This is hard to read. As one of the Kickstarter backers who delayed receiving my Dwarf for the benefit of the company it now seems likely that I will never see my gear. It’s hard for me to be enthusiastic about a community that I am still on the edge of. I know all the caveats about Crowdfunding, but this is a hard lesson to learn. A professional music friend recommended the product to me so it felt dependable. 
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Coming from another open source plattform (axoloti) that is / was highly user / community driven for me the ModDwarf felt pretty much more like a commercial product.
The fact that you have to be a programmer for creating your own plugins just creates this natural divide of 98% consumers and 2% contributers. Just sharing a pedalboard, doesn’t make the thing community driven imho.
If you want this plattform to be more community driven the threshold for creating your own plugins has to be far far more low.
Or more concrete, there should be a graphical programming envorinment like max. Or the Bitwig grid is a very good example of a very accesible visual patcher.
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You can create LV2 plugins for MOD using both Max/MSP and Puredata, although the barrier is still significant with both that it’s not just plug and play for a regular user (you still need to know these visual programming languages which come with their own learning curve).
Of course with Cardinal it’s already possible to make your own modular patches that go much further beyond the standard effects and synths.
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Hi everyone
I’d like to thank you for the words, both on the company and product as on my person 
The opinions and reflections are quite extensive, moving from many different perspectives.
If you allow me the analogy to an actual computer reboot, our machine has crashed and needs to be restarted. But we are sticking with the same machine, maybe adding some boot parameters and maybe even changing the OS. But the machine remains
At the current state, we have to find a model that works based on the current assets. Any model that requires the development of entirely new products, markets or business models would not be part of a reboot. Rather it would be an actual refounding likely with a different team, partners and investors.
The reboot is a chance to grab what has been built, re-organize it, and try to run again.
We have worked on a survey to get a general profile of the population and also try to identify major groups.
Click here to fill user survey
As we need to move fast, I would like to take the first results by the end of the weekend and publish on Monday a compilation of results.
From there, we can work on more solid ideas.
Thank you very much for your engagement and participation
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This is the perfect survey!
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Keep open source. Go to software and leave hardware for later.
Seriously, from my point of view (live guitarist) the MOD Duo is already enough of a black box.
I can’t even remotely think of using it without coupling it with other devices. I need a PC or similar to make, organize and download pedalboards and plugins, and the 2 onboard footswitches and rotaries are vastly insufficient and I use a MIDI pedalboard to control it.
So, a pure software distribution of the full MOD environment would be something that would interested me maybe even more that a new physical MOD device. I could install it on my PC or a single board PC and keep using the MIDI controller and a tablet/laptop for the GUI. Profits would come from premium plugins and select curated pedalboard downloads.
Then, nobody keeps you from selling “official approved” MOD boxes, assembled from shelf components, on the website for people that don’t want the hassle of building and configuring their own box.
This way you’ll be free from the risk of hardware designing. You’ll have control over final pricing depending on components costs and logistics. You can offer various versions and “sizes” of your devices to cover all customers tastes (and pockets), from RasPI based to high end SBC.
In short, you can be your own MODEP, still giving the community (and to yourself in return) the benefits of open source, and eliminating most of the risks.
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As Gianfranco said - it seems clear to me that any consideration of new products has to wait on a successful moddevices reboot. I’ve seen some really interesting suggestions for new products here, but a discussion of developing new products seems irrelevant when to the issue of getting the company running again.
Interesting discussions about new products, by maybe a subject for a separate topic?
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And YES on the survey. I urge everyone to take the survey!!!
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I wouldn’t buy the software if there weren’t a box carefully designed for its use (guts and i/o).
Same as with the Organelle : I want a hardware piece of equipment that I can use headless, not a collection of plugins.
I don’t mind spending time making the patches on the computer, but when it’s time to play music, I want to play music, not roll a mouse in front of a screen.
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+1 
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I agree, although I missed the opportunity to qualify some of my responses. For example, (many) years ago, I used to code “for fun” , even contributed (a little) to some OSS projects. I don’t do that any more, mainly due to lack of time and meaningful yet reasonable objectives. Now, I think that contributing to the MOD code base would be a meaningful use of my effort, but (1) I still don’t have much time at all, and (2) my skills are very rusty, so it may take a while before I could make meaningful contributions. This does not diminish my intent to contribute, but I hope I wouldn’t be counted too eagerly as a valuable contributor or whatnot.
In general, though, I think these were interesting questions to answer, and that makes me hopeful
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Which is exactly what I said.
Unfortunately, at the moment, the only way to productively use a MOD -is- using with a supplementary MIDI controller and/or a tablet to pilot it, so it can well be a PC sitting on the amp.
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I got my start in UX design working on the Line 6 Amplifi, and have been a gear nerd since forever. I’ve seen many guitar products come and go so here are my .02
No rational informed customer chooses an HX product over a Dwarf, the dwarf is outright better and more fun.
The only open source models I see that work as continued successful business with salary employees have literally hundreds of millions of users, and I just don’t see MOD getting that reach.
If MOD is to succeed in the full community direction that would require an endowment or a super stable subscription base.
I think Slate Digital does their business the right way. A core set of free to use features, maybe these include the open source ones, a limited set of hardware, and a large set of well marketed software features available with a monthly subscription.
Your board editor UX blows Guitar rig 6 out of the water as is, and a few simple UX improvements would take it even further. Also with a few changes I can see an Ableton live package that either comes with a Push or Dwarf. There are acquisition formats that have low or no cost to buying the company, but keep the team and IP in place. Ableton or NI would be nuts to pass on you guys. The start up I worked at for for a long time got acquired and working for corporate overloads actually enabled us to make more stable and better products for our users.
Best of luck
Ben
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@gianfranco listen to this guy^^^
He’s got the lingo to say what I’ve always wanted to say.
A Mod Device will outperform a Helix all day long.
The price and size make it a literal David vs Goliath.
I’m warming up to the subscription idea BUT I think that Mod needs to figure out how to market to guitarists. My Dwarf is the best piece of music equipment and I don’t see anything on the market that comes close…maybe the Poly Digit/Beebo but that looks like a child’s toy in comparison.
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An actual division might be an idea, with the business unit separated from an open entity or environment led by a community.
MOD Labs was an initiative that pointed in this direction but, due to internal prioritization, did not manage to spin off.
It might be time to talk about it again.
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I cannot agree more with this approach. Pragmatic & grounded on market realities.
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I am very positively suprised by the friendly responses to this news. You are really nice fellas!
Considering the strong feedback about MOD’s OpenSource philosophy I was wondering, if you have considered the reboot as a gGmbH? This legal entity is a not-for-profit organization with a similar structure like a regular GmbH but is not subject to most of the taxes. Still, it allows to pay reasonable wages to employees and management. I have no idea, how realistic this is but given your contributions you might be able to pull this off for some of MOD’s business areas.
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i came to MOD attracted by the Duo X as a Vocalist (frustrated with the built in effects Rolands RC505 looper) a musician with two hands free most of the time
it won my attention being a customizable FX-Device based on (enough)open source to believe → it will work, when the company goes where everything goes one day and it might even get hacked (in the best sense) and expanded if not perfect already. a lot of those effects i was looking for already integrated. and not closed enough to force me into a regular payment to be usable. awesome! the device i need and a future i like to see, to support and can believe in (not sure if this profit thing is going to continue endlessly… doubt it though
as a B2B filmmaker i would have loved an 8 Channel Audio Mixer with a built in “MOD-FX-Channel strip” especially in the last two years where i had lots of live streaming gigs
a 6 band EQ, de-Esser, a compressor and a limiter… what about ducking maybe…
having the usual hardware one would use i thought of/missed the potential MOD flexibility more then twice…
i came across a lot of youtubers and podcasters and streamer who all would love to have a device with the guts of an dwarf but with an XLR Mic input and 48v (for their SMB7 with your perfect channel strip and recording capabilaties…
pretty much a mini rodecaster.
what i’m trying to say is there is a lot room for a lot of different specialized devices beyond guitarists or even musicians.
all these devices would need development and a fitting marketing taylored to the customer it’s aimed at.
at this very moment the dwarf is the only Hardware that makes sense to produce as others described before with the mentioned reasons for that. but i would love to see pretty much all the potential devices mentioned above. or a modular core dongled to a touch monitor and an audio interface…? something maybe like
A “HalfDwarf” (should it be called “Gnome” then…?)
as @Kim suggested
but i would also love to see someone putting it on a new RockPi 5 Model B with it’s rockchip rk3588
and maybe visualize the audio gone through MOD-effects…
and boy would i love to “install it on my de-googled android tablet” as an apk one day with a few synths maybe a looper… just to turn back happily to the device with the wonderful haptics
this is where it feels like a split and where MOD Fathers options come in:
is what i would vote for
maybe even a registered association of sorts. i imagine payed developers, funded by community, industry partners and sales in the store. being supportive to those tinkering developing new plugins, presets etc to sell on the store.
the actual MOD-Team could join forces again to produce offerings (plug-ins, PRESETS,etc) in the store for they know the system best. in my dreams you have a paying system like on gumroad with “pay what it’s worth” - with a set minimum if desired
meanwhile we all try to fulfill the part in Gianfrancos 3. Option that i like: enjoy ourselves and the beautiful people surrounding us
and in the next three years (maybe months - who knows) the opportunities will arise to produce the missing tier3 dwarfs and hopefully way more! mature and awesome, flawlessly working. with an inviting UI for “beginners” and a deep rabbit hole to dive in for the “advanced” - practicalists and tinker-heads if preferred. together celebrating that music won again.
May that be the foundation for a stable “full business route” company working in close collaboration with the association and the community surrounding it
way to long (sorry) still missing so much…
this is obviously no businessplan nor is it a great solution for those still waiting for their dwarf (I am one) or those loosing their income and jobs or even the envisioned future and it might seem wrong to those able to calculate the future
to me from what life thought me it is a healthier way to see it and go for
and i’m obviously not the only one who invested multiple ours reading and thinking, reflecting…
What you guys made is more then just a few fx-devices to me. clearly the Team but also a lot of us “customers” can feel this project and the vision to be right and it makes me gratefull to be part of it with a bit of money and a bit of - let’s say interaction
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I don’t want to pile on, given the current situation of the company, but this is such a bizarre statement.
Different people prefer different things, of course, but there are many reasons why a “rational, informed customer” would choose Helix/HX Stomp over Dwarf, especially if they care about reliability and polish. Much lower latency, and arguably fewer noise issues (my noise issues with Dwarf were not as severe as what other users routinely reported on this forum, but they did occur, and they weren’t - as they often are - setup specific, because recording at the same level with Stomp made the noise floor considerably lower). Helix is modeling the gear guitar players actually care about instead of providing the users with an eclectic set of interesting but unpolished plugins. There’s also the ease of use. Only one of those devices is actually standalone. A race to create a simple patch in HX Stomp and Dwarf would start with the Dwarf user sprinting towards the nearest PC. Oh and there’s the resale value. I could go on.
I got interested in the Dwarf because I hoped it could be both a decent guitar modeler and a groove box in one unit. It felt short in my estimation on both accounts, but I did appreciate the promise of an ever-evolving box that perhaps may be worth revisiting in two or three years. Alas…
As for the future of MOD, I’m not particularly interested in the open-source aspect of the device, I just want something that sounds great, looks nice, it’s easy to use, and is reliable. Equally, I feel like that was just about the only major advantage of MOD over a more polished competition. Communities form naturally around good products. Line 6 users may not be able to write plugins for Helix, but they do have an impact. Helix used to lack in the reverb department - which users often liked to point out - and now it has three amazing studio quality reverbs that are arguably better than what other modelers offer. That’s just one aspect. Even if we discount the sponsored stuff, content creators organically produced so many videos/comparisons/guides about the Helix, that I can randomly type “helix vs. real fender tweed, same IR” in my YouTube search box and I bet you I’ll find something. Try the same thing with Dwarf.
Again the purpose of the above is not to pile on, I think the success of MOD would be good for the customers. It’s to illustrate the point that “the community” is not a unique aspect of MOD. The unique part is that with an open-source approach some members of the MOD community could meaningfully assist the development team, which is not really the case for most of the competition.
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