Aodyo Instruments Anyma Omega

[SteveElbows]

I downloaded the software instrument version and installed it. The VST version crashes immediately in Bitwig.

There were some bad bugs in the initial release that caused show-stopping crashes on all platforms, but they updated everything by the end of Thursday, so try downloading and installing it again.

[pdxindy]

I downloaded the software instrument version and installed it. The VST version crashes immediately in Bitwig.

There were some bad bugs in the initial release that caused show-stopping crashes on all platforms, but they updated everything by the end of Thursday, so try downloading and installing it again.

Thanks... I downloaded again, and it does not crash now. However, the activation process fails and it is stuck in demo mode.

[FranklyFlawless]

September 26th news from Aodyo on Kickstarter and Indiegogo:

Dear contributors,

We apologize for the delay in getting back to you and thank you for your sustained patience. During this time, we have been doing everything we can to avoid the situation we now find ourselves in. In the spirit of transparency and honesty, we want to share the challenges we are facing and provide a clear picture of where we stand.

Current Situation

Over the past months, we’ve encountered significant difficulties with both the Loom and Omega projects, which have severely impacted our financial situation.

• Loom: The production costs and delays we encountered have turned out to be much higher than we initially anticipated. Due to extended lead times for the electronic components from our manufacturer, we have been unable to launch production.
• Omega: The system's complexity has far exceeded what we originally planned. The powerful nature of this synthesizer required multithreading due to the characteristics of the processors available on the market. We also faced setbacks from architectural changes necessitated by component shortages. These combined factors have led to much longer delays than expected.

We had hoped to raise additional funds by leveraging the campaign’s momentum, but unfortunately, this effort has not been successful. As a result, we are now in a difficult financial position and have been unable to secure the working capital necessary to move forward.

What We’ve Been Doing

Over the last few months, we have focused our efforts on finding potential investors or buyers to help us unlock the situation. Unfortunately, we have not been successful so far. That said, we are still in discussions with a couple of potential partners, and we hope this message might spark new opportunities.

In the meantime, we’ve been continuing our operations by selling off our existing stock of Sylphyo and Anyma Phi, which is why we launched the summer promotions. These products have been in the market for some time, and the revenue from selling our stock has allowed us to keep going for a little longer.

Additionally, the work on the Anyma V allowed us to make progress on the polyphonic synthesis part of the Omega project and MPE support. It has also brought in some additional revenue to keep on working. And it allowed us to deliver an intermediate milestone to you as well.

Use of Crowdfunding Funds

We understand that many of you are wondering how the funds from the Loom and Omega campaigns were used. Here is a brief overview:

• Loom Campaign:
  • Platform, currency and bank transfer fees (9%).
  • Marketing performance-based fees (13%).
  • Purchase of components to secure stock (14%).
  • Industrial design of the circuit boards (22%).
  • Industrial design of the mechanical parts (4%).
  • Final prototyping (14%).
  • Development of the embedded firmware (25%).
• Omega Campaign:
  • Platform, currency and bank transfer fees (10%).
  • Marketing performance-based fees (11%).
  • Purchase of components to secure stock (9%).
  • Changes to the circuit boards due to component shortages (display, touch and DSP processors) (10%).
  • Industrial design of the new circuit boards (37%).
  • Industrial design of the mechanical parts (8%).
  • Development of the embedded firmware (22%).

Given that the funds have been used entirely to advance these projects, we regret to inform you that a refund of your contributions is unfortunately impossible at this stage.

What’s Next

Our sales of remaining stock should allow us to continue our operations. During this time, we will continue doing everything we can to secure an investor and unblock the situation. If we can manage to start the first batch of Loom, this would allow us to deliver to stores right after fulfilling your pledges, stabilizing our situation and enabling us to finish the Omega development.

However, if we do not succeed in securing new investments or partnerships in the coming weeks, we will be left with no other choice but to file for bankruptcy.

In closing

We know this is not the message you were hoping for, and we share your frustration. We want to express our deepest gratitude for your support and belief in our vision, and we remain hopeful that a solution can be found.

Thank you again for your understanding and support during this difficult time.

Sincerely,
The Aodyo Team

All perks have been claimed.

[sec6]

Pledges: 180,000 dollars for Loom, and 600,000 dollars for Anyma. $780,000 dollars down the drain. Anybody feel like they got fleeced? You've gotta love the Kickstarter scams. They took three quarters of a million dollars!

[SteveElbows]

It wasnt a scam. Hardware development and bringing complex projects to market isnt easy, if critical things start to go wrong during the later stages of that cycle then its really not that hard to lose all that money in a completely legitimate way. What sounds like a large amount of money to individuals really isnt all that much if you are a hardware manufacturer with bills to pay, ongoing and unplanned for additional development costs, and lots of orders to fulfil.

Plus I shouldnt even say they have lost all that money at this stage. A chunk of it is tied up in components etc for attempts to manufacture first runs of the products, rather than lost, but for sure it is ultimately wasted if you cant reach the finishing line. If costs spiral in unexpected ways then you end up with a gap that needs to be plugged, and if you cant plug it then you fail. It doesnt matter if the amounts of money you originally raised sounded huge to some people, if the amount did not allow these unexpected gaps to be plugged, and you fail to raise money from elsewhere, then you are still doomed.

[SteveElbows]

With that said, I certainly wouldnt blame anyone for being angry, I just wouldnt frame things as a scam. I'd frame it as a combination of bad luck and likely also some errors of judgement. For example, it is likely that they conceived of the Loom project to bridge a gap caused by problems with the Omega project, and instead of saving the day it ultimately created more problems and more lost backers money.

I'll give them credit for the communication they are doing at this stage and the detail they are sharing, but again I am aware that this is not much consolation. It gives people a clearer view rather than being left in the dark, its better than the company just falling silent or creating false hope, but it doesnt help anyone get their money back.

[pekbro]

Bummer, I bought the Anyma V plugin a few weeks ago and like it. Didn't know about the crowd funding thing. I wonder where they went wrong, I've backed more than a few HW kickstarters and never had a failed one, ea of them no less complex than this. I guess I've been lucky...

[sec6]

Maybe scam is a harsh word. Call it what you want, but the fact is 780,000 dollars evaporated, and I think there was a lack of honesty, either with themselves or their backers. I've seen a number of these Kickstarters where they string along backers for several years, to ultimately fold up. Seems to be a common formula.

[SteveElbows]

I wonder where they went wrong, I've backed more than a few HW kickstarters and never had a failed one, ea of them no less complex than this. I guess I've been lucky...

I wont attempt to describe every issue they disclosed publicly via their kickstarter updates, but here are a couple that Omega faced:

In 2023, problems and delays sourcing some components, necessitating some changes to components and design. And also some risks taken in ordering some components before properly validating all component decisions via prototypes. Then when they actually tested their chosen DSP properly, it couldnt handle the number of voices required. They had to choose a different DSP and rewrite loads of code. If there is one really terrible blow to focus on, from which they never truly recovered, its a reasonable guess that it was this one.

But in reality Im sure it was a combination of multiple issues that really led them to the precarious state they are now in. They gave percentage breakdowns for where the money went. They clearly didnt build enough wiggle room into their financing to be able to cope with this amount of delay in bringing products to market.

As for Loom, I find what has happened with that one to be much less forgivable. The kickstarter for that one only began in March 2024, so it has failed more quickly and clearly had even less wiggle room built into it than than Omega had. This makes it seems like actually the whole Loom thing was an attempt to compensate for the trouble they got into via Omega delays, to help them survive. And as soon as they ran into any delays with Loom, they were in deep trouble. Plus when I look at the timescale for when they were initially expecting to manufacture Loom, it coincides with a period when they only now admit that much of their effort was going into attempts to secure new funding for the company as a whole. The more I look at the timescales of each Loom milestone and update message, compare that to what we know now, and then consider just how little detail they went into about the Loom delay, the less happy I become.

[pdxindy]

Maybe scam is a harsh word. Call it what you want, but the fact is 780,000 dollars evaporated, and I think there was a lack of honesty, either with themselves or their backers. I've seen a number of these Kickstarters where they string along backers for several years, to ultimately fold up. Seems to be a common formula.

It's common for business startups to fail. We are more likely to hear about Kickstarter failures because the vendors have a responsibility to inform their backers. Lots of projects fail without there ever being any public awareness.

The past few years have been a challenging time for such projects. Covid had a huge (and ongoing) impact. Prices of everything have gone up significantly. The price estimates from a few years ago for parts for a synth are very much out of date as of today.

Failure doesn't automatically mean dishonesty.

This is the first Kickstarter type campaign I've backed that failed (most likely outcome at this point). The other active one I am a backer for is the Reliq. That one has been delayed, but looks petty solid to complete.

[BobDog]

I agree.

Kickstarters give companies the chance to take risks with no risk.

The risk is transferred to the “purchasers” who are really “investors”.

I steer clear of them now, you might as well just wait without risk.

When Mod did it for the Drawf I didn’t get involved knowing what they were like, ages later I had purchased one from a store when most of the backers hadn’t even got theirs and still haven’t I would guess.

Recently the same thing with a USB analyzer, they could have had my money for a couple of years with the risk of me loosing everything or I could wait and pay $20 more with no risk which is what I did.

You can’t complain if you loose everything to a kickstarter, you took the risk. They didn’t set off to rip you off.

[sec6]

UPDATE:

https://www.gearnews.com/anyma-omega-po ... nthesizer/

[pekbro]

oh well bummer, make a back up if you bought the plugin. Maybe it will still authorize for some time, hopefully.

sucks for backers still...

[FranklyFlawless]

Backers received a "free" license for Anyma V during the campaign, but I do not use proprietary software, so it remains unused.

[FranklyFlawless]

October 23rd update from Aodyo on Kickstarter and Indiegogo:

Clarification

Dear backers,

First and foremost, we want to express our sincere apologies for this prolonged silence. It was never our intention to ignore your concerns, but we were working tirelessly to explore every possible solution that could allow us to continue our operations and deliver on the projects you supported. We understand your frustration and disappointment with the lack of communication and transparency over the past few months. We know you were expecting updates from us, and we regret not living up to your expectations.

The truth is that we have been going through a very challenging period since the safeguard procedure was initiated on the June 24. This legal process was supposed to help us restructure and avoid bankruptcy, but it also required us not to disclose any information that could discourage potential investors or buyers.

During the summer, we continued to work on the Loom and Omega, convinced that we would find a solution. Unfortunately, our efforts did not succeed, and we are now forced to announce what some of you may already know: Aodyo Instruments is now in liquidation.

This means that the company will cease its operations on November 1st, and that a court-appointed liquidator is overseeing the process of closing the company and managing its remaining assets to repay creditors.
We understand that this is a hard blow, and although there are details we are not at liberty to disclose due to our legal situation, we want to try and address the key concerns you raised during these last few weeks.

What happened

The Loom campaign was not a distraction, but is indeed a part of the Omega project.
We launched the campaign at a time when the Omega project was facing significant delays. Our goal was to highlight the progress we had made and to generate enough revenue to ensure the company's sustainability. We sincerely believed that after shipping all our backers, the in-store sales of Loom would allow us to finish the Omega project.

In the end, Loom was ready for production, but we did not forecast the much increased production costs and lead times partly due to sourcing difficulties for some components. The company didn't have the cash flow necessary to stomach the increased costs and delays. Moreover, after entering the safeguard procedure, we were prohibited from negotiating payment terms with suppliers.

At the time, we had other reasons to believe that these projects would continue smoothly, as we were on the verge of closing a significant fundraising round with investors, who ultimately withdrew. Additionally, we had initiated valuation discussions for some of our technologies with other industry players, but unfortunately we did not have enough time to finalize these contracts.

Just like Loom, Anyma V is not a new product but a milestone in the Omega project that allowed us to figure out the challenging topic of synth voice management. We also made sure that all contributors from both campaigns could receive a free license*, even though it wasn't what they initially contributed for, to at least deliver a small part of the Omega project, or a welcome complement to the Loom, while waiting for the hardware to be produced.

Our financial situation

The total amount raised for the Loom and Omega campaigns was 319 383 € for Omega and 177 833 € for Loom, including contributions from both Kickstarter and Indiegogo.
Some contributions were not honored, and crowdfunding platforms charge commissions and banking fees, over which we have no control. In addition, running the campaign incurred costs for content creation (including the campaign video), advertising, prototype production, etc.

We also had to invest in components to be able to secure critical parts. However, not all parts were in stock, so we were left with a significantly impacted cash flow without being able to start production right away, as we had no additional funding between the end of the Loom campaign in April and when we were ready to start production in June.

The solutions we considered

We explored all possible solutions to save both projects, but none were successful.

Several backers have suggested that we open-source the code for Loom and Anyma Omega so that the community can continue working on them. Unfortunately, this is not possible because the code is part of the company's assets, which we needed to preserve in case of a potential takeover, and which we cannot legally transfer since the safeguard procedure because it could help repay creditors during liquidation.
If a buyer acquires these projects, they will decide whether to open-source the code or continue development under different terms.

We did not consider a new crowdfunding campaign possible either. Given the lack of trust and the precarious financial situation of the company, it was unlikely that such a campaign would succeed. Moreover, the time required to organize and run a new campaign would have worsened our financial situation.

Finally, we do not have enough stock of existing products (Sylphyo and Anyma Phi) to be able to compensate all contributors fairly, even in part.

What will happen from now on

As we detailed in our previous communication, most of the campaign funds were spent on product development. Today, the company has no cash flow and is under the liquidator's control. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that contributors will recover their investment.

For the next two weeks leading up to November 1st, Aodyo will continue operating as usual, and we will remain available via our regular contact email for any urgent inquiries regarding Anyma V or other matters.
Before closing permanently on November 1st, we will send out one final update with a link to an archive of our website (which will remain accessible for one year) and instructions on how to continue activating Anyma V licenses after closure.

The entire Aodyo team deeply regrets this situation. We have invested 10 years of our lives into this venture, and we are fully aware of how disappointing this is for you.

Should a buyer come forward to the commercial court, they will decide whether to continue or not with the projects. We will do everything possible to fulfill our moral duty to you if a recovery occurs.

Once again, we want to thank you all for your support throughout this journey. We understand how disappointing this situation is for everyone involved—including us—and we deeply regret that things have come to this point.

Thank you again for your understanding,
The Aodyo team

* We received several messages from people who did not receive a mail with their coupon code to our shop for access to their free Anyma V license. If this is your case, please contact us at support@aodyo.com.