[Hi-Fi'er]

  @Kibble Fat
 
Interesting about the short getting worse over time. Right now, it's pretty intermittent: sometimes flexing the cable shorts out the right channel, and sometimes it doesn't. Nice to know it's likely to get worse over time.  

 
In any event, I've written to Hifiman customer service.... 

Good luck. I've already spoken to them multiple times. They are "unaware of any issues" and "have never heard of this issue before." 

 

[Kibble Fat]

My 3rd RE-600 is about to be sent back for replacement. Left channel is starting to short out intermittently -- confirmed on both my iPod, PC>O2 amp, and phone. This one only lasted 7 weeks.

That's 3 failed RE-600s in 1.5 years -- an average product life of 5 months (accounting for delays in my sending them in + 1-2 week turn-around). Soon I'll have a statistically significant sample size

FeelsBadMan

 

[rebbi]

My 3rd RE-600 is about to be sent back for replacement. Left channel is starting to short out intermittently -- confirmed on both my iPod, PC>O2 amp, and phone. This one only lasted 7 weeks.

That's 3 failed RE-600s in 1.5 years -- an average product life of 5 months (accounting for delays in my sending them in + 1-2 week turn-around). Soon I'll have a statistically significant sample size

FeelsBadMan

Waiting for my replacement pair now...

 

[Hi-Fi'er]

Waiting for my replacement pair now...

Good luck. I had mine replaced twice under warranty. My original ones were clean as a whistle, the replacements were not, cable was bent out of shape and the shells shows wear and or they were serviced with scratches on them. Hope yours are better than what I got.

 

[rebbi]

For those of you who have obtained warranty replacements, how long did it take for you to get yours? I know that mine have arrived at the US office. Jun Wang who runs that office wrote to tell me they'd ship from the warehouse in a day or two. But I don't know if the warehouse is in the US or China.

 

[YamaVega]

Just recable the damn thing and get over with it.  Hifiman will not admit they have a faulty-prone product.  But I suggest you recable with balanced cable and TRRS plug, for heavenly balanced output, but normal cable and stereo sound still suffice

 

[goldtuba]

  Just recable the damn thing and get over with it.  Hifiman will not admit they have a faulty-prone product.  But I suggest you recable with balanced cable and TRRS plug, for heavenly balanced output, but normal cable and stereo sound still suffice

I just wish I had a source with a 3.5 mm balanced output.  I would love to hear these in balanced mode.

 

[rebbi]

Any recommendations for getting my RE-600's re-cabled?

 

[tgdinamo]

Any recommendations for getting my RE-600's re-cabled?

 
Moon Audio re-terminated my RE-600 some years ago (both to fix the cable and convert to single ended). They did a good job and it cost around $40 if I remember correctly.

 

[520RanchBro]

   
Moon Audio re-terminated my RE-600 some years ago (both to fix the cable and convert to single ended). They did a good job and it cost around $40 if I remember correctly.

So they fix it but don't replace the cable, just re-terminate? If they do replace the cable, that's a very good deal considering their cables are well over $100.
 
I can't help but feel merely repairing the RE-600 cable would be a lost cause as it's bound to develop more problems, that's just my impression though. If their fix lasts then that seems like the most affordable option.
 
I got mine recabled by BTG Audio and they have been working quite well. It can be expensive to get them recabled and they are very delicate IEMs. Sometimes it's more cost effective to just get a new pair of IEMs that actually last. I will say not everyone here has had a great experience with BTG but my transaction was fairly smooth. Any subsequent contact I've tried to make with Brian regarding a new adapter cable have been met with no response. He's busy and not the most communicative but his work lasts in my experience.

 

[tgdinamo]

Sometimes it's more cost effective to just get a new pair of IEMs that actually last. I

 
I agree - the best solution is to just move to some other IEM. I moved to Tralucent 1plus2 and Ref 1 several years ago and have been very happy ever since. Of course, it should be pointed out that both of those are over $1500 so it's not apples to oranges comparsion to RE-600. Not sure what other IEM may be competitive to RE-600 in it's price range.

 

[Kibble Fat]

I can't help but feel merely repairing the RE-600 cable would be a lost cause as it's bound to develop more problems, that's just my impression though. If their fix lasts then that seems like the most affordable option.

This is my feeling as well. Exhibit A: My replacement RE-262

So I cracked open this replacement RE-262 on Saturday since the right channel had died and HiFiMAN would only offer trade-in value. I noticed 2 issues:

1. Discontinuity between driver PCB solder points and 3.5mm connector (both ground and RH ring contacts). This could be fixed with a re-cable.
2. Resistance across the solder points was in the range of Mega-ohms instead of the expected 150-ohms, suggesting a discontinuity in the driver unit itself. Re-flowing the solder joints didn't help.

 

[520RanchBro]

Wow that is kind of peculiar.
 
I mean honestly I'm a pretty big HFM fanboy, having owned the HE-400 and currently owning the 400i and 560 but I'd never recommend a HiFiMAN IEM to any single person unless they have a removable cable. Whoever supplies HiFiMAN's cables just flat out sucks.

 

[standardnut]

I have the same problem with my re600 where the right channel started to cut out after owning it for three months with light usage.  Hifiman refuse warranty on the iem sighting that I bought it on Amazon through an unauthorized dealer.  Live and learn.

 

[Hi-Fi'er]

  I have the same problem with my re600 where the right channel started to cut out after owning it for three months with light usage.  Hifiman refuse warranty on the iem sighting that I bought it on Amazon through an unauthorized dealer.  Live and learn.

Stinks. You could of done two things like I did. 1. Ordered them from HIFIMAN off Amazon and 2. Added the extended Canopy warranty so when they fail you can get the full price you paid and get something else. I'm waiting for my warranty to kick in so I can get something else still. I knew it was going to happen.