Heir Audio 3.Ai Impressions/Comparisons/Review Thread - Page 13

 

Socket is failing.

 

For now it's still listenable. Maybe I will try Westone cables when I get back home.

 

Perhaps from bad quality control? Mine is #002. I guess I could ship it back to Heir since it has 1 year warranty. Really hate shipping things back since it's so much hassle.

 

4.Ai has yet to suffer from connector problem, yet. Hope it stays that way!

Try removing the cable, and juuust lightly pinch the pins with a pair of needle nose pliers. This will "squish" them just a tad into an oblong shape and the connection will get it's grip back. 

Brilliant, never knew about this. I pinched it too hard and no sound came on and ended up freaking out. So I widened them a bit and now It works like a charm. Although my cable comes off pretty easily compared to my 4.Ai and W4.

 

Edit: Spoke too soon, back to no sound.

Edit 2: Back to sound.

 

I will just replace this cursed cable when I get back home.

 

Edit 3: Weird, I played around with my cables a bit and found out I had to pinch the pins forward/outward.

 

Well, thanks everyone. This is a good temporary fix for now. Will have to test with other cables later today, just to make sure.

Edited by Bokyung - 12/3/12 at 9:30am

Let's hope it's just the cable...

Had the same issue with my 4.Ai cable, sound would cut in and out depending on how taut the cable was. After a few days, it drove me crazy and I ended up picking up an aftermarket cable from Beat Audio.

 

I don't think I used the cable too roughly, so am not sure exactly what caused it. Did you put your cable through any significant strain?

 

 

 

The problem you two were experiencing can be attributed to the pins of the cable not making full and constant contact with the inside of the sockets on the IEMs. Even a fraction of a millimeter difference between the diameter of the pins and sockets can result in a poor connection. We have remedied this problem by pinching the pins prior to shipping, but as you noted Bokyung, you received one of the very first sets. If you pinch your pins yourself, note there may be some slight resistance inserting them back into the sockets, this is normal and indicated a snug fit.

Just to be clear, the remedy discussed here is pinching the individual pin, to slightly change the shape.....NOT pinching the two pins together and bending the alignment.

Bokyung- is that what you tried, squashing the individual pins a bit?

When you said “So I widened them a bit" I am afraid you are just bending the alignment. That's not gonna help

Edit: here you go
Do this:

Not this:

Edited by thegrobe - 12/3/12 at 12:07pm

 

My other cables has sloppy fit.

 

 

Not that I know of, I normally baby my IEMs. No strain from what I remember.

 

Thanks bangkokid, I just tried pinching the pins and it worked. The fit's still bit sloppy even with other cables, but it's not a huge deal breaker or anything. Hopefully I will find a solution to the sloppy fit soon.

The thing is, the pins are made by a lathe process, and tiny microscopic ridges are left behind.  Those ridges help to secure a nice fit in the socket. The trouble is, over time those ridgest smoothe out over time. 

 

So the sollution we came up with was to "squash" the pins, attempting to make the more oval () that than round O

 

The squashing really makes minor changes, but enough to make a diffence.

 

Regards

 

Wizard

Hey, everyone, I found some stuff about the frequency response charts on the 3.ai... 

 

It seems that cables make a MASSIVE difference in the sound. 

For example, this is with the stock (non-magnus) cable...

 

 

 

As you can see, adding resistance (top graph) is really bad for the sound here. The normal FR char is below, and it shows a v-shaped dip... 

 

However, if you use the Magnus 1 cables... it seems that the sound COMPLETELY changes: 

 

 

 

Just look at that bottom graph... The magnus one is the grey line, and another third party cable is the purple. It seems that the Magnus 1 might TOTALLY be worth getting for these headphones.

Anyone have any thoughts about this? And that FR chart with the magnus one is basically *exactly* what I've been looking for in terms of a sound signature :) so... It looks like I'll be ordering some 3.ai + headphones (so I get the magnus cable, and the wizard will sign my 3.ai :D ) 

 

Try some different cables, everyone. I want to see if anyone notices anything different.

Information source? Thanks! 

3.ai + would be really neat. I am curious as to how many of those have been made, it seems like most of  the "+" buyers would get the 4.Ai.... I really like the 3.Ai, give it some love with the + treatment!

 

I have a Magnus cable coming with my 8.A, I will be sure to try it on the 3.Ai and post impressions when I have it. (it will still be awhile, so be patient)

The source is from this blog:

 

http://rinchoi.blogspot.com/2012/10/heir-audio-3ai.html

 

Reading some of their other reviews/analyses they seem to be pretty credible. However, I'd appreciate it if someone could confirm their findings. :)  

 

 

 

I'm willing to wait, if it can help me decide what I want to buy. :)  Please let me know as soon as they come in. :)