Aaton bankruptcy

[codyman]

23 minutes ago, Locatelli said:

Hi all.
As an Aaton user, without knowing what will happen to service repair facilities

I'd imagine that, once the dust clears, someone would probably be able to fix small problems?  Hell, you can still get your Nagra repaired back to factory spec so I'd hope you'd be able to be able to fix a machine that literally existed up until this year!

[Martin Lonek]

On 2/24/2024 at 1:47 AM, The Documentary Sound Guy said:

I agree, Sound Devices is not developing the way they once were.  They need competition.

 

Yes. It is great the SD is doing fine. And despite the high prices of their new products, they keep going ! There is a big user base of SD here in Europe, their european service center in UK works great, although it would be great to see them adding another one in some EU member country, since logistics worsened significantly after Brexit.

[Display Name]

On 2/25/2024 at 5:41 PM, Patrick Tresch said:

 

Cantar is a niche product. Expensive to make due to R&D and software development. You better be small not to make bankruptcy or you would have to kill the product and make something for the masses on a lower budget.

So was DaVinci Resolve once in a time as well.

[Patrick Tresch]

7 hours ago, Display Name said:

So was DaVinci Resolve once in a time as well.

You think it would be possible to make Cantars for the masses and copy paste them like software? 

[Patrick Tresch]

Sold for 44'000$ ... It looks like they don't have any spare parts nor machine to sell.

 

 

[Display Name]

Thanks. 
Any information or links to of which might reveal the buyer?

[codyman]

7 hours ago, Patrick Tresch said:

Sold for 44'000$ ... It looks like they don't have any spare parts nor machine to sell.

 

 

Surprised that's all it sold for, especially if they have patents and other IP.  Unless the buyer had to take on any debts they had.

[The Immoral Mr Teas]

21 hours ago, Patrick Tresch said:

Sold for 44'000$ ... It looks like they don't have any spare parts nor machine to sell.

 

 

 

16 hours ago, Display Name said:

Thanks. 
Any information or links to of which might reveal the buyer?

 

+1 any more info about any of this, in French fine. A quick UK search revealed nothing just now.

Except that the X3 and more importantly for everyone but us their recent camera gear was (?) already following from a 2013 bankruptcy. So is there hope for a second phoenix?

 

Jez

[johnpaul215]

On 5/10/2024 at 5:44 PM, Display Name said:

Thanks. 
Any information or links to of which might reveal the buyer?

 

from other posts, Frech law keeps the buyer name sealed, at least for the time being. I'm not clear when it will be revealed, or if a company might announce they bought it. 

[Martin Lonek]

On 2/25/2024 at 5:13 AM, IronFilm said:

Maybe they can swoop in to buy it for €1 from the French Govt? 

 

That's a good point, they might be interested. 

Buying it for the brand name? 

And maybe the recorder software could be kept for the next iteration to be used. 

 

I don't think that Deity Theos can recently compete to Wisycom, Lectrosonics, Sennheiser or Audio Ltd./Sound Devices stuff. Recently, all the tests my friends did show big issues in audio quality and range. But yes, if Deity manages to rule the prosumer market in couple of years, they could earn enough to introduce a real top system.

[Jim Feeley]

20 hours ago, Martin Lonek said:

I don't think that Deity Theos can recently compete to Wisycom, Lectrosonics, Sennheiser or Audio Ltd./Sound Devices stuff. Recently, all the tests my friends did show big issues in audio quality and range. 

 

I'm not trying to call you out, but can you (or your friends) provide any more details about the audio quality and range issues?

 

Thanks!

[Dejan Ceko]

Off Topic .

[Martin Lonek]

On 5/18/2024 at 11:13 PM, Jim Feeley said:

 

I'm not trying to call you out, but can you (or your friends) provide any more details about the audio quality and range issues?

 

Thanks!

Hi Dejan. They were looking for a new system for a very low budget but famous reality long term project here in Prague. They are still using a Senn. g3 for almost 10 years, they have been attracted by the recording function of deity to prevent issues with occassional signal losses.  For testing They have positioned the receiving site (rxs and recorder) on a window in the 3rd floor of house in the centre of Prague, tuned to right ftequency using scanner on both systems, started recording and did a simple walk test. They reached much lower range with Theos@50mW than G3@30mW, about 50-60%. Also, they experienced audio recording interuption on tx unit. They didn't measure audio quality of theos though. I also have to say that i have no personal experience testing theos

[Dejan Ceko]

Hi Martin ,

This is a topic "Aaton bankruptcy" .

There is a topic about Diety THEOS here 

Kind regards ,

Dejan.

[Dejan Ceko]

https://fr.linkedin.com/pulse/communiqué-public-à-la-suite-du-rachat-des-actifs-daaton-afsi-soref

 

google translate :

 

 

The French association of sound and image - AFSI - has taken note of the judicial liquidation on February 15, 2024 of the company Aaton Digital then the repurchase of the assets by an unknown buyer on Tuesday May 7.

The AFSI, which represents a very large majority of users and owners of Cantar X3 recorders in France, would like to publicly express its legitimate concern following this anonymous purchase.

This recorder is still popular on film sets in France and abroad and has no equivalent for many of us, particularly in terms of ergonomics.

However, this repurchase of assets could have particularly harmful consequences for the continued operation and maintenance of almost all of the different machines that are still in operation today, even though companies are ready to mobilize for this.

On behalf of all users in France and elsewhere in the world, and in order to be able to envisage optimal and long-term continuity of use, AFSI would like the entity which purchased the assets of the company Aaton Digital to make itself known on as quickly as possible.

[The Immoral Mr Teas]

That's great to read but ... Linked In France ? ... would anyone (the anonymous buyer, the French authorities ...) actually notice this ? Let alone have a (legal or otherwise) obligation to respond?

 

(Thanks though Dejan, and good luck to AFSI)

J

[Philip Perkins]

I hope Aaton is rescued in some form that will still support the cool stuff they made.

[Jim Rillie]

It's Atomos that bought Aaton Digital for what appears to me to be a ridiculously small sum. The staff didn't come with the deal,  we'll see what happens. I think that info came from Adam Sanchez.

 

[Paul F]

Well, I would have lost money on that bet. Most interesting and surprising. 

On 5/10/2024 at 7:53 PM, codyman said:

Surprised that's all it sold for, especially if they have patents and other IP.  Unless the buyer had to take on any debts they had.

A patent search indicates they had one patent - "Device for calibrating microphones".

[Display Name]

19 hours ago, Jim Rillie said:

It's Atomos that bought Aaton Digital for what appears to me to be a ridiculously small sum. The staff didn't come with the deal,  we'll see what happens. I think that info came from Adam Sanchez.

 

I wish it would have been anyone else but Atomos as they have been at loss for some time and desperately looking to raise capital to manage the future.

They have been searching to find their place and went into light and cloud as a path to the future.
Taking on audio and Aaton seems a bit desperate and more than they can managed - even if they got it for next to nothing.

[Dejan Ceko]

We are all hoping for the best outcome .

https://www.saveaaton.com/

[johnskog]

Atomos could bring wireless timecode and touchscreen functionality.  I just hope they keep making X3 parts!

They've got new management, and nothing like the Cantar recorder.  Fingers crossed.  Here's an article with the new management. 

 

https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/tech/atomos-new-ownership-on-its-future-plans/5191230.article

[Dejan Ceko]

There is a 75 Ohm BNC input and DVI output on the X3 (rear side of the mixer-recorder) and two mounting screw hole (at the top) . Couple of times , I gave a suggestion to Aaton support - give us Transvideo (Aaton parent company) folding video monitor and "Decimator" type box . Another suggestion was TXAdvance - as a perfect software option to be integrated in X3 Hydra system (Inventor of the app is also in France ) .

 

Maybe Atomos will go some of those routes , for the beginning .

[Patrick Tresch]

What I heard there are no spare parts.

Pat 

[Dejan Ceko]