Current Status

Thursday, April 18th, 2024

Dear Backers, Supporters, and Customers,

First, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks for your patience and steadfast support through the unexpected twists and turns our project has encountered. Since we embarked on this journey together, our goal has been to deliver a product that meets your expectations and our own high standards.

Initially, we planned to build our DropStation around the Raspberry Pi CM4 core module. Unfortunately, we encountered significant setbacks due to unclear and, at times, misleading information regarding the supply of these modules. Statements made as far back as 2021 suggested improving availability, but the reality was far different. Influenced perhaps by pressures to prioritize larger accounts, suppliers left smaller projects like ours waiting, which has been a considerable challenge.

In the fall of 2022, faced with continued uncertainties, we made a tough but necessary decision to pivot to a comparable module. This shift wasn’t just a minor tweak—it meant a near-complete overhaul of our DropStation's design and firmware. Financially and emotionally, this was a huge undertaking for our team, but it was essential to keep our promise to you.

Today, I'm pleased to report that we have navigated these turbulent waters and are seeing clearer skies ahead:

  • Inventory Secured: We've safely stored all existing components—including enclosures and the new compute modules—ensuring that no part of our resource has been compromised.
  • Hardware Enhancements: A new revision of our audio board has recently finished prototyping. We're currently fine-tuning it to correct a minor output noise issue, striving for the pristine audio quality you deserve.
  • Financial Stability: Through careful management and your continued support, DropStation is back on solid financial footing. We're optimistic about resuming shipments to our Kickstarter backers by as early as June or July 2024.
  • Pre-orders Update: To ensure we meet our commitments, pre-order access will remain closed temporarily. Rest assured, those of you who have pre-ordered outside of Kickstarter, we have all necessary components stocked and are preparing for assembly once we finalize testing.

In addition, we're hard at work on the official DropStation app, aiming to enhance your user experience and integrate seamlessly with your devices. Our development team is making good progress and will roll out updates as they become available.

Please look for ongoing updates on our website. We're dedicated to clearing our backlog of communications as swiftly as possible and will continue to share our progress transparently.

Your trust in us fuels our commitment every day. Thank you for standing with us, for your encouragement, and for believing in what we're building together.

Warm regards,

Aaron Peterson
Technical Co-founder
DropStation Team