[waynes world]

[quote="PeterDLai]
Count me in for the same exact issue occasionally, left side as well. At this point I'm not sure if it's a coincidence or not but for what it's worth, sometimes I use only the left side so I can hear out of my right ear. I get driver flex out of both sides. Source is an iBasso D10 DAC/amp.

Mine were purchased from Amazon.co.jp direct (delivered by Tenso).
[/quote]


Are you serious about "sometimes I use only the left side so I can hear out of my right ear"? Because I was doing a bit (not much) of that today also. Things that make you go "hmmm"!

How long have you had them, and how often has it happened, and does it seem to be getting worse?

I've got mine on the bass and drums burner again, so we'll see how they are doing in the morning.

 

[PeterDLai]

Are you serious about "sometimes I use only the left side so I can hear out of my right ear"? Because I was doing a bit (not much) of that today also. Things that make you go "hmmm"!

How long have you had them, and how often has it happened, and does it seem to be getting worse?

I've got mine on the bass and drums burner again, so we'll see how they are doing in the morning.

 
Actually I should really say that I do it quite a bit more often than "sometimes". Mine were delivered on May 19, so it's still less than 2 weeks old. It happens somewhat randomly but so far only after they've been in my ear(s) for a while. It's happened to me thrice since last night. The first couple times I don't know how long it took for it to fix, but this latest time I fiddled around a bit with the cable near the housings and inserting/removing them and it seems to be working fine again after about half an hour. I'm not sure if it was the fiddling around that helped or if it just needed time.
 
I am tempted to order more pairs and just alternate between them when the channel imbalance occurs. 

 
 
Or maybe I'll give the Singolo a chance since a couple users here think they sound better than the Tenore (Dsnuts and drbluenewmexico I believe). Perhaps the balanced armature drivers in those will be more robust. I've been having a lot of problems with dynamic driver IEMs lately.
 
EDIT: It seems like the channel imbalance didn't completely go away, it's just not as noticeable.

 

[higbvuyb]

With that big of a difference, he said there's no chance for review. How can he recommend it with that kind of variance?

That sounds like an odd thing to say. There are other models of headphone which also have issues with manufacturing variance. If he feels the variation is too great to recommend, that's a valid point but one that he can certainly make in a review. It isn't like we have detailed data on how much each model can vary, anyway.
 
Did you by any chance introduce some expectation bias into the equation by telling him the first set was much bassier? 

 
 
EDIT: My pair has minor driver flex on both sides and the midbass is about on par with my etys. I'm using MH1 tips.

 

[gnarlsagan]

That sounds like an odd thing to say. There are other models of headphone which also have issues with manufacturing variance. If he feels the variation is too great to recommend, that's a valid point but one that he can certainly make in a review. It isn't like we have detailed data on how much each model can vary, anyway.

Did you by any chance introduce some expectation bias into the equation by telling him the first set was much bassier?   

I didn't tell him what the second set sounded like, just that it sounded different. But again, the difference is quite large and obvious, and not like 1-2dB. I generally don't believe in differences between mp3 and flac, and between sources like the Sansa Fuze and high end amps. But still there is a large difference between my two pairs of Tenores. A large difference. They sound like two different iems.

I asked Tyll what he though of manufacturing variance, and he acknowledged it as something that could be an issue in cheaper products. He mentioned visiting a factory with old women winding coils, without quality checks like measurements at the end of the process.

Honestly unless there are quality checks made, then there's nothing to guarantee accuracy.

 

[higbvuyb]

We haven't heard many reports of big channel imbalances (other than one side dying due to driver flex) which we would if they were putting together wildly varying drivers together without QC. Perhaps they do channel matching but the tolerances are a bit loose. Maybe you just got one very bassy specimen that slipped through? There's that infamous Beyer T1 with a 3dB imbalance from bass to mids and that cost a thousand dollars.
 
SGS said his pairs are about 3 dB different which is significant but not hugely so especially since this is the easiest thing to correct with EQ.

 

[SilverEars]

  Seriously guys, give these a listen. This guy is absolutely great, I am a huge admirer of his.
 
Just breathtaking.

I've heard of Yurima, Korean style piano.  It's nice.  

 
Eva cassidy, her recordings are so damn detailed, it'll sound great even with the most crappiest headphones
 
 

 

[SilverEars]

You guys should check this piano prodigy. Lang Lang
 

 

[SilverEars]

   
Count me in for the same exact issue occasionally, left side as well. At this point I'm not sure if it's a coincidence or not but for what it's worth, sometimes I use only the left side so I can hear out of my right ear. I get driver flex out of both sides. Source is an iBasso D10 DAC/amp.
 
Mine were purchased from Amazon.co.jp direct (delivered by Tenso).

Gawd, I can't believe this.  This is the worst QC I've heard of.  What I notice with mine is that it sounds like crap after 20min of listening.  I think it starts to sound worse after the driver has been going for awile.  Could be placebo, but remember my rants from the other day?  
 
Although, these are low cost phones with variances or bad qc, I've experienced variance with $1300 HE-6.  The driver resistance would vary from 40-60 ohms.  I know I had the best one because it's the best sound I have ever heard.  

 
 
Both, Tenores and HE-6 made in China.  

 

[hatefulsandwich]

Maybe some guys should try have a Tenore Meet-Up so you can get a better picture of the kind of variance happening with them? I don't know if it's at all plausible, but sounds like it could be quite the party .

I doubt variance has anything to do with being made in China. Many, if not most, things are made in China. It's up to the individual companies to set the bar for acceptable driver variance and QA.

 

[Hisoundfi]

Maybe some guys should try have a Tenore Meet-Up so you can get a better picture of the kind of variance happening with them? I don't know if it's at all plausible, but sounds like it could be quite the party .

I doubt variance has anything to do with being made in China. Many, if not most, things are made in China. It's up to the individual companies to set the bar for acceptable driver variance and QA.

TENORES UNITE!

 

[SilverEars]

I don't know what happend, but mine got treble heavy now.  I recall it sounding tight and smooth without much sibilance.  Now, high end is tinny and sounds uncontrolled.  Sounds more distorted on the high-end.  The treble must have opened up.  

 

[waynes world]

After a night of bass n drums, my tenores are still sounding good. So fingers crossed that it was a onetime (or very rare) occurrence.

 

[luisdent]

I have to say this thread is a bit crazy. Don't get me wrong, a lot of points are extremely valid, and I might be reporting back in a few days that I have three completely different sounding tenores. However, we're talking about a few people of which only a few have any variances. What would people say if we did a poll and found that 3,000 other people have absolutely no problems. That would be less than 1% of problems, which is superb quality control. I'm not saying I believe that is the case, but we just don't know, and for tyl to dismiss it that quickly is pretty sad in my opinion. He's only hear two pairs in his entire life and he immediately assumes it isn't worth reviewing. Add all this together and before you know it nobody wants to touch the tenore.
 
I for one am very happy someone recommended them to me, and they're the best IEM i've ever heard so far. If someone reads this thread and is turned off because of the issues that would be pretty sad. :-o If we get some more numbers and find that the data shows this is a very common problem, then it's worth stressing the issue. Until then, why don't we all just state the problems that we have, what you have done to try and fix it, etc. etc. And leave it at that. I just don't think we should go around talking about all this bad QC and incredible amount of variances, etc. etc. when there simply isn't enough data to support it yet. These are real people having real problems with their tenores, but I can show you the exact same thing with every IEM ever made on the planet. Go look at amazon, there are always negative reviews about this failure or that failure, usually with at least one recurring theme, but once the product has been out and has data, there is usually a substantial positive section of reviews that outweigh the negative. If I read a review on amazon of a wire failing on the er4s and there were no other reviews, i would take it with a grain of salt. That's all.
 
We should try to collect as much data as possible if we want to show they have QC problems. Gnarlsagan has his sets and that's a start. I'll give you a review of my next three pairs when they arrive. And maybe we can start a poll of people that have had issues vs. working sets. It's easy to do on the thread, and we could at least start to see some sort of numbers. As long as everyone is honest and only polls in if they own the tenore.
 
Those are my thoughts on the issue anyway. On another note, I can say that my pair of tenores seems to be extremely durable so far. I wear them over ear a lot, which I'm not sure if it causes a bit of sideways strain on the cable or not where it meets the housing, but it doesn't seem to bother it. I have fallen asleep listening to them twice (I just can't take them out of my ears! ha) and woke up with my zip and tenores under my body. Who knows how much they were yanked around, but at a minimum they were yanked out of my ears twice. Lastly, I've dropped the zip a few times (3 maybe) and it has fallen and then yanks on the tenores as it fell. The zip is pretty light, but it still pulled them enough to irritate me having them yanked while in my ears.
 
With all of that they seem perfectly fine so far. Not exactly a stress test per se, but that's actually a lot worse than I normally treat my earphones. It's just that I really haven't wanted to stop listening to them, so I've had a lot more listening time in and I listen while multitasking more as well, so sometimes I drop the damn thing or sleep on it. haha Just sayin'

 

[waynes world]

Keep sleeping with them, and they WILL be destroyed at some point (I just accept that - too much abuse - already killed my vsd1le's).

I like the tenores so much though, that I'll always have a pair no matter how long they last.

Btw, mine just changed from reference sounding to bassy sounding... via tip change of course!

 

[luisdent]

Keep sleeping with them, and they WILL be destroyed at some point (I just accept that - too much abuse - already killed my vsd1le's).

I like the tenores so much though, that I'll always have a pair no matter how long they last.

Btw, mine just changed from reference sounding to bassy sounding... via tip change of course!

I know i know. i don't mean to sleep with them. I just get lost in the music and then... Zzzzzzz.

I love having the option for more bass on the go by changing tips and wearing them deeper.