Beagle
His body's not a canvas, and he wasn't raised by apes.
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2001
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Having talked to the company in depth, I can say that some of the speculation in this thread is incorrect. I'm not going to reveal any of the confidential details, but let's just say that I fully intend on owning the HE1000 and have nothing to worry about. (Except the investment, of course.)
They posted publically that they were going to do it. They gave opportunity for folks to submit willingness to participate. They privately chose the participants. They made an offer that could be accepted or refused. I politely refused. What they do on their terms is their business. Nobody is being forced to participate or buy the HE1000. If y'all thought you would be rewarded with a free $3000 headphone, you were in dreamland.
You can "talk" to the company all you want. We have these details in writing which carries more weight than anything verbal.
I've never criticized their offer for what it is, I've just said what it is not.
even that makes it look like the money bags are the only people with suitable hearing and views? Which of course is nonsense. But that's the way the game is set up and those who want to play have to follow the set rules. Just the way it is.
"Only those who can pay might play".
As long as the people get what they're here for, it's fine. I hope that they fully understand what they're going into, but again it's none of my business.
I wouldn't agree to participate even if I had the means to, and I wouldn't like to see this kind of offer spread around on HF, but I'm not the one who writes the rules.
Then you don't know what a beta program is. Plain and simple. Beta does not mean free as you seem to constantly infer.
There is no way any company is going to distribute a 3k headphone on some kind of online-forum-adhoc-trust system that is constantly being bantered about in this thread. I wouldn't even trust a company that did that anyway.
For something like this I would fully suspect some kind of refundable down payment per sample unit as a way to provide some semblance of insurance in case the units get damaged and/or stolen. It only takes ONE "beta" tester to screw it up for everyone (resell it on eBay or something else that is equally despicable), and this kind of pay to play collateral mitigates that substantially.
There isn't anything hush, hush about it as many folks have stated.
Finally, if you are really serious about buying a 3k headphone, a refundable deposit to beta test is not even in the slightest outrageous. I wish Audeze (another great company) and Stax had these programs in place to make my life easier.
Either wait for impressions or stop whining. Fang has been unbelievably generous to the Head-Fi community at large and some of the comments in here are frankly disturbing (you really think Jude doesn't know about this program? Are you serious? He is probably the first beta tester and had to plunk down whatever to participate like everyone else!).
I meant via PM. HIFIMAN intends on taking care of their beta testers and not leaving them in the cold in any way. This statement is for those who were speculating without having the facts. I can't go into specifics, though.