Announcing KickStarter for ClearStream Uncompressed Wireless

Bill Leff · Post by **Bill Leff** » 10 Jul 2014 6:46 am

A buddy of mine has been working with some engineers at UCSC to develop a an dongle that plugs into your guitar (or any electric instrument) and streams uncompressed 24 bit audio up to 60 ft for 10 hours. Today he is launching a Kickstarter campaign to raise $65K to go into the next phase of production.

I've tried it (there's a link to a Youtube demo of me on the Kickstarter page) and it sounds really good, like a high-end quality cable. I'm very stoked about it and helping to spread the word:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/si ... instrument

Get in early and if the Kickstarter reaches its goal you can snag the transmitter and receiver (the full system) for $125. Note that in the video I am playing an early prototype that doesn't anything like the production model will look.

Please have a look and let me know what you think!

Bill Leff

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 10 Jul 2014 7:37 am

Always wondered about the risk of investing in these under-capitalized ventures. What happens to people's money if one of these goes nowhere? Surely, that must happen occasionally.

Bill Leff · Post by **Bill Leff** » 10 Jul 2014 8:26 am

From the Kickstarter FAQ:

Every project creator sets their project's funding goal and deadline. If people like the project, they can pledge money to make it happen. If the project succeeds in reaching its funding goal, all backers' credit cards are charged when time expires. If the project falls short, no one is charged. Funding on Kickstarter is all-or-nothing.

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 10 Jul 2014 9:52 am

Bill Leff wrote:If the project succeeds in reaching its funding goal, all backers' credit cards are charged when time expires. If the project falls short, no one is charged.

So, funding goal met, everyone gets charged, but the goal is inadequate to bring the product to market, due to unforeseen development costs, or similar. What then?

Bill Leff · Post by **Bill Leff** » 10 Jul 2014 10:44 am

Good question Dave.

I guess it requires a certain level of trust and enthusiasm to see the project succeed. I don't know if you would have any legal recourse to recover your investment in the project.

Here's more from Kickstarter on the issue:

https://www.kickstarter.com/blog/accoun ... ickstarter

Ed Heins · Post by **Ed Heins** » 14 Jul 2014 7:59 am

I think that is the risk / reward nature of a startup company. I think it will be interesting to see how this all plays out. Surely if an enclosure is the biggest challenge, that can be met. I source plastic injection molds from Asia every day and that's a lot of money for something as small and low volume as this might be. I think it's all about the risk.