Our latest batch is out, and we’re working on our next!
Jacob Flood
Hey Backers!
With 2021 kicked off, the Eno team has been working hard to get your units out the door. In this update, we’ll be running through our progress on the latest batch, and our timeline for the next.
The latest batch of 250 units (Batch 2B) has shipped, and everyone in this batch should have received their tracking numbers.
In January we were able to fix several small production issues that we identified from this latest batch. As a result, we’re now ready to move to our larger mass production batches. The next batch of 2500 units (Batch 3) will begin manufacturing this month after Chinese New Year, and will be fully assembled in April.
We’ve also released version 0.2.0 of the Enowork app with several improvements to check out!
We described in our November Update that batch 2B was slated to be manufactured in December. We achieved this milestone with only 1 week of delay from our original schedule.
The units are in transit from the factory. Shipping this latest batch has been slower than we anticipated, but by now everyone in batch 2B should have received your shipping labels, and many have received their units.
We mentioned in a previous update that many units in each batch are reserved for certifications and internal testing. With this latest batch shipped, all Kickstarter backers who’s order numbers are below 380 should have received their units.
We can’t wait to get your feedback on the enophones and the enowork app. To build your anticipation, check out these pictures of the latest batch’s assembly!
With this batch we were able to identify several minor issues from the units that did not pass our QC process. We spend January working on improving our process to mitigate these issues moving forward.
First, a few units exhibited a minor audio buzzing in the right ear cup. We spent a week in January investigating this issue, and found the cause in the wiring. In a few units, the audio wires were assembled too close to the Bluetooth electronics, causing an audible electronic hum in certain cases. We’ve since adapted our assembly process to ensure this doesn’t happen in future units.
Second, the audio team at our factory – who have been continuously working on improving the quality throughout the last batches – had a suggested to implement. Naturally, the earcup fabric is crucial to the quality and balancing of the ANC. The audio team suggested a tighter, more reliable stitching method than we had previously used. We ran the experiments, and we’re very happy with the results – the scrap rate is much lower with this new method. We’ve since adjusted our assembly process to incorporate this improvement.
Third, based on data from our beta testers, the firmware team has been working on improving the Bluetooth performance and reliability. In January we made some updates to improve the reliability in certain edge cases. In parallel, we were able to reduce some of the digital noise – the Bluetooth interference that caused the audio hum described above. We’ll be working to make firmware updates available to all users later in the year once all the units have shipped.
These improvements took a few weeks in January, and will contribute towards lowering the defect-rate in our production for future batches. With these latest improvements, we’re now ready for our biggest milestone yet: moving towards the production of our first 2,500 unit batch.
In the timeline we shared in our November update, we had anticipated spending January preparing the materials for manufacturing Batch 3, to then finish assembly after Chinese New Year in February.
As described above, it was necessary that we spend January implementing solutions to the issues above in order to achieve a sustainable production speed and scrap rate for our larger batches. On nearly all accounts, we are now ready.
The last issue remains the arm bands. This is a recurring issue – the very precise tolerancing, material processing, color-matching, and assembly steps of this part have been very difficult to perfect at scale. While we are able to consistently achieve great results in our finished products, the speed and scrap rate remain below our ideal limits – making the necessary volume for a mass production batch currently takes a full month for this single part.
If we had the resources and time of a company like Apple, the traditional solution to this is to spend more time in R&D before moving to production. However, our priority remains delivering high-quality products as soon as possible – we feel ready to do so. So instead, we have decided to move to mass production as intended, and to absorb the associated costs.
Our original schedule was to begin manufacturing in January, and complete the assembly in late February after Chinese New Year. Because of the changes above and the slower-than-expected armband production, our current timeline for batch 3 is to begin manufacturing the longest lead-time part (the armbands) this month, to begin the subassemblies in late March, and to complete the full assembly in April.
The subsequent batch (Batch 4) will allow us to ship all remaining units to pre-order backers. We’re working hard to ship your units as quickly as possible, and we can’t wait for you all to receive your Enophones!
In parallel, the software team recently released the latest version 0.2.0 of the beta Enowork app. To all users: you can update to the latest version by clicking the banner in the dashboard, or through the settings page.
This release includes several improvements across the app:
A quick reminder to Kickstarter and Indiegogo backers to please fill out your backerkit surveys, and confirm your shipping address. We will not be able to ship your unit until you confirm your backerkit survey.
We included instructions on how to do so in our November update.
That’s all for now! As always, leave your questions in the comments and we’ll be happy to answer them.
Lots of love,
– The Eno Team
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Teresa
It’s great to finally see more units coming off the assembly line. Looking forward to having mine on hand! Any way we could get a bit more information about the app?
Jacob (eno)
Thanks Teresa – we’re very excited to have more backers using the product, and can’t wait to ship the rest!
We shared some really awesome information about the Neurotech side of the product in our previous update. We’ll be sure to include some more details about the app in our next one!
Olivier
I love the pictures of the product assembly process. Can we get a full product assembly breakdown at some point in the future? It would be really interesting to see how it all attaches together.
Jacob (eno)
Hey Olivier – glad you’re enjoying the posts!
Very cool idea. I don’t want to steal too much time from the assembly line team, but I’ll keep this in mind for later in the year once we have a bit of slack in our schedule!
Amanda
I CAN’T WAIT TO GET MINE!!! So so so excited, I’ve been having trouble focusing while I work from home and I really hope that these can help.
I’m mostly interested in the data. Do you have any images of the types of graphs/stats we can see? What about with the SDK?
Jacob (eno)
I share in your excitement – can’t wait to ship your unit!
We shared some really awesome details about the EEG data in our previous update – check it out!
Jeremy L.
Congrats to you guys. This looks like a very challenging product, but you are coming through — even through the pandemic. Looking forward to seeing all of the rewards fulfilled.
Cheers!
Jacob (eno)
Thanks for your support Jeremy!
Rebecca Cho
Congrats team. I’ve been a supporter from the beginning, and I really appreciate all the effort you’ve put into being so transparent in your updates. Timelines always shift on ambitious projects, but you’ve always stayed positive and given clear explanations for everything going on. I get that some people feel angry, but you should still be very proud of everything you’ve accomplished 🙂
My husband and I are looking forward to receiving our Enophones in batch 3!
Jacob (eno)
Thanks Rebecca, I appreciate the kind words 🙂 We’re incredibly proud of having shipped hundreds of Enophones, and can’t wait to ship the remaining units!
Jarno Mossou
Hi there,
I see that you sended out 600 eno headphone by now. I am backer with the number 546 so that is strange that I did not receive in yet right?
Jacob (eno)
Hey Jarno, sorry for not being more clear – since some backers ordered more than one, the number of units shipped doesn’t equal the number of backers fulfilled. We also had to use a few of the units for certifications and internal testing. So as of now, every backer who’s order number is below 380 should have received their units.
Justin Long
I just tried accessing my backerkit, but it says that the email is wrong. What should I do about this? Help I want my Enophones!!!
Jacob (eno)
Hey Justin – please email hello@enophone.com and we will help you unlock the backerkit account!
shaarn Montgomery
I am really looking forward to receiving mine and would love further details about the app!
Jacob (eno)
We can’t wait to ship yours! 😀
We talked about some new features we’re adding to the app in our previous update. I’ll try and prioritize the app in our next!
shaarn Montgomery
I am wondering which batch mine will be sent out with, can you confirm please?
Jacob (eno)
I can’t confirm 100%, because it’s based on your backer number. Roughly: if it’s below 2500, probably Batch 3. Above that, probably Batch 4.
Jina
I can’t change my address anymore the order is locked down! I’m moving this month and I’m backer in the 2000 range. Please let me change my address I don’t want to have waited four years and not receive it due to shipping.
Jina
Jacob (eno)
Hey Jina – please email hello@enophone.com and we’ll unlock your backerkit account! 🙂
Paul Sommer
So, now the new deadline is in April 2021 for batch 3. Impressive, you are delayed again!
Batch no. 4 TBD… A good estimate with your current success rate will be sometimes in 2025.
You are a laugh.
Jacob (eno)
Correct – unfortunately the issue with the metal parts has significantly elongated the manufacturing timeline for the larger batch. We’ll do our best to speed it up as much as possible!
Sean Duggan
I have no idea where I am in the queue… I was Backer #2,480 on Kickstarter, 79th on Backerkit, but no tracking number yet. I guess I’m in Batch 3 in April. And, as I’ve commented before, the job I needed these for was two jobs ago. Here’s hoping they’re still useful.
Jacob (eno)
Hey Sean – Batch 3 is likely based on your backer number.
Based on what we’ve heard from the backers who’ve received their units so far, I don’t doubt you’ll find them useful nonetheless! 🙂
John T
Hi,
I am in Batch 2B and have not received any emails with regards to shipping, please can this be looked into?
Kind regards,
John
Jacob (eno)
Hey John, can you email jacob@enophone.com so we can look into it? Thanks!
Miki
Like someone already said, 600 sent, I am backer #523, but nothing yet…
I hope I get it before I retire…
Jacob (eno)
Hey Miki, sorry for the confusion. Copied from below: since some backers ordered more than one, the number of units shipped doesn’t equal the number of backers fulfilled. We also had to use a few of the units for certifications and internal testing. So as of now, every backer who’s order number is below 380 should have received their units.
Brian
Great news!
This looked like a very hard project to start with. Making a new product always very difficult. And then having it back by thousands of people who are technically your stakeholders and customers at the same time complicates things even more.
I saw the review someone made on YouTube. The product looks great and it’s capabilities are even more exciting.
I’m really itching to get mine. However, I backed you from Indiegogo. I just need to wait a bit longer.
Jacob (eno)
Thanks Brian, I really appreciate the support 🙂 can’t wait to ship you yours!
Tania Rowan
How do I find out which Batch number I’m in?
Jacob (eno)
Hey Tania – we can’t give a precise cutoff, but based on your backer number and the number of units shipped you should be able to estimate whether it’s batch 3 or 4.
Xavi
I’ll be happy to have mine before we celebrate the 3rd year waiting… at least, you seem that you will deliver, which I’m happy, but after you guys it’s going to be difficult to back another project… at least, we’ve learned the entire production process and their problems.
Jacob (eno)
Hey Xavi – the delays have definitely been frustrating. Hopefully the updates have given some comfort in sharing what’s involved in creating a product like this.
Looking forward to shipping your enophones and making it all worth it in the end!
Rod
Uhms, you can’t wait to get feedback on the enowork app (which I wanted to check before my headphones arrive who knows when) and I just noticed I can’t get the app in the AppStore or PlayStore (at least here in Australia).
Your website doesn’t have the Google PlayStore or Apple AppStore button in it. Is there a place where I can find it?
GELINDO
I wait for the two headphones but I find my address blocked by you. I also paid the shipping supplement. Can you please answer me on my email. Thanks Gelindo
Charles Lefebvre
Just got my unit yesterday! I was one of the early backers. There is hope for the rest of you! So far, the build quality is great, can’t wait for the new functionalities to be added. Cheers!
Derek Newman
How many units for kickstarter and indiegogo will need to be produced before thinkmindset.com orders are fulfilled. Just guessing but thinkmindset.com orders probably won’t be filled in 2021? Are we estimating somewhere like 2027 or so for the rest of the units? Just trying to level set my expectations. Thanks.
Quoc
Got my unit today!!! Backer#263 🙂 I must say that I am really impressed by the build, it really feel like a high end brand. The sound quality is great, the earcups are very comfy. Great design and good job guys ! It was long but totally worth it! I am excited to test the app now! Keep up the good work!
John T
Hey Jacob,
Emailed you but not got a reply. Please can you check and respond accordingly?
Kind regards
John
Herold Prins
Hello dear Eno team. I have ordered the phones via Indiegogo and have order number 190. Should the units have arrived yet? If not which batch are they in?
Thank you so much for your efforts and updating throughout the whole process.
Friendly regards
Herold
oldkidLG
Hi everyone! My unit has the electronic noise problem in the right ear cup. Will a future software update really be able to correct it?
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I am one of your very early backers. Nothing received even paid for shipping few months ago.
When?
Chris
March update?
Habii pch
Hello, I’ve sent an email to hello@enophone.com for changing the shipping address. Hope you guys can check it, the Back order number is 1652(kickstarter)
Meghan
As a backer we had to lock down our addresses several month ago. But there is still a TBD listed for the last batch of headphones. What is being done for backers who’s leases are up and may no longer reside at the address confirmed last year? Is there a better estimate for someone with a backer # in the 4000s?
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