[koven]

HHAAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA

they want me to give them my he1kv2 + 1000 dollars for these?

And they're so full of **** on that allowance of 100 trades. They would do a million trades if they possibly could.

honestly this infuriates me. And its insulting because they WILL roll out another headphone for us to upgrade. And people will do it because they need to have the latest product.

Keep your V1 or V2 and SAVE YOUR MONEY for another pair of headphones from a different manufacturer. Buy an LCD-X for 1100. You will have 2 pairs of headphones that sound fairly far apart in sound and both sound great. Instead of letting hifiman take your money.

Not siding w/ Fang's practices necessarily but computers, phones, cars, TVs, and many other products go thru annual refresh so this is somewhat in the same realm. Some are happy to enjoy their 'old' tech and skip generations of updates, others will pay to play. Just depends on your financial situation and level of... passion.

 

[Gibson59]

Not siding w/ Fang's practices necessarily but computers, phones, cars, TVs, and many other products go thru annual refresh so this is somewhat in the same realm. Some are happy to enjoy their 'old' tech and skip generations of updates, others will pay to play. Just depends on your financial situation and level of... passion.

Well put.

 

[mixman]

Not siding w/ Fang's practices necessarily but computers, phones, cars, TVs, and many other products go thru annual refresh so this is somewhat in the same realm. Some are happy to enjoy their 'old' tech and skip generations of updates, others will pay to play. Just depends on your financial situation and level of... passion.

My problem is not with the updates, but with their marketing/business strategy. It's more so that the lineup is confusing. Also there are no heads up to purchasers, like you see deep discounts or closeouts on certain models, so maybe you knew there was going to be a model change. For instance unless you read here on the forum or any reviews many wouldn't know that the Arya is mostly an HEK V2 for nearly half price and that the HEK is a bad buy right now at $3K. Where does the HE6SE fall into there lineup? Maybe he should add a comparison chart to his website to make it clear what HP would work for someone?

Another example of bad marketing/bad business practice would be at CanJam. For all of his headphones sitting there, Hifiman only had one amp for all of their non electrostatic HP's. They were therefore allowing people to connect the Susvara, Arya and HEK SE to their phones. I would think in no way would I want my company's HP's, that for the most part, needed a dedicated amp, to be connected to someones phone, and when (not if) it sounded like crap everyone would say that HP sucks. Audeze had several amps and suggested which HP's would work with certain amps. Focal had a dedicated amp for each of their 16 or so HP's. HM did not. Not sure if that's bad business strategy or plain cheapness, but that was a bad look either way, especially for HP's that are so expensive.

 

[chimney189]

Just so everyone knows .. when I found out that my HEKv2 was broken I contacted HiFiMAN right away (without any warranty left) and I ended up paying $350 for new drivers. I think that's a pretty good deal, no?

 

[Gibson59]

Just so everyone knows .. when I found out that my HEKv2 was broken I contacted HiFiMAN right away (without any warranty left) and I ended up paying $350 for new drivers. I think that's a pretty good deal, no?

Seems like an appropriate price for out of warranty replacement. I’ve had contact with Hifiman service on two occasions (one of them being to upgrade to HEKse) and both times I came away very impressed with their service and response time.

 

[franz12]

Just so everyone knows .. when I found out that my HEKv2 was broken I contacted HiFiMAN right away (without any warranty left) and I ended up paying $350 for new drivers. I think that's a pretty good deal, no?

It is fair considering you need to pay $250 to change a pair of pads for the utopia. But you can buy the senn 6xx and have dinner with your date with that money. So that cost isn't cheap either.

 

[kid vic]

I think it'd be great if Fang would make an appearance on this thread.. or at least a representative of HiFiMAN.

As far as Fang goes, that is never going to happen.

Fang and Hifiman at large are not interested in having the entire hifiman sect of head-fi rage at them on an open platform. That's why they offered a Q&A through massdrop on a limited purchase item.

I realized last night that technically they could sell the returns as refurbished. I'm not sure if there are enough international laws that restrict exactly what refurbished has to mean so that could work for them.

 

[mixman]

Fang and Hifiman at large are not interested in having the entire hifiman sect of head-fi rage at them on an open platform. That's why they offered a Q&A through massdrop on a limited purchase item.

I realized last night that technically they could sell the returns as refurbished. I'm not sure if there are enough international laws that restrict exactly what refurbished has to mean so that could work for them.

That's the one thing that make me hesitant about buying used HEK V2's. If Hifiman starts dumping those returns as cheap refurbs into the channel, the used market on the V2's tanks. I suspect that may happen just as they sell out of new stock.

 

[kid vic]

That's the one thing that make me hesitant about buying used HEK V2's. If Hifiman starts dumping those returns as cheap refurbs into the channel, the used market on the V2's tanks. I suspect that may happen just as they sell out of new stock.

For people who are in the market for an HEK at the lowest price possible it's a cool hearted benefit. It's kind of sad that no one thinks hifiman is above this.

 

[franz12]

As far as Fang goes, that is never going to happen.

Has ever Fang come to Headfi or any other communities to have a conversation with users?
I started this hobby since 2016 and I never saw him anywhere. Probably I joined this hobby too late. But I think there is also a bright side, as we can discuss their headphones without having much backlash.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

Has ever Fang come to Headfi or any other communities to have a conversation with users?
I started this hobby since 2016 and I never saw him anywhere. Probably I joined this hobby too late. But I think there is also a bright side, as we can discuss their headphones without having much backlash.

Yes. He used to talk with us members. But then there was a very heated argument amongst him and many Head-Fier’s and it got very nasty. The Moderators had to come in and lock down the thread as it was in a horrible downward spiral. And that was pretty much the last time Fang has ever entered this community.

Say what you want about him, and he might be crazy. But he makes some great sounding headphones. They were my first love and I’ve tried countless other brands since, only now to return back to them. I’m currently reunited with my HEK V2 and loving it! I’d forgotten just how good a headphone it is.

 

[thecrow]

Has ever Fang come to Headfi or any other communities to have a conversation with users?
I started this hobby since 2016 and I never saw him anywhere. Probably I joined this hobby too late. But I think there is also a bright side, as we can discuss their headphones without having much backlash.

Imagine if a rep from hifiman was continuously active on headfi.

Let me think.....they would have to respond to people making allegations like, i don't know, the drivers they are using on the hekse being the same as the ones on previous hek's. Allegations based on nothing. Even though hifman say they are not the same.
And they would have to put up with members saying things like, i don't know, there is not much R&D that goes into their headphones as they are using old technology so why should their headphones be so expensive.

And things like i don't know, people complaining that hifiman could send old returned stock as reburbished like, for example, focal and apple do.

Or perhaps having to put up with things like, i don't know, being criticised for giving customers the OPTION of upgrading their old, used headphones to the new model for a quoted asking price which would be better than what you might be able to get if you sold your old headphone elsewhere.

maybe i just made up those things that i've just listed or maybe they are based on fact...maybe i just have a wild imagination

and maybe some members that throw out a lot of criticism, not necessarily based on 100% fact, don't own any hifiman products and don't want to and seriously never will. and that's fine if they don't want to

anyway..........i'm still enjoying my recently acquired hekv2 and i may or may not pay to "upgrade" to the hekse

ps yes i am glad they come with a decent length warranty (3 years from memory) and it is good hearing that someone whose drivers stopped working once out of warranty was able to have them replaced for $350. mind you..i really would prefer them to last for 10 years or offer a lifetime warranty for original owners like zmf does


i'm just sayin'

 

[chimney189]

I agree that they might face a lot of criticism, but doesn't every company have to face that? Is there a limit to criticism? From what I've learned the HEKse uses a new driver, so I don't see why I'd argue against that. I'm also pretty sure that someone here also already e-mailed and asked HiFiMAN about the drivers in the Arya and got a response.

But then I do see the allegations of poor R&D coming into play and being a valid concern or quality concerns. I think the more time HiFiMAN invests in answering concerns that the better off they are in the long run, especially in a forum like head-fi where many people come for extensive research and differing opinions in order to come closer to a conclusion of wants and needs.

Basically, I'm babbling brook at the moment.. but a customer service representative should be able to take heat and deal with it in a professional manner.
Then again, I didn't know that Fang came on here and it resulted in a thread being closed down.. but maybe the fact that it happened says a whole lot about HiFiMAN and customer satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction.

I wonder if any other threads had to be closed down when a representative of a company other than HiFiMAN answered questions? My instinct is to say NO WAY!

 

[mixman]

I agree that they might face a lot of criticism, but doesn't every company have to face that? Is there a limit to criticism? From what I've learned the HEKse uses a new driver, so I don't see why I'd argue against that. I'm also pretty sure that someone here also already e-mailed and asked HiFiMAN about the drivers in the Arya and got a response.

But then I do see the allegations of poor R&D coming into play and being a valid concern or quality concerns. I think the more time HiFiMAN invests in answering concerns that the better off they are in the long run, especially in a forum like head-fi where many people come for extensive research and differing opinions in order to come closer to a conclusion of wants and needs.

Basically, I'm babbling brook at the moment.. but a customer service representative should be able to take heat and deal with it in a professional manner.
Then again, I didn't know that Fang came on here and it resulted in a thread being closed down.. but maybe the fact that it happened says a whole lot about HiFiMAN and customer satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction.

I wonder if any other threads had to be closed down when a representative of a company other than HiFiMAN answered questions? My instinct is to say NO WAY!

Yep, agree if they would answer questions about these things there would most likely less speculation going on. Dan is on the Mr Speakers threads and answers questions without arrogance.

 

[chimney189]

Yep, agree if they would answer questions about these things there would most likely less speculation going on. Dan is on the Mr Speakers threads and answers questions without arrogance.

.. and Dan is one of many others that do the same.
There really isn't any justifiable reason to not communicate with buyers or even potential buyers unless there are threats being made, etc.
Is it even crazy to speculate that they aren't within these forums because they know they are in the wrong? I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case.