NekoAudio

Hi, padam. Sorry I didn't see your post until now. As you're located in Hungary, I'm guessing you're asking about the E.U. Loaner program. If you'd like to sign up feel free but at this point, based on the latest news I've gotten from Whale, it looks like I'll most likely have to cancel the E.U. program due to customs issues with respect to product samples. Spain looks like it is a little better in some respects but still expensive.

That does sound like fortunate timing. I'm very interested to find out what you think between the two! (On a semi-related note, things are still waiting on Portugal customs.)

Yeah. Not to bash Portugal but a month? What if I had been sending delicious sweets to the fictional Portuguese orphans that I sponsor? And it'd be nice if someone over there answered their phones quickly when I called.

The E.U. unit has been stuck in Portugal customs for a month now. Whale is trying to work things on his side, and I'm trying to do what I can. But if anyone thinks they might be able to help it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

I just opened sign-ups for the E.U. Loaner Program. I expect to ship the unit out sometime next week, once the initial batch of people I have confirmed have signed up. Really excited to be finally doing this.

Hiya. I saw you signed up for the program, and I've added you to the queue.

If that's okay with you and mcky then I'll ask if that works for him and move him up.

Since there are 4 people signed up right now, I've decided to do the following: I have a Canadian third party that is interested in checking out the DAC. So I've sent a unit with cables and I will ask him to send it to the Canada loaner list when he is finished. This will delay the time frame before the first person on the list receives it, but even if no additional people sign up you guys will get to audition. I hope this is okay with everyone. If you have any concerns, please let me know. Thanks.

The U.S. and Canada loaner units are scheduled to ship out within the next couple of weeks. If anyone's been on the fence about signing up, I encourage you to do so! Here are the links again: U.S. Loaner Program (Round 2) Canada Loaner Program (Round 2) Torpedo + Spychedelic Whale, let me know here or via PM if you are able to get any more people on board for an E.U. program. I'm also going to post an open question on AudioCircle asking about interest.

It's a Mk2. It'll probably be a D100 that has been upgraded to a Mk2 unit.

Oh, I see. Sure, that'd be nice. Sorry for my slow head. But it's definitely not necessary. Thanks, Torpedo. If you guys can let me know some sort of ballpark figure of people who you've talked to who are interested, that'd be great.

If I can get at least 10 people signed up (speaker or headphone), fully aware of the shipping costs and how it would operate, then I would consider the E.U. program a go. I'm hesitant to announce one though, unless it has a good chance of being carried out. The only feedback I ask is that anyone who participates does publish their thoughts of the DAC on the Neko Audio loaner program thread. Other forums or online publications are always welcome of course. I'm not really sure what eBay feedback would mean, unless I sold you something on eBay....

I've got the first draft written up for the E.U. program. I meant to come back today and ask if people here would still sign up given the higher shipping cost. If so, I'll open it up and see how many people I can get signed up.

I just opened round 2 of the Canada loaner program. You can sign up at that link. elnero, if you want to make sure it arrives after a certain date, just let me know when you sign up.

Is this a representative shipping cost regardless of where it is going? That's about $80 USD which seems enough that it might discourage some people. Shipping cross-country within the U.S. including insurance stays under $25 USD. I think it's similar within Canada.

I typically allow the loaner program to run until there aren't any more people on the list. I want to get at least 10 people signed up for the EU program. That probably means about 6-8 months of time, if each person has it for 2 weeks.

I'm less worried about the initial import taxes for shipping into the EU, but what about once it is inside? It is currently required for the unit to be fully insured; would that significantly raise the intra-EU shipping costs?

I've sold units into E.U. countries already. As far as I know, there's no problem as long as the appropriate import procedures are followed. There are probably different procedures to be followed if I have a distribution center or physical presence of some sort in the E.U. I know there are for Canada, for example. Any information you guys might be able to provide regarding the logistics is very welcome. At the moment, it seems the best course of action is to limit it to the E.U. initially. If people outside the E.U. are interested they will simply have to be prepared to accept any additional fees. I might want to avoid having to deal with that in general though.

Okay. I'll try to work out things to open up a Europe loaner program and open a round 2 for Canada. I think I would need around 10 sign ups before sending it out to Europe, and 5 for Canada (there's one other person who expressed interest in Canada shortly after the previous Canada program closed--maybe he is still interested). Just roughly guessing. Need not all be from Head-Case, of course; I'll post on AudioCircle as well. Is there any difference between supporting all of Europe versus just the E.U.? I'm also concerned about people getting hit with import/shipping taxes.

That doesn't sound too scary. Any suggestions on verifying identities or what recourse there is if things go awry? I have high trust in many people on this forum as well as a few others, but usually random people sign up. And I've not really done anything like that outside the U.S. and Canada before.

I really, really want to do one. But I'm having a hard time figuring out how to make sure it works well and doesn't get abused. Also, if it was say all of Europe, the shipping cost for each person might be a little high? Any thoughts on this? I'm open to suggestions. Maybe if it was more planned and organized rather than a simple sign-up.

Maybe you have external interference. Can you try changing your wireless channel? You can also use AirPort Utility to modify the Wireless Network Options to turn on "interference robustness". That may reduce your bandwidth, but improve reliability. It's a setting specifically on the individual units (base station and AirPort Express). I currently have it unchecked.

I tried it on my iMac digital out and didn't notice any severe problems, but perhaps two or three locations where there was some minor noise. Extremely faint. I tried it from my iMac (wired) to my AirPort Express (wireless) digital out, and noticed some extended crackling (about 5s straight) at one point around the 2m05s mark. But rewound about 25s to replay the same location and the crackling was gone. Perhaps there was some interference at that particular moment. Otherwise, no problems playing this track via AirPort Express.

Yeah, the loaner program helped a lot in both areas. Not just from sales to participants but also because of word of mouth and posting of opinions online. Thanks, livewire! Much appreciated!

I've just opened up round 2 of the U.S. loaner program. If you missed a chance to audition the D100 Mk2 last time, now's your chance to check it out for the cost of shipping! U.S. Loaner Program (Round 2)