Anybody notice Exogal is finished?

[aslan7]

The Exogal company has published its own obituary. As with many flawed businesses they blame it on the pandemic. Interesting story.

 

[Katji]

Apparently they're full of it. ...Or at least trueaudiophile.com is, what they say about it.
According to Google first page, it died because snake oil stories didn't work.
"pure digital" ..... DIY mathematics because AKM, ESS, TI and so on don't get it right.

 

[Duke]

The Exogal company has published its own obituary. As with many flawed businesses they blame it on the pandemic.

I am close friends with the US distributor for Exogal and for the past two years he has had dealers anxious and lined up to get product but unable to because of the very real supply chain issues Exogal had.

I have supply chain issues and as a result have some customers who have been waiting for many months because I have been waiting for many months. It's a real thing, and to imply that someone who has supply chain issues must have a flawed business model is an unfounded rush to judgment. For the record any of my customers who want to cancel and have their deposit refunded can do so, but most have chosen to wait it out. And fortunately not all of my products are currently held up by supply chain issues, but every single one of them HAS BEEN held up for months at some point over the past two years.

 

[aslan7]

I am close friends with the US distributor for Exogal and for the past two years he has had dealers anxious and lined up to get product but unable to because of the very real supply chain issues Exogal had.

I have supply chain issues and as a result have some customers who have been waiting for many months because I have been waiting for many months. It's a real thing, and to imply that someone who has supply chain issues must have a flawed business model is an unfounded rush to judgment. For the record any of my customers who want to cancel and have their deposit refunded can do so, but most have chosen to wait it out. And fortunately not all of my products are currently held up by supply chain issues, but every single one of them HAS BEEN held up for months at some point over the past two years.

Actually Exogal was a miserable excuse for a company. The same people were involved with Wadia, another corpse on the audio graveyard. My problem with Exogal is that they advertised how the Comet/Ion combo was marvelous because it was run by applications. Then, lo and behold, the applications vanished and they came up with a clumsy add-on remote that cost a pretty penny. According to various dealers, their main financial backer got smart and stopped funding them. That is the real reason they went under but it is convenient to blame the pandemic. They had stopped contributing to their website and were hard to contact well before Covid. Many of the small, similar European boutique companies that people like here don't seem to be having any major supply issues. I think also they were offering a product that was outperformed by things that cost 25% of Exogal's retail price. He can tell you that he had dealers "lined up" but when I called around to find out what was happening with the apps that was not the case; perhaps it was back in 2017. Anyhow, it was an interesting story and a lesson about what happens when hobbyists attempt to run a business.

 

[flz]

The same people were involved with Wadia, another corpse on the audio graveyard.

Interesting that you mention Wadia. In the 1990s, I had read somewhere that the founders of Wadia had backgrounds in designing sonar systems for US Navy submarines and it was used as a big marketing tool to hype up the brand.

 

[aslan7]

Wadia was founded in 1988 in MN and were supposedly pioneers in digital music reproduction. They are still around in some form—I guess somebody bought the name.

I find it interesting that dealers and insiders in the audio business rush to defend such failed companies while consumers rightly express dissatisfaction. To advertise something as futuristic and unique because it is run by applications on a hand held device and then back out of that assertion is questionable. The Comet has a tiny window that is nearly impossible to read because the unit was designed to be run with an app. When I complained about the vanished apps they told me most Comet owners didn’t use them which was nonsense. Exogal got exactly what it deserved. They were even evicted from their office. Good riddance.

 

[Matias]

Supply Chain Kills Exogal, CEO Says

Try to go to Exogal's website & you'll see a video called, "If you're watching this, we're dead." Co. CEO says the supply chain killed them

www.strata-gee.com

 

[Jimbob54]

One does have to wonder what the worldwide demand for $2k-$5k DACs actually is (or hifi components in that bracket generally)

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

I have no particular affection or sympathy for High End Audio (HEA henceforth) companies. It is not my intention to run to their defense but... the pandemic has affected the World in ways we will feel for a long time. Its effects are only beginning to show. We are in a time of new challenges. Notions such as "supply chains" that up to now, were abstractions, are realities that affect us all and likely will for a few more years. From price that fluctuates within hours, try SSD for example or the real difficulty of finding parts or components; to Human Resources: people are leaving their jobs, in drove in the USA ; people in challenging (euphemism) countries fleeing their homes and countries to find a semblance of life in (often) hostile territories.
Exogal was never on my radar, the fleecing from HEA is something I don't condone, however capitalistic it could be at times but it would not be proper to just dismiss the effects of the Pandemic. It has and may continue to derail more than a few businesses... That some have profited and flourished during it ( Amazon, Zoom, etc...) is what we tend to focus on. The reality is that most companies have been adversely affected by it and will continue for many more years. Many will disappear and complicate the already difficult economic situations in many countries.

Peace.


P.S. I had a quiet laugh going to a bank (!!) and being asked, politely, to wear a mask by the security guard at the door... . Yes ... pandemic effects.

 

[FrantzM]

One does have to wonder what the worldwide demand for $2k-$5k DACs actually is (or hifi components in that bracket generally)

Probably low but they need to sell only 20 to make some money if everything works, marketing, in particular and ways to have it reach dealers or customers. A glowing review from one of the HEA rags showering the $5K with praise such as "dark backgrounds" or excellent PRaT... and they sell 20 of the 5K model and 50 of the $2K ones.. which could translate in about $75 K of revenues (after dealer cuts and other costs) meanwhile the superior performance 50.oo DAC may require 5000 units., for the same cash flow. I will quickly add that the internals of both HEA DACS could well be without any modification the very same $50.oo DAC...

 

[Matias]

One does have to wonder what the worldwide demand for $2k-$5k DACs actually is (or hifi components in that bracket generally)

dCS and MSB are doing fine as far as I know and they sell 10-100k USD DACs.
Maybe Exogal should have charged more for theirs...

 

[FrantzM]

dCS and MSB are doing fine as far as I know and they sell 10-100k USD DACs.
Maybe Exogal should have charged more for theirs...

+1

This could have removed the dreaded , in HEA magazines parlance "good for its price but" ...

 

[aslan7]

Hi

I have no particular affection or sympathy for High End Audio (HEA henceforth) companies. It is not my intention to run to their defense but... the pandemic has affected the World in ways we will feel for a long time. Its effects are only beginning to show. We are in a time of new challenges. Notions such as "supply chains" that up to now, were abstractions, are realities that affect us all and likely will for a few more years. From price that fluctuates within hours, try SSD for example or the real difficulty of finding parts or components; to Human Resources: people are leaving their jobs, in drove in the USA ; people in challenging (euphemism) countries fleeing their homes and countries to find a semblance of life in (often) hostile territories.
Exogal was never on my radar, the fleecing from HEA is something I don't condone, however capitalistic it could be at times but it would not be proper to just dismiss the effects of the Pandemic. It has and may continue to derail more than a few businesses... That some have profited and flourished during it ( Amazon, Zoom, etc...) is what we tend to focus on. The reality is that most companies have been adversely affected by it and will continue for many more years. Many will disappear and complicate the already difficult economic situations in many countries.

Peace.


P.S. I had a quiet laugh going to a bank (!!) and being asked, politely, to wear a mask by the security guard at the door... . Yes ... pandemic effects.

Your point is well taken but in this case Exogal was on its way out long before the pandemic. The application loss predated it by a good margin. The CEO is quite adept at looking pathetic, evoking sympathy, and making a multitude of excuses for his own failings. Well prior to the pandemic Exogal advertised a line of servers on their site that never made it to production. They determined that these units, to which they spent much time and effort developing, were unsuitable for the market. They went under for gross ineptitude.

 

[aslan7]

+1

This could have removed the dreaded , in HEA magazines parlance "good for its price but" ...

When Exogal came out with the Comet in roughly 2015 they had it distributed by a well known discount mail order firm based in Hawaii. At that time I paid 2k for the Comet DAC, and had the impression that they were selling a good number of units. But they left this very capable distributor because they wanted to make more money; the price of the Comet jumped 1k. Parenthetically I think the products were priced high because of the nice aluminum case. Exogal failed because of a total lack of business acumen; had they stayed with their original distributor they might have prospered. When I sold my units I warned the buyer about the app problem and the diminutive screen. He said he didn’t care, he was strictly interested in the design.

 

[aslan7]

One does have to wonder what the worldwide demand for $2k-$5k DACs actually is (or hifi components in that bracket generally)

I’m awfully pleased with my RME and it actually has a screen readout that I can read—after the Comet episode that is a true luxury.

 

[FrantzM]

When Exogal came out with the Comet in roughly 2015 they had it distributed by a well known discount mail order firm based in Hawaii. At that time I paid 2k for the Comet DAC, and had the impression that they were selling a good number of units. But they left this very capable distributor because they wanted to make more money; the price of the Comet jumped 1k. Parenthetically I think the products were priced high because of the nice aluminum case. Exogal failed because of a total lack of business acumen; had they stayed with their original distributor they might have prospered. When I sold my units I warned the buyer about the app problem and the diminutive screen. He said he didn’t care, he was strictly interested in the design.

In HEA, in business in general, things are never so clear cut or linear. The DarTzeel NHB-18 preamp came out in the early 2000 by 2007, it was about $23,000 (yer people!!). Today, without much changes, it is more than $60,000 (!!).. They sell .. a lot of those and are aduled by their crowd ... Don’t ask for measurements, you may not like these.
So…
It depends.

Peace.

 

[Garrincha]

One does have to wonder what the worldwide demand for $2k-$5k DACs actually is (or hifi components in that bracket generally)

Is has been answered already, but still, there´s a sucker born every minute. There are so many larger and smaller companies out there offering DACs in this price range and even much above, probably the market is quite remarkably big. And there are so many subjectivist and raving reviews of those to feed this.

 

[aslan7]

Is has been answered already, but still, there´s a sucker born every minute. There are so many larger and smaller companies out there offering DACs in this price range and even much above, probably the market is quite remarkably big. And there are so many subjectivist and raving reviews of those to feed this.

I don't understand the urge to throw money away on this stuff. I bought an under $500 Topping for my basement system and it is fantastic. It has the additional benefit of having Amir's blessing.

 

[Garrincha]

I don't understand the urge to throw money away on this stuff. I bought an under $500 Topping for my basement system and it is fantastic. It has the additional benefit of having Amir's blessing.

Well I have seen blind tests showing this and from my limited listening experience I would say that most DACs simply sound the same, starting from $5 over $5k to $50k. There are connectivity issues and looks and longevity, but soundwise no or minor difference. Distortion is hardly, if at all, audible below -40db which is 1 %, and this is for test tones, for music distorion must be even higher to be noticable. So all this race for best SINAD is technically interesting but not relevant for the improvement of sound quality. It´s more audiophile masturbation. If I would have to set up my main system again and even if I had a lot of money to spend, the maximum I would go for is the RME or Okto or the Benchmark DAC3, but just because these look nice, and have a lot of features and are built well. There should be no difference to a $100 SMSL or Topping DAC or even cheaper. Maybe it´s just me but I bought years ago a very powerfull dongle usb dac/amp from AliExpress for less than $20 which for sure measures much worse than the recently aquired Hidizs S9 Pro, which I bought for balanced connectivity and after it was measured well here. But for me there is no audible difference.