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The Exogal saga continued....

As the owner of the Comet Plus/Ion combo, I have been a vocal critic of Exogal for fumbling the ball on the absence of applications needed to run them. They made the Comet without an illuminated window and reading it is difficult, and the remote, by their own admission, is inadequate. So the apps were indispensable, period. They have claimed for months that a new, improved remote "module" was in the making and about to be released immanently. I actually tried out a prototype they sent me and it wasn't very good. As time passed I tried to communicate with them via their website (on which they advertise a streamer line that they don't make!) and by phone, and was ignored.

So I chased down their sales manager here on Audiogon and he put me in touch with the CEO. The CEO admitted there was a problem and offered a range of excuses--a knee operation, a major internet hacking of their site, the pandemic, poor Chinese-sourced parts, an inability to get parts, etc. [In retrospect I am surprised that he didn't claim the same aliens who started the forest fires in California had attacked Minnesota] I said that I had the Ion packed up in a box as it was unusable and requested a remote for the Comet which he said was ready and would be shipped. He further stated that a new product line was in the making and that when it was released those who had the misfortune to purchase the Comet/Ion could trade those units in for "generous" credit toward the new line. Very well, I have spend thousands of dollars on this stuff so how long do I have to sit on it until I can change it out? There is no timetable for the new offerings--possibly by the end of the year, possibly not. Basically I got the old "trust me, I'm working on it" speech that they give everyone.

Two weeks went by--no remote. At that point I demanded a refund for the Comet and Ion which of course the CEO denied. He claimed he didn't send the remote because he assumed that I had packed both the Comet and Ion away until the unspecified time that he would so generously exchange them for his new products! He said he would send the remote immediately.

Yet another week has gone by--no remote. So I pass all this on to the court of public opinion. But it is ironic that the CEO of Exogal, in one of his own public postings right here on Exogal wrote: 
 "Too many audio companies announce a product, start selling it, and then frustrate the paying customer with BS excuses. Meanwhile, they've got your money." That sounds remarkably like the situation I find myself in. 
128x128rtorchia
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michrt's avatar
michrt
25 posts
 

Made an account to personally say thank you. Thank you for archiving this. I recently bought the Comet and PSU upgrade from a friend and this trove saved me. For some reason my Comet likes the older 3.01 XMOS driver. Even then USB is finicky on Windows but manageable.

Being able to update the firmware is also a blessing, and just having the docs is a bonus to me and to my circle of friends with your gear.
 

Thank you again. Love the DAC. Maybe one day we can use the EXONET ports for something else, update the FPGA firmware with new filters/features, and above all keep this gear alive.

- Mike

yoby
539 posts
 

Hi michrt: Your post is confusing to me. How is the firmware upgraded when the company is no longer in buisness? Jeff

rtorchia's avatar
rtorchia OP
138 posts
 

It would be highly amusing if the company would resurrect the applications necessary to operate the units after they went under.

michrt's avatar
michrt
25 posts
 

@yoby The backup site explains it for this DAC specifically, but further: a defunct company should not and usually does not mean you can't update a device. It would be terrible if such were the case.

 

rtorchia as for "apps" (the phone one that is a copy of the remote's functionality?) luckily there is no need as the DAC functions for me just as it should. I can only think of the Windows USB drivers, but even those are available from the source: XMOS (use version 3.01, not a 4.XX variant). The remote is a bit finicky and the display is peculiar but I knew these things going in. Ultimately it's the digital side, once set up I've left it as is 😊

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