[antdroid]

Planar driving crinkling happens on any headphone, no matter the cost.

 

[samandhi]

I had never heard that before, though given the layout of the driver, I guess it makes sense. But then again, I have never crushed/twisted mine to where this might happen (accident or otherwise).

 

[Philimon]

Planar driving crinkling happens on any headphone, no matter the cost.

Okay, but is it very audible on yours?

 

[Philimon]

Ive had lots of planars. Ive heard crinkling in 1 before (vintage ortho) and it was considered a failure that needed fixing. I guess Ive been lucky.

Ive read about membrane/diaphragm crinkling in planars and electrostats before, but Ive not personally noticed besides in 2 above instances.

 

[samandhi]

Being as how I haven't ever heard of this before, I could be totally wrong, but should it make an audible sound like that just pressing on them? I mean like, how hard do you have to press them to get this sound? If it is not full strength, it sounds like the diaphragm might be loose or something to that nature. Have you not heard back from Hifiman on this issue yet?

 

[Philimon]

Doesnt take much effort. Positioning earpads around normally.

Ive not heard back from Hifiman yet.

 

[antdroid]

The worst I've heard is on the HEDDphone. (it's not totally a planar as its a ribbon driver, but similar enough).

I can hear crinkling if I press on the cups too much even on my Susvara, and I've heard it on many planars in the past. Its pushing air into a thin kapton or similar film. It's going to force it to move. You'll hear it more with a tighter seal.

I don't recommend trying to do this too much.

 

[Philimon]

Response received:

Sorry to inform you that the dealer where you purchased your device is not an authorized dealer.
Kindly ask you to contact them for the after-sale service.
Hope you will understand.​

I purchased from Amazon Warehouse. Ill ask them next. Will update.

 

[Philimon]

Amazon rep said Hifiman rep was probably being lazy. Amazon accepted return. Rep advised not exchanging if this is Hifiman’s response to warranty issues.

@TeamHiFiMAN

 

[HipHopScribe]

Response received:

Sorry to inform you that the dealer where you purchased your device is not an authorized dealer.
Kindly ask you to contact them for the after-sale service.
Hope you will understand.​

I purchased from Amazon Warehouse. Ill ask them next. Will update.

To be fair to Hifiman, Amazon Warehouse products are used. Most manufacturers probably aren't gonna offer warranty coverage on used products. Hifiman has an Amazon storefront that would count as an authorized dealer, but if you're buying from Amazon Warehouse you're not buying from the Hifiman storefront.

 

[Philimon]

To be fair to Hifiman, Amazon Warehouse products are used. Most manufacturers probably aren't gonna offer warranty coverage on used products. Hifiman has an Amazon storefront that would count as an authorized dealer, but if you're buying from Amazon Warehouse you're not buying from the Hifiman storefront.

Would be good to know if this is indeed Hifiman’s official stance to Amazon Warehouse sales or if I was dealing with a misinformed HFM rep. The HFM customer support responses were pretty general and did not attempt to address my concerns about crinkle.

 

[HipHopScribe]

Would be good to know if this is indeed Hifiman’s official stance to Amazon Warehouse sales or if I was dealing with a misinformed HFM rep. The HFM customer support responses were pretty general and did not attempt to address my concerns about crinkle.

I found Hifiman customer support to be pretty iffy the one time I had to interact with them years ago when my Edition S started to develop stress crack along the plastic headband and they kept insisting it was my use and not a clear design flaw with their cheap plastic, so I don't have a lot of faith in them these days (or plastic headbands lol)

 

[samandhi]

Would be good to know if this is indeed Hifiman’s official stance to Amazon Warehouse sales or if I was dealing with a misinformed HFM rep. The HFM customer support responses were pretty general and did not attempt to address my concerns about crinkle.

I found Hifiman customer support to be pretty iffy the one time I had to interact with them years ago when my Edition S started to develop stress crack along the plastic headband and they kept insisting it was my use and not a clear design flaw with their cheap plastic, so I don't have a lot of faith in them these days (or plastic headbands lol)

I understand (in part) the answer you got from Hifiman rep, however, I think that the answer could have went a little further and maybe talked about the issue a bit, if nothing else. If those are NOT from a Hifiman authorized dealer, I understand why they wouldn't touch it (and that IS, from my understanding, the official stance if a product is NOT from an authorized dealer), what with all the counterfeits, and etc... nowadays. There is more than one authorized dealer on Amazon. Hifiman (obviously), and Gramophone, and maybe more.

It has always been my experience that HFM has always has pretty stellar CS, but again, YMMV. But then again, I always have bought from an authorized dealer, to make sure the warranty is valid, and handled by Hifiman themselves.

 

[chrjohns]

I understand (in part) the answer you got from Hifiman rep, however, I think that the answer could have went a little further and maybe talked about the issue a bit, if nothing else. If those are NOT from a Hifiman authorized dealer, I understand why they wouldn't touch it (and that IS, from my understanding, the official stance if a product is NOT from an authorized dealer), what with all the counterfeits, and etc... nowadays. There is more than one authorized dealer on Amazon. Hifiman (obviously), and Gramophone, and maybe more.

It has always been my experience that HFM has always has pretty stellar CS, but again, YMMV. But then again, I always have bought from an authorized dealer, to make sure the warranty is valid, and handled by Hifiman themselves.

From the Hifiman web site

 

[TeamHiFiMAN]

Amazon rep said Hifiman rep was probably being lazy. Amazon accepted return. Rep advised not exchanging if this is Hifiman’s response to warranty issues.

@TeamHiFiMAN

Hi there,

We are sorry for the unpleasant experience and the confusion caused, we will try our best to improve our service. As our kind customers mentioned in this thread, Amazon.com unfortunately is not our authorized dealer. We do have an official store on Amazon where you can purchase our products, which will definitly covered by the warranty. Please kindly check the seller's name when you placing the order, "sold by Hifiman" means that it is from our official store.
FYI: https://www.amazon.com/s?me=A1GH37DDIGH3L6&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER

BTW, sincerely thank you all for helping explain the situation for us. :-D @HipHopScribe @samandhi @chrjohns

Best regards,
April