I was asked to specifically look at usability - and of course to report any bugs I found along the way. I think they thought they'd corrected most things during alpha.

Yeah, it was frustrating to find some things the first two beta testers had already reported. The Outlaws didn't tell me anything until after I'd found those things. I also found a real show-stopper that the Outlaws didn't know about, but manufacturing had already corrected.

Then I reported a couple of things as bugs, like the mute disengaging when switching inputs, and was told that they were features.

I do have two more bug reports in that they said they're investigating. Hopefully these have already been fixed too - but I'll keep reporting them as I find them, just in case.

I think there's great value in testing with a variety of configurations and a variety of ears. They're also getting many hours of testing for really low $$ - whatever our discount ends up being!

As much as I was looking for bugs or usability issues, I was constantly being asked how it sounded. Our beta units came hot off the assembly bench and we were the first to hear them. I think Scott has one (is that the 5th unit?) but none of the other Outlaws have heard this thing they designed and spec'd out.

I think they've gotten both good and bad press from us. We all seem to love the sound, but we've also reported on the limitations such as the universal speaker level and distance settings.

gotta run - it'll be interesting to read this thread tomorrow!

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JeffLH