[johnny5w]

My Adorama pair is just now showing a hairline crack on the left yoke after two weeks' use. Boo. Guess I'll be emailing Adorama/HifiMan soon when it cracks completely.

It's bizarre to live with a constant fear that the product you just purchased for a hefty sum of money will fail mysteriously, that it's a ticking time bomb.

Put me in the camp that's on the fence whether to wash my hands of this whole affair or to stick with these headphones because they sound so fantastic.

 

[MarkArtz]

My Adorama pair is just now showing a hairline crack on the left yoke after two weeks' use.

That hairline crack might last a week or a month depending on how often you stretch your headphones' headband. My 2nd replacement started like that and only lasted 2 days before it cracked open, but I was using it everyday. I just received a headband replacement from hifiman... Let's see how long it lasts. I just hope it comes from an old production. It does feel and looks it wasn't made in the same batch as the ones that broke. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Anaz]

My Adorama pair is just now showing a hairline crack on the left yoke after two weeks' use. Boo. Guess I'll be emailing Adorama/HifiMan soon when it cracks completely.

It's bizarre to live with a constant fear that the product you just purchased for a hefty sum of money will fail mysteriously, that it's a ticking time bomb.

Put me in the camp that's on the fence whether to wash my hands of this whole affair or to stick with these headphones because they sound so fantastic.

Contact Hifiman immediately to get a replacement headband (it might take a week to reach you) and test it vigorously while you are within Adorama's 30 day return window.

 

[Dominate]

Add me to the list of Adorama broken yokes

Disappointingly, Adorama wants to wash its hands of the problem, saying its outside the 30 day return window and simply referred me to contact HifiMan. If neither of these companies are going to assist customers affected by this now widespread and well-known fault, I'd be very wary and reluctant to deal with either of them again.

 

[johnny5w]

Contact Hifiman immediately to get a replacement headband (it might take a week to reach you) and test it vigorously while you are within Adorama's 30 day return window.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've emailed them and am waiting to hear back. Hopefully the left yoke will hold while the new headband is on its way.

 

[phthora]

@hifiman-us What is being done about this broken headband issue? I'm sure many of us would appreciate sort some of official recognition and response to these widespread breakages.

 

[buffalomatt]

Similar story for me, I bought the HE-560's from Adorama during the January sale and the left side was dead on arrival. I was told by Hifiman that I could send them in for repair, but would have to pay to ship them to Hifiman. To make up for the shipping they'd send me a pair of leather pads or RE300's. I really didn't want to pay for shipping and didn't want the leather pads or RE300's so I returned them to Adorama for a replacement. I was sent a new pair after a few weeks (they were out of stock) and everything was fine for 9 days until the headband cracked... Hifiman offered to send me a replacement band, I was really angry at this point, so because I complained enough they included a pair of Focus-A pads to make up for the hassle. I received the new headband, but it doesn't say HE-560 on it... I know its not a huge deal, but I would have liked a specific HE-560 replacement instead of a generic one. All in all, Adorama has not been helpful and I dont think I'd buy anything from them after how they have handled this. Hifiman has been OK, but I would expect more from them considering this is a known issue. I really wanted to buy a pair of Edition X, but this whole situation has made me very wary of Hifiman and their build quality. My batch sticker was 0643.

 

[gardibolt]

Frankly you are probably better off with the generic version because HE-560 headbands appear to have the same breakage issues.

Similar story for me, I bought the HE-560's from Adorama during the January sale and the left side was dead on arrival. I was told by Hifiman that I could send them in for repair, but would have to pay to ship them to Hifiman. To make up for the shipping they'd send me a pair of leather pads or RE300's. I really didn't want to pay for shipping and didn't want the leather pads or RE300's so I returned them to Adorama for a replacement. I was sent a new pair after a few weeks (they were out of stock) and everything was fine for 9 days until the headband cracked... Hifiman offered to send me a replacement band, I was really angry at this point, so because I complained enough they included a pair of Focus-A pads to make up for the hassle. I received the new headband, but it doesn't say HE-560 on it... I know its not a huge deal, but I would have liked a specific HE-560 replacement instead of a generic one. All in all, Adorama has not been helpful and I dont think I'd buy anything from them after how they have handled this. Hifiman has been OK, but I would expect more from them considering this is a known issue. I really wanted to buy a pair of Edition X, but this whole situation has made me very wary of Hifiman and their build quality. My batch sticker was 0643.

 

[George Taylor]

@hifiman-us What is being done about this broken headband issue? I'm sure many of us would appreciate sort some of official recognition and response to these widespread breakages.

Until something is said I'm not buying from Hifiman again. At the very least, and it would be the very least, they need to acknowledge something is wrong. Better yet would be to do something to compensate those with broken units. But I think we all know, that's pretty unlikely.

 

[phthora]

Until something is said I'm not buying from Hifiman again. At the very least, and it would be the very least, they need to acknowledge something is wrong. Better yet would be to do something to compensate those with broken units. But I think we all know, that's pretty unlikely.

You may be right. I have purchased three 560s and two 400is in the last few years, but I am not buying another HiFiMan product until I see some effort on this yoke situation. Until then, I'm boycotting the Sundara, which had been my next planned purchase.

 

[Midgetguy]

The HE560 QA situation is absolutely horrid right now, but at least the Sundara looks to be quite an improvement in the yokes department. Still, that's no justification for not QCing your other products.

 

[ra990]

I returned my HE560 to Adorama. It wasn't broken (yet) but I really don't like the way this is going and the lack of an official response to what is clearly a widespread issue is pretty disappointing. It was a good deal, but if the damn headband and replacements are going to break every 2 weeks, then it's just not worth the hassle.

 

[parkerlewis]

Returned mine to Adorama as well, didn't have much confidence that the replacement headband was going to hold up and wanted to get out while I still could.

 

[lugnut]

I returned my HE560 to Adorama. It wasn't broken (yet) but I really don't like the way this is going and the lack of an official response to what is clearly a widespread issue is pretty disappointing. It was a good deal, but if the damn headband and replacements are going to break every 2 weeks, then it's just not worth the hassle.

Returned mine to Adorama as well, didn't have much confidence that the replacement headband was going to hold up and wanted to get out while I still could.

I done the same as the quotes listed. I guess I am a little confused as to why more people did not do the same and return the damn things? Mine was not broke at the time of return, however the writing was on the wall, it was just a matter of time.

 

[ra990]

What really sucks is how much of a beating the resale price of these is going to take. Who will buy an used HE560 after reading this thread? I certainly wouldn't.