[JaZZ]

double post
 
double post

 

[JaZZ]

It's time for my next wake-up call.
 
@TeamHiFiMAN, come on, wake up! Respond to my request!
 
Yes, you haven't just changed the ear pads, but also the cable and the head band. And the wooden frame is slightly thinner, making for reduced weight. Now I don't need your new cables, since I use a (better!) aftermarket cable anyway, and I've managed to get along with the serious comfort issues provided by the original headband by adding some pads. Moreover I've modified the housing in a way that it probably offers the same sonic benefit as the new one. So all I really need is the new pads. I'm confident that I will get a sonic characteristic very close to the HE1000 V2 with them. So please be so kind and make the new pads available separately! If you refuse to do so, that would be bordering on extortion in my book. You can certainly empathize how it feels if one year after purchase of an expensive product the latter is getting improved, which also leads to a degraded resale value for the first generation. So your early customers don't need to get punished a second time by such a questionable policy which certainly doesn't raise HiFiMan's reputation. Please be fair!
 
I'm still patiently waiting for your hopefully straight out reply...reply...reply...reply...reply...reply...reply...reply...reply... ply... ply...

 

[TeamHiFiMAN]

Hello there.  We do listen.
 
Although I hands up confess we have been swamped with Black Friday, Christmas and the lovely Emily decided to have her baby a little early.  So we have been trying to keep up as best we can for we are not a huge mega corp. 
 
So first of all I'd like to say sorry, we haven't been as on the ball as we would like to be the last little while, sorry and we'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again.  (No more babies for Emily
 
Now, as to the issue of the v2 pads.  We at present do not offer these as being available to purchase separately on our store.  Presently.  As with so many things in life, all things in time.  We thus do not presently know exactly when the present situation shall change, it will change but we cannot currently specify when that might be.
 
I hope that helps and I'm sorry I cannot give you a more definitive time frame on such matters.
 
Mark
 
P.S.  Merry Christmas all.

 

[JaZZ]

Hi Mark
 
I'm glad you and HiFiMan are still alive.
 
You make it look like the unavailabilty of the V2 pads be beyond your responsibility – the result of force majeure. But we all know

it is part of your current strategy to generate profit. Instead of just producing complete HE1000 V2 headphones you could have produced some additional pads for the foreseeable demand – certainly a very easy procedure. And I'm sure for every pair of headphones you sell you have some spare parts stocked, for the obligatory defects. But «strangely» you have decided not to do so – officially – in the case of the HE1000 V2.
 
Now I fully understand your V2 pad policy. Of course you can make more money that way – people, at least the impatient ones, are forced to buy the upgrade. But good business is not just quick profit. I must confess that I have lost my sympathy for HiFiMan. While most companies invest in public relations and promotion – with a long-term perspective –, you have decided to sell your reputation for quick money. And to play unfair.
 
Maybe it's still not too late to save some of the sympathy. Please play fair and give us the V2 pads! You know very well that they are the main component in the sonic improvements. Moreover they promise to increase the very mediocre wearing comfort of the V1 pads, which make my skin become hot and feel a bit itchy. Other people are complaining as well. The HE1000's build quality is not worth the price I paid anyway (this in contrast to the sound quality). My headband was much too short, the tension it produced that way concentrated the weight on the top of my head. So I had to attach a pair of foam pads. Later both ends of the headband came off, and I found no other solution than super glue. If HiFiMan refuses to sell headbands separately, this is a scenario other people could be confronted with as well.

 

[marhol]

I do think Hifiman is still one of the better companies regarding customers service or generosity. 
From my perspective 650 dollars for an upgrade from HE-1000 v1 to the brand new HE-1000 v2  is more than decent offer as people may obtain not only sonic benefits but also improvements in ergonomics. I don´t see many companies doing something like that. 
On the other hand I strongly agree with JaZZ here, that Hifiman should make these new pads available for customers. If people believe they can get to that level of performance or can get better comfort with them, let them have this opportunity as soon as possible. Thats fair business in my opinion and definitely something that can give Hifiman favour (and money !) in a long run. 

 

[purk]

  I do think Hifiman is still one of the better companies regarding customers service or generosity. 
From my perspective 650 dollars for an upgrade from HE-1000 v1 to the brand new HE-1000 v2  is more than decent offer as people may obtain not only sonic benefits but also improvements in ergonomics. I don´t see many companies doing something like that. 
On the other hand I strongly agree with JaZZ here, that Hifiman should make these new pads available for customers. If people believe they can get to that level of performance or can get better comfort with them, let them have this opportunity as soon as possible. Thats fair business in my opinion and definitely something that can give Hifiman favour (and money !) in a long run. 

I honestly think that Hifiman should provide a free earpads to the original owner of the V1 free of charge.  Seeing how the V1 has dropped in value of 40-45% in a matter of year is just not fair to the original owners.  $3000 is quite a large sum of money plus another $650?  This is the case for the original owner or beta testers only. 

 

[jcdreamer]

What purk suggested would be fairest approach for Hifiman to take in resolving this controversy if the company is interested keeping its fan base happy.

 

[marhol]

  I honestly think that Hifiman should provide a free earpads to the original owner of the V1 free of charge.  Seeing how the V1 has dropped in value of 40-45% in a matter of year is just not fair to the original owners.  $3000 is quite a large sum of money plus another $650?  This is the case for the original owner or beta testers only. 

 

What purk suggested would be fairest approach for Hifiman to take in resolving this controversy if the company is interested keeping its fan base happy.

The fact that HEK v1 value has dropped significantly over the last year does not mean Hifiman is here the only one to blame. Some other (flagship) headphones from different brands have also something  to do with it.

Hifiman is responsible for sound quality, reliability and availability only of its products.
If some QC appears, there is 3-years warranty. (for  HEK v1) 
No one forces you to buy second hand headphones if you have doubts about their credibility. 
If some higher quality headphones appear and solve certain issues which were hampering previously highly regarded headphones, customers are free to buy the better headphones.
The decision not to sell these new pads separately is Hifimans own responsibility. It´s a rather silly decision  from the company, even if it might appear to Hifiman as a well calculated move. But to ask or expect from Hifiman these pads free of charge just because the value of HEK v1 has dropped is silly from customers as well. Did Samsung provide any of their accessories after the whole Galaxy Note 7 fiasco free of charge ? Never heard about it.  And yes,  I´ve heard about HEK v1 various shortcomings, but as far as I know, no one  ever reported any explosions yet...

 
 

 

[Currawong]

The issue might be simply that they need to have enough pads on hand to manufacture headphones. No sane company makes parts available without considering how the demand would affect their levels of production, especially not at the busiest time of the year.

 

[JaZZ]

  The issue might be simply that they need to have enough pads on hand to manufacture headphones. No sane company makes parts available without considering how the demand would affect their levels of production, especially not at the busiest time of the year.

 
Of course. But I think lack of motivation is the key word. There have been lots of requests for the pads before the V2 launch, so HiFiMan was well aware of the demand.

 

[TeamHiFiMAN]

  The issue might be simply that they need to have enough pads on hand to manufacture headphones. No sane company makes parts available without considering how the demand would affect their levels of production, especially not at the busiest time of the year.

atm, parts of the HIFIMAN warehouses look like aisles in a Soviet supermarket.
 
Trust me, there is much whip cracking taking place to get them restocked ASAP

 

[xxx1313]

I have been in contact with Mark from Team Hifiman for some time now and I can say with full conviction that he understands the problem. It seems that they really do not have enough V2 (polyester) pads for everybody interested, because they desparately need their stock for their new HEK V2 headphones and V2 upgrades. Unfortunately, this means that the V2 pads cannot become generally available already at this point of time. In my special case with the allergic problems we also do not have a final solution yet, but there is some serious effort from his/their side to come to an acceptable solution in this special case.
 
My discussion with Mark makes me confident that, in spite of cultural differences, also Hifiman is able to learn what is expected from every company in the so-called Western world, especially in the high-end segment. We can hope and also expect that the V2 pads will become available to everybody as soon as they can get enough stock. So let us hope that their pads supplier does not go too long on Chinese new year's holiday...

 

[purk]

  I have been in contact with Mark from Team Hifiman for some time now and I can say with full conviction that he understands the problem. It seems that they really do not have enough V2 (polyester) pads for everybody interested, because they desparately need their stock for their new HEK V2 headphones and V2 upgrades. Unfortunately, this means that the V2 pads cannot become generally available already at this point of time. In my special case with the allergic problems we also do not have a final solution yet, but there is some serious effort from his/their side to come to an acceptable solution in this special case.
 
My discussion with Mark makes me confident that, in spite of cultural differences, also Hifiman is able to learn what is expected from every company in the so-called Western world, especially in the high-end segment. We can hope and also expect that the V2 pads will become available to everybody as soon as they can get enough stock. So let us hope that their pads supplier does not go too long on Chinese new year's holiday...

As soon as they are willing to pay for the full upgrade fee.  Sorry...I couldn't resist.

 

[HBen]

half a year later - just checked once again and it seems like it finally happened.
Just bought the V2 replacement pads on the hifiman homepage