3-minute walk from Artus enchères. That doesn’t make me able to do much per se, but if that proximity can help anyone do hit me up.