Hey everyone! I'm still here. After Skott's post I realize just how much I was over promising, in matters of time. However, although I haven't posted in a while, these postings are not meant to be misleading. We are still developing. And this device is real. We haven't offered any pre-orders, so as of yet, no one has been hurt too bad I hope. Eventually pre-orders will be made available, when the projection is very near completion (if not completely). By this time, plenty of videos and data sheets will be circulating on YouTube and the internet, etc.
Over the past month, my bosses have expressed concern over the apparent lack of interest in the LSD-X4, based mostly on the number of followers. They have diverted some of the resources I would have had to "more important" things, while I've been left to do the majority of the design work on my own. I've explained to them that there are at least hundreds of regular visitors and only a fraction have actually signed up as followers...
Pictured above, is a Top Secret layout of the primary logical components of the LSD-X4. Due to it's classified nature, fine level detail has been removed from the AutoCad drawing, leaving only main circuit pathways. The green outline shows the overall board shape. Click on it to enlarge.
------------
------------
Thanks for everyone's interest in this project! For those of you interested in the Ultrasound 2.5, we have added a PayPal BUY IT NOW button, on the menu bar at the upper right corner of this page. We receive so many e-mails in regards to the US2.5. This offer will attempt to make the wait for the LSD-X4 more tolerable.
In the future, please try to keep updates coming, at least to prove that you are still alive.
ReplyDeleteOh and the interest, I bet many people on the forums are actually interested in this board, they're just afraid to sing up as followers because everyone wants to believe ultrasabers.
Keep it up!
Thanks Mati. definitely will do. Keep stopping by, I'll have an update this Monday.
ReplyDeleteYay! Sorry I doubted you Jesse, but we got skeptical after you asked for money and then disappeared for a while.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to Monday :D
Sorry about what I said, looking foward to Monday's update. I have a UltrasoundS 2.5 but it isn't loud enough for me. Looking foward to when this gets released, and when I get another job so I can pay for the board:)
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work and let us know if you need anything from us. :)
ReplyDeleteJonathan, I have a US 2.5 in one saber and it is the loudest saber I have ever heard. I do have a lot of resonance and air holes in that saber though.
Ok I know I said Monday, but my daughter went to the emergency room today... and I had to take off work (it's ok now, was just a precaution). I'll get that update tomorrow =)
ReplyDeletePerhaps when the Youtube videos start, word of mouth and the forums will be more willing to accept what you guys are doing. I truly believe, based on the sales of the 2.5 on Ebay; more people will and DO have interest in a board that is as of high quality as yours. I am astounded that everyone believes that only one man can create sound fonts while another single individual abroad can create a high quality sound board! Ridiculous! Those elitist bastards! (Sorry, sounds like they are the bullies of their own universe).
ReplyDeleteHey... don't bash the others that will choose other boards over this one. I want to keep this a positive blog, not one where we complain about everyone else.
ReplyDeleteJesse? You said monday. It is now thursday. Can we at least have an ETA on this new update your promised? I'm really looking forward to it :D
ReplyDeleteanybody can create a font... lots of people do. but only 1 person has made 2 CDs full of them.
ReplyDeleteand yeah anybody with the education and tools & capitol can make a high quality SB.. but so far in the 4 years He's been making CFs Erv has been the only one to do so.
and without the CF a few of the proposed features for this board wouldnt have been proposed.. because CF did them first.
I think only the people who can do these things should express such indignation towards the idea that only 1 person can do these things.
if your not a persom who can do it... your just waiting for someone to do it for you.
I dont think the naysayers so much want to believe Ultra as much as they see Jesse as being outside of the hobby.
If he would build a saber or 2 and participate in forums and not just advertise (not that hes done that) it would go a long way towards changing that perception.
I think the big problem here is that the saber community really does need some options other then ripping apart a retail saber for a crappy to "OK" board, or praying for the chance to get one of possibly only 80 CF "holy grail" cards released this year. Now Jesse is offering a high end option that can be somewhat massed produced but he has VERY poor follow through. For example, on the 23rd he said "I'll get that update tomorrow" and now it is the 27th with no post.
ReplyDeleteWe are talking about sitting down for 5 minutes to write up a post. Coming from a team that worked on an MMO that died, I know those 5-10 minutes can really make the different in the perception of your product.
There is another saber sound board being developed that will probably be a replacement for FX boards but it is a very quiet project that really wont be announced until there is something solid to announce.
In no particular order:
ReplyDeleteThere is no excuse for the lack of updates I offer, except for the truth that my main objective is to produce the LSD-X4. There are only certain events I can publicize about these technical details without posing some kind of risk of added competition. I believe that comes as obvious though, as is the case for the creators of the replacement for the FX boards. According to Kevin, the matter is kept very quiet, in my opinion to keep details away from potential competition...
I'm apparently not as worried about the competition as my competition is. This may be due to the advanced mathematics, and therefore esoteric nature, employed in the core of the LSD-X4 as well as a parallel processor oriented approach, which I am convinced is not likely to be advanced by others in the near future. If I'm wrong, that's all the better for everyone here and I'd be very interested to see how it was done! I am not an elitist bastard but I'm still pretty damn good. =)
The LSD-X4 will be mass produced to at least match the demand. The goal is to offer a sound board that is always readily available and not artificially overpriced or price fixed. Comments are appreciated.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSo instead of an update, be it even just a pic of a blank board with some 'ideas' or a chip with some 'hype', we get a statement of damage control. Grim tidings if after months we are going to be asked to sit around months more with little but yawning wishes to keep us interested. I have high hopes for this device. It looks and sounds like something excellent and perfect for its market. I hope it will be able to live up to the dreams of those that have been waiting and offer support for a good while now.
ReplyDeleteNicely put Craig. I do understand people need some tangibles. Believe me this is a top priority!
ReplyDeletepeople only need tangibles if thyeve fronted up money.
ReplyDeleteif they want a good SB and dont want to be a beta tester for a retail board that they pay money for... then they will let you develope your product at the pace that suits you.
rush the developer and you'll be sure to end up with a bunch of bugs.. just look at the average video game that the publishers preasure the developers to rush.. that subsequently need several updates to work as advertised.
As far as I can see... Jesse is building a completely new platform from the ground up.. without using existing architectures or previous designs, found in existing SBs... thats not that easy of a task for one man who has other responsibilities at his day job.,
I would respectfully suggest to you Jesse that you become active in the hobby as a whole.
I think one thing that gives Erv Plector a leg up is that he builds props that his boards are designed for... giving him a better insight at the aspects that are and arent needed in his tech. the community knows this about him and that gives him their respect and loyalty as a result.
As a person that both builds and fights with Poly-C lightsabers, I'll say one thing for your situation Jesse.
ReplyDeleteI would rather buy a 100% excellent or near perfect product from someone who did not give a damn about the reasons for my purchase, rather then get a 0.1% working bit of trash from someone who happened to enjoy working on lightsabers. This has happened recently with a certain company on the west coast and we all see where he is now when it comes to reputation and sales.
A sweet looking car with no engine is a hunk of metal, nothing more.. until an engine is in place. A lightsaber, luckily, is a great device without a sound board, but give it a good sound board and it's a wonder to behold. Give it a crap sound board and you might as well have nothing inside it but LED and wiring.
Build as you are able and at your best speed you can muster. Inform us of even the smallest note, thought, insight or idea. That's all we ask in return for our interest, word of mouth advertising, and input on the project. You would be shocked at how small things every few days or week add up to updates which fire the imagination and get people rallied to your cause.
Craig, I agree totally. illuminatedweapons, with respect, isn't that what we're here for?
ReplyDeleteum... the 70 sum odd followers Jess has here are far from the community as a whole. not to mention that the cross section of followers he has doesnt have the fraction of influence that others have in the hobby.
ReplyDeleteIf jesse wants to really attract more people he needs to become a part of the hobby.
and as a retailer and part of the hobby he needs to demonstarate that he will take care of his customers... not just delete their comments and complaints from his blog.I know of one individual who is an accomplished smith who sent Jess a US for warrantee return and has not seen a board and can not get in contact with Jess.
deleting his original & ebay and paypal account hasnt instilled much trust either.
the majority of and the major players of the hobby see him as an outsider whos looking to come in and make a profit from a community he is not a part of.
IDK if anyone has all the info about his fallout with Ultra. it doesnt matter really ... fact is ... before he was contracted a manufaturer for the US.. Jess was not aware of the market.
no matter what his pricing and how much each board sells for... he isnt doing this for the love of a hobby hes not a part of. He's doing it for money., If money wasnt to be made... he would not be doing it. Im not going to try and say money isnt a motivator for the major players... but they also have a love for the hobby. they all started as hobbyists making things they wanted in their collections and powering their props.
Ultra builds saber./ TCSS Tim builds saber... Erv Plector Builds sabers. they all participate in the hobby as whole. while saberforge builds sabers.. he doesnt participate in the hobby. Jess doesnt build sabers or participate in the hobby. do you see the pattern?
Not to mention... if he actually builds saber... hes gonna know how to best serve his customers electronic needs. he would be able to test his design first hand before it got into the hands of anyone.
@ illuminatedweapons: I do agree that you have to have the joy and fervor for the craft to understand the true nature of the consumers. Specs are nice, well and good. Making something for the hobbyist is where the bread and butter exist. The word of mouth shows accountability.
ReplyDelete@Novaconceptions: I placed an order for the US 2.5 on your link (up and to the right), tried to contact you via email for shipping date and got an undeliverable address. Scary. So please update your contact info in PayPal so the purchasers can at least find out the most basic info about their purchases. But do keep up the good work, you are working on what can be a "money maker" as well as a great service for the hobbyists (whom I'm sure never make profit on what they sell).
Then the better question is why bother here at all if we are hearing direct tales of failure to provide, absent operations, and unanswered concerns. And to be clear, I am not saying Jesse should not be deep in the art of saber building, only that if the product meets the community interests and needs then being a smith is just a bonus. One hand washes the other in such things, but a quality product from any source is still a quality product.
ReplyDelete@badmofo: E-mail address must be out of date. Try jesrandall@gmail.com. All current orders are ready to ship and will go out tomorrow. This includes orders made today.
ReplyDelete@Everyone: I am a lightsaber enthusiast! But, I'm also an electronics enthusiast. I love to design circuits. I love programming. I love Star Wars. When I was a kid I used to design preliminary concepts for a weapon-grade light saber using a particle accelerator(s) and an antimatter core and all kinds of exotic field effects (I know this diverges from the official Star Wars method). I even considered the non-fundamental theory of light, that perhaps a photon was a composite particle (made of two neutrinos), and perhaps light could be shot out and then stopped mid way in it's propagation to create the desired effect by canceling out one of the neutrinos. The point is I have always been aware of what a light saber was. It's a fascinating piece of equipment and I have no doubt that it is possible to create the real thing. For now, at least, what I am offering is a simulation that will take us as close as we've ever been.