[jamato8]

Listening to Dark Side of the Moon. quite a treat! Multinoted bass, and nice layering. It really brings you into the performance. I need to go to bed but caught up in the performance and music!

 

[Eric_C]

  I need to go to bed but caught up in the performance and music!

 
As with video games, this is possibly the highest praise I can give to any media / equipment.

 

[tigon_ridge]

It blows my mind that people would return a pair of headphones for a few scratches on them, and then rant about quality care. I don't care how expensive they are. Did you buy them for their looks, or their sound? I never even look my headphones. Granted, there isn't much to look at. I built my own desktop computer with hand-picked high quality components, and I rarely even glance at it. People ought to be more concerned about substance than something so superficial as cosmetics. If you're gonna rant about CS or quality care, at least let it be over something important. If it were me, I'd just keep the scratched headphones. It's not worth fussing over. I can guarantee you, most of your friends will not give half a schiit about the cosmetic imperfections on your audio gear, and neither should you. My Asgard 2's Schiit logo has been slowly deteriorating, peeling off the surface of the metal case. I really couldn't care less, though.
 
Don't even get me started on the rants about the stupid fancy boxes that these headphones come in. Just ship my headphones in a freaking bag, thank you. If I want some dumb box to keep my headphones in (who keeps their headphones in a box anyway? Most people hang theirs, or just leave them sitting on a desk.), I'll get my own. "Oh noooo, this useless box these headphones came with are so totally scratched. Even dented at the corners!" Oh, do please cry yourself rivers. You know what I'm gonna do as soon as I get my HE-560? Chuck the effing box. (j/k I'll store it somewhere just in case I need to return, or resell them.)

 

[Eric_C]

But cosmetics are important to some people. It is (literally) superficial, but that doesn't mean that it can't be important to an individual.

 

[Jussi]

After moving onto these headphones, has anyone felt like the imaging is slightly more left than usual, e.g. vocals a bit off centre? I feel like mine pair has a very small channel imbalance, with the left channel having more volume than the right. Tested this with the mono-method, and I get the feeling that its off. Also tried the screw tightening method behind the pads but it still feels weird. The pads also feel sealed properly. Maybe my brain hasn't adjusted yet (WhatIsThisSorcery)? Has anyone had experiences like this? Could this be impedance mismatching, as some other people have mentioned?

 

[tigon_ridge]

  After moving onto these headphones, has anyone felt like the imaging is slightly more left than usual, e.g. vocals a bit off centre? I feel like mine pair has a very small channel imbalance, with the left channel having more volume than the right. Tested this with the mono-method, and I get the feeling that its off. Also tried the screw tightening method behind the pads but it still feels weird. The pads also feel sealed properly. Maybe it's my brain? Has anyone had experiences like this? Could this be impedance mismatching, as some other people have mentioned?

Impedance mismatching wouldn't be unlikely, seeing how they're shipping both 35 ohm and 50 ohm headphones. Now that is something truly worrisome.

 

[Jussi]

I was thinking the same thing...

 

[jerg]

  After moving onto these headphones, has anyone felt like the imaging is slightly more left than usual, e.g. vocals a bit off centre? I feel like mine pair has a very small channel imbalance, with the left channel having more volume than the right. Tested this with the mono-method, and I get the feeling that its off. Also tried the screw tightening method behind the pads but it still feels weird. The pads also feel sealed properly. Maybe my brain hasn't adjusted yet (WhatIsThisSorcery)? Has anyone had experiences like this? Could this be impedance mismatching, as some other people have mentioned?

Try a sinewave sweep: http://www.tucows.com/preview/502787/SineGen
 
And carefully go through the whole frequency range manually, see if you get a severe imbalance anywhere. Just note that minor narrow-band imbalances in sinewave sweeps are normal with any headphone and not actually problematic.

 

[jimi30]

Some people like cars that look cool and go fast..and some like cars that have good mileage. ..im a cool and fast guy...hehehe

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

From all the headphones I have owned, imbalances tned to occur more frequently in the upper mid/treble ranges, not so much the bass and lower mids. Like Jerg stated, minor imbalances are normal. Its when an imbalance lasts for a broad range where it can be problematic, especially in tbe bass and mids.

 

[Jussi]

I'm noticing the imbalance around 1K onwards of about 1-2db. *Sighs*
Thanks for the help!

 

[wmedrz]

  I'm pretty surprised, I've been waiting for two weeks now and it's just one mistake after another. I don't want to have to deal with getting a refund but at this point I've never seen such lack of attention with something at that price point. The fact that your paying 1000 USD for something that's scratched is unacceptable imo. No excuses, you can't argue much when you're paying a premium for anything.

I know experiences like this can really set you off from a particular company. I once ordered AD900X from a music store in New York via NewEgg. What I received was the AD700X in the AD900X box - three times in a row. Imagine my surprise. I felt like a criminal explaining that I had a 900X box with a 700X headphone to exchange. The fourth time the dealer apologized profusely, gave me some fib about a big problem with all AT shipments arriving in wrong boxes (even though they kept sending me the same headphone), sent the right phone and refunded some funds.
 
There are many more experiences I can mention, especially with the lemons sold as TV's these days.
 
I agree with you - at this price point the product should be flawless.
 
If you like the headphone, you may want to try a dealer like headroom. They did a bang up job boxing mine. The original HiFiMAN box wasn't even cracked and they threw that box into a bigger padded box. It came via free shipping and arrived in 4 days from the day I ordered. Different dealers will have different internal policies regarding returned stock. It seems like HiFiMAN simply repackages theirs. 
 
My experience has been that if you keep exchanging the product because of manufacturing flaws, the product tends to come back even worse 

 
When ordering directly from HiFiMAN the experience wasn't favorable. I paid nearly 15 dollars for shipping and it took 7 days just to mail it. All the while I glanced over at the status of my order "preparing for shipment" and wondered in awe how precise and detailed this preparation must be. In all it took 12 days for the product to arrive.
 
Don't let this experience turn you away from the great sound of these headphones.

 

[wmedrz]

   
See what is wrong, here the customer is being put to work. No, no, no, never. The company needs to say we are so sorry, it should not have happened. We are immediately rushing you a replacement headphone with the fastest shipping possible. We would ask you to ship the headphone back to us using our account number, please call courier X at ..... to arrange the return of your product. We are very sorry for the inconvenience and here at HFM the customer is our only priority. See, that is what you do, not ask the customer to face any more delay in enjoying their product.

+1. Companies should take note from Google. Send the replacement with a return label included. That way there can be no question in the customers mind. Both products are available for comparison. I would gladly pay more money for that type of service than receiving second hand or flawed copies.
 
While waiting for delivery I was scared the headphone would come damaged but I'm fortunate enough to be one of the lucky few (?) who received an unscathed product, including box.
 
But look at the other side.
 
The amount of posts I read on these forms from people who buy expensive gear just to audition with the intention of eventually returning! These folks screw it up for everyone. Provide great quality merchandise with great quality service but charge a restocking fee. I’m tired of window shoppers and serial returners.
 
I was actually banned from returning at Best Buy one time. Bought a camera for my nephew only to realize I picked up the wrong camera! Went back and exchanged it, but Best Buy told me I will be banned from making returns for 90 days, so instead I took a refund and bought direct from the manufacturer. I haven't shopped at Best Buy since. Like I said, I will gladly pay more for fantastic quality assurance and customer service over shoddy manufacturing and too bad so sad service techniques. In my mind the return policies for most places are so lenient precisely because the manufacturers and distributors know there are problems with their quality assurance. It's more cost effective to take the item back and resell than it is to get it right the first time. 
 
BTW I doubt any of those scratches are coming because of shipping. It looks like the gimbal was clamped with something hard during manufacturing. 

 

[Insidious Meme]

It blows my mind that people would return a pair of headphones for a few scratches on them, and then rant about quality care. I don't care how expensive they are. Did you buy them for their looks, or their sound? I never even look my headphones. Granted, there isn't much to look at. I built my own desktop computer with hand-picked high quality components, and I rarely even glance at it. People ought to be more concerned about substance than something so superficial as cosmetics. If you're gonna rant about CS or quality care, at least let it be over something important. If it were me, I'd just keep the scratched headphones. It's not worth fussing over. I can guarantee you, most of your friends will not give half a schiit about the cosmetic imperfections on your audio gear, and neither should you. My Asgard 2's Schiit logo has been slowly deteriorating, peeling off the surface of the metal case. I really couldn't care less, though.

Don't even get me started on the rants about the stupid fancy boxes that these headphones come in. Just ship my headphones in a freaking bag, thank you. If I want some dumb box to keep my headphones in (who keeps their headphones in a box anyway? Most people hang theirs, or just leave them sitting on a desk.), I'll get my own. "Oh noooo, this useless box these headphones came with are so totally scratched. Even dented at the corners!" Oh, do please cry yourself rivers. You know what I'm gonna do as soon as I get my HE-560? Chuck the effing box. (j/k I'll store it somewhere just in case I need to return, or resell them.)

If I saw a bunch of scratches on a new product, I'd be tweaked. It would make me think "If they're not QC'ing the outside of the set, what would make me think they were QC'ing the insides of it.".

Granted, I found no scratches or such on the HE-560's I received. The box was pristine as well. However, I am wondering like others on here on how they are able to pass the issues I'm seeing on here on to customers and feel confident in their product down the road.

 

[reddog]

[/B
Until HIFIMAN starts to ship their products undamaged, I will not be getting these cans. I could careless if these cans came in a nice box or not, however the cans themselves should come unscathed. Lots of audiophiles end of selling their cans for lots of reasons, and selling g a scratched up pair might make it harder to sell them. Furthermore people pay top dollar for a pristine product not a product scratched up in shipping. The HIFIMAN corporation needs to grow up and make sure their amazing headphones arrive to the consumer in excellent condition.