[laerm]

Well, I have been a Hifiman loyalist for close to ten years but I think I am done. My RE-252s were great, my favorite IEMs, and lasted 6 years. Two years ago they broke and I replaced them with RE-600s. Well, I have had to get warranty replacements for the RE-600s twice due to cabling issues and now they've broken again (one of the speaker cases separated along a seam in manufacture). I emailed Hifiman and they said no more replacements for me. I gotta say, I treat these things quite well but the quality of construction has apparently gone down.

So I guess time for a new IEM.

Micah

 

[beyerdude]

Well, I have been a Hifiman loyalist for close to ten years but I think I am done. My RE-252s were great, my favorite IEMs, and lasted 6 years. Two years ago they broke and I replaced them with RE-600s. Well, I have had to get warranty replacements for the RE-600s twice due to cabling issues and now they've broken again (one of the speaker cases separated along a seam in manufacture). I emailed Hifiman and they said no more replacements for me. I gotta say, I treat these things quite well but the quality of construction has apparently gone down.

So I guess time for a new IEM.

Micah

Yeah I kind of agree - Hifiman IEM cable quality is pretty average. My RE-600 broke and I treat my headphones with complete respect - these were never out of the house - home use light only - broken in two places - never had such a crap cable.

 

[Stuff Jones]

And now they want people to pay 2000 USD for their IEMs - and people are obliging them.

 

[Oscar-HiFi]

And now they want people to pay 2000 USD for their IEMs - and people are obliging them.

Their $2000 model has a detachable cable. Their $699 does not, but the cable is thick, only time will tell how long they will last.

 

[beyerdude]

Haha - so the $2000 IEM is totally worth it seeing as it has a detachable cable It's all getting a bit silly - As long as there are fools with far too much money looking for that few %% extra performance the merry go round will continue.....I quit the high end when the prices reached above $2000 for a full headphone - even that's too rich. I got to the HE-6/HD800 level and sold both of these in favour of a cheap HD600 which despite owning the other 2 at the same time spent most of the time on my head. For my money the best bang for buck IEM are the Fiio EX1 which again spent more time on my head than IEM's up to $500

 

[Oscar-HiFi]

Haha - so the $2000 IEM is totally worth it seeing as it has a detachable cable It's all getting a bit silly - As long as there are fools with far too much money looking for that few %% extra performance the merry go round will continue.....I quit the high end when the prices reached above $2000 for a full headphone - even that's too rich. I got to the HE-6/HD800 level and sold both of these in favour of a cheap HD600 which despite owning the other 2 at the same time spent most of the time on my head. For my money the best bang for buck IEM are the Fiio EX1 which again spent more time on my head than IEM's up to $500

Of course, it is only worth it if you have the money, but I personally would take the HE-6 over the HD600 any day, so much better...

And there are some fantastic bargains to be had in the audio world

 

[beyerdude]

Yes so would I it except it wasn't that practical - I had it linked up to a 25w class A amp and a Metrum Hex and it sounded sublime but couldn't be faffing around with the speaker swap out each time - no question that they kick the HD600 out of the water....One oft unmentioned part of all of this is synergy - for example my Oppo PM3's sound sublime from the HM-802 with the IEM card - far better than through any of my other sources including the HA 2/Burson CV2+ - never would have thought it.......

 

[beyerdude]

Also being a pedant but 'having the money' doesn't make it any more worth it.....value is determined by performance in my book and there is no way that the current $6000 crop of headphones are 'worth it' - I have the money (easily) to buy any of the best headphones in the world but this does not make them worth any more to me - but then I'd never buy a gold and diamond iPhone so I'm probably not the target demographic anyhow