[Stereolab42]

   
TH900/TH600 owners have a high incidence of headphones falling to pieces due to spontaneous detachment of the tiny but critical screws that hold the driver assembly to the headband. Also a few horror stories about customer service. Still, not enough to start a whole thread...

 
Stax SR-009 actually does have a similar thread, about driver imbalance issues.

 

[Duke40]

 

  No, the X has been fine.  It's my LCD-3 that went caputs.  I was just surprised since I haven't listed to the LCD-3 in a couple months since I've been listening to the X/XC and decided to bring it out for some sweet ballads....then found no sound from left driver.....flipped cable to test and confirmed the driver is gone.  Am kind of surprised so many people are having problems.

O, ok, whew, so far it appears to be localized to the 3s, I would be very concerned if the Xs started failing as well.
 
And yes, the way yours fail is exactly the same for me, I wouldn't listen for a while, and put them on my head and one side is dead. Others it would go out during a listening session. Very random, very weird.

matthewhypolite,  your experience was similar to mine as well ... very random and very weird ... I just could not find a pattern  (I was trying my best to find a pattern, in that case I could avoid it or change my usage if needed).
 
Have been using the Audeze LCD-X for the last 2 months (since getting rid of the Audeze LCD-3 ... the 5th LCD-3 driver failure was the "straw that broke the camels back" and got me complaining on this thread).
Anyway, very pleased with the LCD-X and very happy to still be an Audeze owner and admirer of the brand.
As an aside, it was actually my first Audeze (LCD-2 Rev 2) that got me more into headphone listening, even though I owned the HD800 and Ultrasone ED8 at the time (and still own 10 year old AKG 701's that have never failed), that led me to move up to the LCD-3.
 
While my "LCD-3 journey" was not the best ... I am really pleased that moving over to the LCD-X, well, it is still an outstanding headphone listening experience for me.
Find Treble quality similar for both LCD-3 and LCD-X, though LCD-3 had slightly better Mids (higher resolution), LCD-X has slightly better Bass (more extended).

 

[matthewhypolite]

Yes, the 5th LCD3 failure was also the straw the broke the camels back for me, and I was willing to go LCD X, but got the chance for a refund, and I took it.
 
My solution:
 
 
 
 

 

 

[Duke40]

Your "solution" is top of the mountain ... both HE1000 and the Abyss !!!   

 
Of the those two headphones do you have a new overall favourite yet ?
 
By the way, your Klutz headphone stand for the HE1000 looks like my Auralic Gemini 2000 DAC/AMP (it has a black Klutz headphone stand built in).

 

[matthewhypolite]

Your "solution" is top of the mountain ... both HE1000 and the Abyss !!!   :bigsmile_face:

Of the those two headphones do you have a new overall favourite yet ?

By the way, your Klutz headphone stand for the HE1000 looks like my Auralic Gemini 2000 DAC/AMP (it has a black Klutz headphone stand built in).

Well I always wanted to upgrade to the abyss, the 5th failure was my excuse to do so, but the abyss is rough for long term listening, so grabbed the he1000 as well, the plan was to decide on one and sell the other... Decided to keep both lol. If I had to keep only 1, it would be the he1000, but the abyss slays in certain genres, (dubstep,dance, pop, anything with solid bass slam.) It's slot better than he1000 in those areas imo, so kept both.

@Klutz stand, would you believe it's not a klutz... My wife made it ,inspired by klutz of course, originally made for the lcd3, the HEK does not fit perfectly on it though, so she's making another designed for that, and ultimately one for abyss as well. I'll use this klutz style stand to house my D7000s.

Pics of new stands will be posted in the HP DIY stand thread.

 

[sensui123]

Good to hear since I'm grabbing the he1000 next month. Thanks for the honest feedback between abyss and hek. I thought as much reading tons of impressions between the two.

 

[matthewhypolite]

Ill eventually do up a more detailed comparison between the 2, just giving it some time to become intimate with both before doing a write-up. Also have the LAu and Yggy incoming.

 

[sensui123]

Just picked up the Lau myself. My initial impressions are good driving the he6. Have it next to my gsx currently at work so I'll probably try to compare and contrast.

 

[matthewhypolite]

Cool, well I preorder my LAu since feb, I was promised delivery in Nov...lol, what a wait....
 
Let me know how it compares to the gsx, ill be comparing against Dark Star

 

[Duke40]

 

Your "solution" is top of the mountain ... both HE1000 and the Abyss !!!   

Of the those two headphones do you have a new overall favourite yet ?

By the way, your Klutz headphone stand for the HE1000 looks like my Auralic Gemini 2000 DAC/AMP (it has a black Klutz headphone stand built in).

Well I always wanted to upgrade to the abyss, the 5th failure was my excuse to do so, but the abyss is rough for long term listening, so grabbed the he1000 as well, the plan was to decide on one and sell the other... Decided to keep both lol. If I had to keep only 1, it would be the he1000, but the abyss slays in certain genres, (dubstep,dance, pop, anything with solid bass slam.) It's slot better than he1000 in those areas imo, so kept both.

@Klutz stand, would you believe it's not a klutz... My wife made it ,inspired by klutz of course, originally made for the lcd3, the HEK does not fit perfectly on it though, so she's making another designed for that, and ultimately one for abyss as well. I'll use this klutz style stand to house my D7000s.

Pics of new stands will be posted in the HP DIY stand thread.

 
Ha ! 

  I was fooled ... by myself !!! 

   It really looks so like the black klutz stand that is attached to the top of my Auralic Gemini 2000.
I am currently sitting about 3 feet away from mine ... and I can not spot any real difference to the stand in your photos, great work for a klutz style or inspired stand.
 
By the way, the headphone stand that comes with the Abyss ... I think is made by a company called "Just-Mobile.com"  (they make apple accessories)
http://www.just-mobile.com/headstand-365.html
if you ever needed another one (though you may already know that)  ... though I really like & prefer your wife's efforts on making a klutz style inspired stand, very impressive! Lucky man.
 
Thanks for providing your thoughts on the HE1000 and Abyss. I appreciate it.

 

[matthewhypolite]

I did not know that about the HP Stand, thanks.

 

[NzAudezey]

just had mine go for the 2nd time in 12 months along with yoke & pad replacement in between, I asked Audeze if i could have a bran new set since the ones i have so many issues.
 
Just waiting to hear back, nervous if they do accept and send me a new one they might even be worse somehow.

 

[Argo Duck]

^ go, or stop? Not good news

These poll figures - supposing they are approximately representative - are strange. It's hard to explain the progression of 1, 2 and 3 failures with a single factor model although there are complicating issues.

For example, suppose probability of failure is 30% (and due to a single factor which strikes absolutely randomly). This makes a nice simple model. Then, probability of a 2nd failure for the same person is 0.3 x 0.3 = 0.09 = 9%; a 3rd is 0.3 x 0.3 x 0.3 = 2.7% and so on.

Actually the pattern of predicted failure will likely be less than 30, 9 and 2.7% assuming some people give up after 1 failure; some again after 2 and so on. At each step this reduces the pool of people who are able to experience multiple failures.

The fact the poll shows much higher figures for 2nd and 3rd failures than this model predicts suggests if an owner experiences one failure they are more likely to experience further failures. That's strange.

Here are two possibilities off the top of my head:
1. Audez'e don't generally replace with a new pair. Instead they fix the returned pair but the fix does not return the headphone to "good as new" condition. The probability of failure is higher than with a brand new pair selected at random. This would mean the true cause of the failure is not fully and reliably addressed by Audez'e's repair method
2. There is some factor in the owner's environment to which the LCD3 drivers are vulnerable. The fixed pair is as good as new but has a high probability of failing again because the factor in the owner's environment is still present. Obviously this would mean Audez'e has failed to identify this environmental factor. Btw, I do not mean to suggest this hypothetical factor is the owner's fault!

I'm sure there are other possibilities, not to mention that several causes might be involved :eek:

 

[potkettleblack]

^ go, or stop? Not good news

These poll figures - supposing they are approximately representative - are strange. It's hard to explain the progression of 1, 2 and 3 failures with a single factor model although there are complicating issues.

For example, suppose probability of failure is 30% (and due to a single factor which strikes absolutely randomly). This makes a nice simple model. Then, probability of a 2nd failure for the same person is 0.3 x 0.3 = 0.09 = 9%; a 3rd is 0.3 x 0.3 x 0.3 = 2.7% and so on.

Actually the pattern of predicted failure will likely be less than 30, 9 and 2.7% assuming some people give up after 1 failure; some again after 2 and so on. At each step this reduces the pool of people who are able to experience multiple failures.

The fact the poll shows much higher figures for 2nd and 3rd failures than this model predicts suggests if an owner experiences one failure they are more likely to experience further failures. That's strange.

Here are two possibilities off the top of my head:
1. Audez'e don't generally replace with a new pair. Instead they fix the returned pair but the fix does not return the headphone to "good as new" condition. The probability of failure is higher than with a brand new pair selected at random. This would mean the true cause of the failure is not fully and reliably addressed by Audez'e's repair method
2. There is some factor in the owner's environment to which the LCD3 drivers are vulnerable. The fixed pair is as good as new but has a high probability of failing again because the factor in the owner's environment is still present. Obviously this would mean Audez'e has failed to identify this environmental factor. Btw, I do not mean to suggest this hypothetical factor is the owner's fault!

I'm sure there are other possibilities, not to mention that several causes might be involved

I'm afraid this might be the case.

 

[matthewhypolite]

One thing to keep in note about the pole results, users are unable to change there vote, and there are a few people who voted 1 failure, and had subsequent failures, you'll have to read the whole thread to see who. And being through 5 pairs, since 2011, I can say it has nothing to do with a Batch in a particular year. because ive probably owned them all, lol. And they've all failed. Duke40 also had 5 failures.