[K3cT]

Quote:

I think it's thermal paste.

That's possible although I'm fairly sure that's not the normal way of using it. Besides, the location seems inconsistent from one build to another.
 

 

[Sonic 748i]

You guys haven't seen poor soldering until you've seen the first batches of Xbox 360's.

 

[K3cT]

Quote:

The solder is not good, the comments I posted about the yellow and red joints were actually made by a professional in the field and the white blob is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_grease
 

 

Actually I am looking at it now and I'm having difficulties finding the exact soldering faults at some of the circles. Besides, all these random guessing of which locations are poorly soldered or not is useless since we don't have the schematics.

 

[WalkGood]

You don’t need schematics to tell if a solder joint is good or not, but hey if you like the craftsmanship enjoy …

 

[WalkGood]

Seriously all the justification in the world couldn’t make up for all the failings of this overpriced product. Against what I preach about not reposting pictures in quotes I just have to …

 
Quote:

Pictures of the internals ...

I'm so happy you posted that link for all to see the soldering and spew on the pcb board, I think this speaks volumes without having to say much other than my 12 year old son can solder cleaner ... this finally shows the poor quality of solder joints, judge for yourself. Is this a DAP that is worth $800.00 and the size of that power supply reminds me of what I used in the mid to late 80's, there are more pictures as I only posted a few from your link JohnFerrier, http://light-widely.blogspot.com/2009/10/hifiman-hm-801.html  You really need to use the link to see close up the poor quality, huddler just resizes the pictures too small ...
 
 

 

 

 

 
Quote:

For an $800.00 DAP, the pcb not to be set up via on a soldering robot is a joke rather than hand soldered by kids in China. Any reputable company would use soldering robots, if the manufacturer did it might look something like the Sansa Clip inside. And don’t come back with the argument that it’s hand made, it's just stock electronic parts pieced together by unskilled hands. The yellow is questionable, red is so bad that it should be rejected and the uppermost red circle is the scariest with the huge wad of solder around it that tiny resistor almost touches the memory chip. Seriously, as a commercial product there is no excuse for mediocrity, especially at that price this is totally unacceptable.
 
Beyond the graphs, if you add up lack of batter life, build quality, UI, sound quality all that matters when coming to a conclusion. Not to mention that wonderful 60 day warranty it’s a clogged artery just waiting to happen
 
here's the link so you can see close up: http://i41.tinypic.com/2wcmvz8.jpg
 
 

 

[K3cT]

Quote:

You don’t need schematics to tell if a solder joint is good or not, but hey if you like the craftsmanship enjoy …

I'm just saying you're exaggerating your claim of bad soldering. Though I agree the white blobs look really icky.

 

[Rockford]

Quote:

Actually I am looking at it now and I'm having difficulties finding the exact soldering faults at some of the circles.

Luckily for you the blatantly bad solder is circled in bright colours making it easy to see for those such as yourself without the knowledge of what good solder jobs look like.

 

[Sonic 748i]

As long as data is able to travel through the circuit board and it's safe to handle, it's fine.

 

[K3cT]

Quote:

Luckily for you the blatantly bad solder is circled in bright colours making it easy to see for those such as yourself without the knowledge of what good solder jobs look like.

Wooo... straight to the baseless generalizations, very amusing. I have a feeling that you yourself do not know what bad solders look like.
 
Anyway I'm done here.  Please carry on with your hate campaign.

 

[Sonic 748i]

LOL "Hate campaign".

 

[d.g]

Quote:

As long as data is able to travel through the circuit board and it's safe to handle, it's fine.

High resistance and dry joints are acceptable then are they?

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

Luckily for you the blatantly bad solder is circled in bright colours making it easy to see for those such as yourself without the knowledge of what good solder jobs look like.

Maybe the bad solder is why some of the owners feel it's necessary to add an additional amp the the $800 DAP , so that it can sound its best.

 

[Rockford]

Quote:

Wooo... straight to the baseless generalizations, very amusing. I have a feeling that you yourself do not know what bad solders look like.
 
Anyway I'm done here.  Please carry on with your hate campaign.

 
Hey there rainman, you yourself admitted knowing nothing about soldering simply by saying that horrible job didn't look bad. Anyone who has soldering skill or has done any in the past know what that garbage looks like.
 

 

[xnor]

Even a software guy can see the big blobs and cold soldier points and ...

 

[WalkGood]

 
Quote:

I'm just saying you're exaggerating your claim of bad soldering. Though I agree the white blobs look really icky.

Read Wiki here: “Various problems may arise in the soldering process which lead to joints which are non functional either immediately or after a period of use. The most common defect when hand-soldering results from the parts being joined not exceeding the solder's liquidus temperature, resulting in a "cold solder" joint.”
 
A good joint is nice and shiny and concave shaped, while a cold joint is dull and convex, but the best way to judge a solder joint is to look at the meniscus (the curved upper surface) on both sides of the solder joint. If there is no meniscus, it is a cold solder joint. And per the quote from Wiki it’s only a problem waiting to happen and the repair isn’t easy. To repair a cold solder you have to remove all the solder or reheat it and use new flux to activate the surfaces.
 
With all that said, keep in mind that soldering is not gluing the joint together; you can not just melt the solder and let it drip over the joint (look closely at the pictures again). The joint has to be hot enough for the solder to form an alloy with the other metal. From these pictures it appears some joints are acceptable while others the solder got hot enough to melt it, but not hot enough to form an alloy, fail! That's why it’s called a "cold solder" joint, I could go on but what’s the use you have already been presented the facts …
 
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High resistance and dry joints are acceptable then are they?

That's high fidelity *roll eyes* ... No seriously you have a good eye
 
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Even a software guy can see the big blobs and cold soldier points and ...

Another good eye in the house, not to mention all this for $800.00 makes you wonder why they cut corners for quality or maximum profits ...