MOD Duo X

Using MOD devices Device Details
#187

Dear @Inkwell and all Duo X LE backers!

First of all thanks for supporting the Duo X project early on and being with us here in our community. We appreciate your desire to max out the capabilities of your MOD Device. And we understand it may be frustrating, that the Limited Edition is outperformed by the current Duo X. Be assured we want to resolve this.

As said before in the forum the change of the CPU came not out of a demand for more processing power but from other technical necessities. When previous posts were published with a hope for an upgrade, not all technical decisions were made yet. We encountered some significant constraints that unfortunately led to the conclusion that an easy upgrade cannot be a priority. This might sound tough for you Duo X LE users, but looking at all the learnings I consider this still the right choice.

There is another issue on the horizon and we want to be already open with that. The Duo X LE does not have the hardware capabilities needed for some additional features future updates will bring. An example is the controller feedback for plugins we are introducing to the Dwarf with the 1.11 release, which the Duo X will get with an upcoming release. It’s not about CPU power. We figured out that the bandwidth of an internal interface of the Duo X LE is not sufficient for that. We don’t like it, but we obviously cannot change the hardware anymore. Neither do we want to deny such new features to all other Duo X.

This doesn’t mean that the Duo X LE won’t be usable anymore. Quite the opposite, they remain powerful devices, the number and quality of plugins they can run will continue to grow further. We believe that CPU power and featureset of the Duo X LE is good enough for many users and use cases. However we also appreciate some of you wanting to benefit fully on all future developments.

Let’s have a look at what is viable: Fully upgrading Duo X LE to the current design practically means replacing everything but the top board with the displays and the knobs. This is not an economical choice. One would trash more than 80% of the value of a nicely working device in order to save the rest to build a new device. When taking into account return shipping and disassembly cost as well as potential issues, it kind of costs more than making a new one. So we better keep the lovely Duo X LE intact and build another new Duo X.

Anyhow, this is costly. We are afraid we cannot swallow that fully. Neither do we expect you to just buy a new Duo X. If you are really up for a renewal, let’s meet in the middle. We offer you one brand new Duo X for 50% off the current price with free shipping.

You get to keep your Duo X LE. We think this is the best way to avoid unnecessary efforts and trash. As you seem to have an appetite for processing power, explore the possibilities of playing with two MOD Devices together. We are curious to hear about your Duo X² experience. In case this is not what you want, we suggest you sell or donate the Duo X LE to a fellow musician.

Now here comes a bummer: We are currently facing a lot of supply problems, from scarce components to CoV19 related impacts on production. The current Duo X production batch is capped by those bottlenecks and mostly sold to retail partners already. So we are only able to fulfill this offer from the next batch, which will be in 2022. @Jon will gladly put you on a first come first serve reservation list.

The offer itself is not limited in time as long as we make Duo X. It is exclusive though to all first hand Duo X LE customers.

We hope you understand and find this a fair option.

13 Likes
Noise rendering Mod Duo X unusable
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[unresolved] 2 cases: Device bricked after update from web
#188

seems like a reasonable compromise. what is the current pricing on the DuoX? when i click on “buy now” on the DuoX device webpage, nothing happens.

1 Like
#189

It’s roughly 750 US dollars at this time.

I’ve had one on order for the last month or so, and I can’t wait to get one. Bummer about the supply struggles, but that is to be expected due to the current manufacturing crisis.

Tbh, a second duox for less than the price of a dwarf would be a dream, but seeing as I have a dwarf already, I’ll look upon this with envy and imagine what a duox^2 could do.

4 Likes
#190

thanks, @Elk_wrath!

…ok, we’ll see how things go; i’ve got a Dwarf and the expression pedal still coming eventually, and have a Duo as well. …dunno whether i really need to end up with every possible variation of MOD devices around here! :stuck_out_tongue:

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#191

That sounds like you’re living the dream!

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#192

haha!.. interestingly, depending on the situation, there are still good use cases for the various devices in different shows or studio work that i’m involved in. right from the very early Duo days, i’ve always felt that the MOD crew were building a compelling “ecology” of gear, and that certainly hasn’t changed!

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#193

I 100% agree!

This is a unique company that I’m fully behind.

Not only is the hardware premium, the level of interaction from the team and willingness to improve the platform based on community suggestions is unparalleled.

On top of that, they are bringing a much neglected audio format to the forefront, and offering a massive amount of plugins at zero to low cost.

With the exception of the microcosm, this platform has provided me with everything I was using in dedicated pedals, and more than I’ll ever be able to experiment with.

One day I’ll own everything I can that gets produced by this team, and maybe purchase a dwarf for my father in law. He’s a guitar player and I’ve gotten him interested in the platform.

Waiting for looperlative’s plugin to drop so I can bring it over and let him fiddle with it

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#194

yes.
+1

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#195

That indeed does sound like a fair compromise, I appreciate you guys doing right here.

3 Likes
#196

Hey @friedsilence, I know it’s been a while and lots of things have changed but I wanted to to touch base about this Duo X purchase option for Duo X LE owners. Is there any expected updates on when I might be able to purchase this? Thank you for your time!

1 Like
#197

This was an offer made by a different company in a time when such production was actually possible.

I don’t think you can expect the new business to still make this offer (more than a year later). Especially since components and production for DuoX are completely non-existent.

aka: don’t get your hopes up.

1 Like
#198

@Inkwell,

Sadly the offer could not be put in motion at that point in time since components became scarce and/or prohibitively expensive. Mod Duo X has not been manufactured since.

As @dreamer pointed above, expecting a batch of Duo X in the foreseeable future is not realistic.

The offer was made by Mod Devices GmbH which went into bankruptcy earlier this year. Luckily, during insolvency proceedings no other business chose to acquire Mod’s assets and no creditor opposed to the restructuring plan proposed by Mod officials. After a round of fundraising, the same personnel started a new business entity under the name Mod Audio UG.

Legally, it’s a new entity and these are different times. But, in essence, it’s the same company and the same key personnel – and pretty much the same goals as before.

The Duo X is a casualty of the cash crunch of the previous entity and the scarcity/cost of parts.

3 Likes
#199

I get a sense that my inquiry is seen as “expecting” this offer to stand, and therefore unjustified to ask, which I didn’t intend at all. I also didn’t realize the components and ability for production were “completely non-existent”. I am aware it’s a different company, but one made up of the exact previous company. This is where my inquiry came from. I am not expecting them to honor the offer, but inquiring if it is still on the table, and if so, how proceeding would go. I don’t find this an unreasonable inquiry given that they are honoring those (myself included) who have backed the expression pedal (also from this “different company”).
I don’t know if they’d say “we hope to do more Duo X’s later this year and would honor this offer still”, but that would purely be good to know. So I asked. If they’re not doing them again and have no plans to revisit it, that’s be good to know as well.

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#200

Speaking only for myself @Inkwell, I haven’t absolutely construed your question as anything other than reasonable.

The company made the offer and never fulfilled it, and legal aspects aside, it’s indeed the same company. So much so that they’re trying to finish the businesses of the previous one. So your reasoning makes sense.

If one hasn’t been following the MDX debate closely, one would not know about the many dramas surrounding MDX production. And again you’re right, the absence of a formal statement from them makes any inquiries to that effect perfectly valid.

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#201

Dunno if this is the best thread to ask in, but I just updated my LE Duo X, and it got the latest 1.12 build. It was my understanding that the LE boxes were going to be stuck in the 1.11 world. Has this changed?

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#202

…and, uh, I guess I maybe just found out that no, nothing has changed, because if I go into the System menu on the device and select at least the outputs, IO processing, and device settings menu, the whole thing hangs. So, uh, maybe @jon, what versions can I actually put on this thing safely, and what do I do about the “mandatory upgrade to this version” bit?

1 Like
#203

please see the note in

For LE units you need to install the update twice.
Next 1.12/1.13 updates wont need it, it is just the jump from 1.11 to 1.12 that needs this.

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Release 1.13.4
#204

Done, works fine! Thanks for not leaving us behind.

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#205

I understand all stated arguments from @dreamer but something isn’t clear for me.
Don’t have plans to develop a more powerfull machine than Dwarf in the future? It would be a violent statement from the company. I’m shure it’s not the case. Ok, I suppose there will never exist a Mod Audio X in the future. Instead you pprobably will call it Dwarf MkII or somethging like that. So, that would not be a problem to fulfill Mod Duo X LE owners expectations. Even proposing a substitution with the actual Dwarf in a far future would show some goodwill from Mod Audio. We understand the present moment isn’t the ideal for honor past promises. No problem, we are pacient supporters.

Please don’t tell (or tell me) that support given by early Mod Duo X owners dopesn’t matter anymore and it’s buried in the past just by dropping the product. Smart but not convincing.
Happily It seems it’s not the case of early Dwarf and Expression pedal supporters (at least until now).
I’m happy for them but the argument that the company isn’t the same is failing here.

#206

It simply doesn’t make sense to project “plans” when the company isn’t stable and healthy yet.

The Dwarf is barely out into customers’ hands. Maybe we need to see the Dwarf succeed before expecting anything else.

We know that the expression pedal is on the current roadmap. Those two products must succeed before any future plans can be made.

9 Likes