[Argo Duck]

Very good point. Although a quality-focused manufacturer like Audez'e would of course have trashed film stock it knew could be defective, right...?

Guessing it also likely took them a while to work through their inventory of drivers with the older film in them?

 

[Jiexi]

Very good point. Although a quality-focused manufacturer like Audez'e would of course have trashed film stock it knew could be defective, right...?

Yeah... I agree. At minimum, any RMA would be replaced with the new film stock. They have no incentive to put the bad film on again because they're just going to have to replace it again when you file another RMA, and your warranty restarts too, so it's not like you wouldn't be covered still.

 

[mscott58]

Agree that they wouldn't use the old film anymore to make new drivers, but they might use the leftover drivers that had already been made using the old film?

 

[Argo Duck]

^ It's a worrying thought as it would take some months (?) for leftover drivers to work their way out of the system.

From their statements last year they could not tell in advance which units would fail, and I guess - despite this thread! - failures are in the minority. So I guess it might make business sense to use up the old drivers. But with the added risk to future business that they've created a blurred line: "Yep, we're still getting failures but that's not because we haven't solved the problem. It's because we still worked through our stock of drivers with old film".

To be fair to Audez'e, these are only our speculations. They may have dumped all suspect stock. Time will tell I guess...

 

[mscott58]

Mark is a smart guy, I'm sure he made an educated decision.

 

[huuchuc]

Sorry, but i think it's better if i dont said that.

 

[mowglycdb]

More details about the failure?  You just lost your lurker title "1 Post. Joined 9/2014"

 

[huuchuc]

Sorry mowglycdb about the short reply. Many people sent me email so I think i should modify this comment.

 

[KyPeN]

FYI all, I have e-mailed Consumerist with my concerns and issues I've been dealing with and seeing.  I've pasted the e-mail I've sent them below (personal information redacted):
 
Consumerist folks,
I purchased a pair of headphones made by an American headphone manufacturer known for high-end, boutique products, Audeze.  Audeze produces planar magnetic headphones, which is a type of transducer somewhat different from conventional speakers or headphones.  The headphones I purchased, LCD-3s, were, at the time of purchase (2.5 years ago), their highest end product.  They received numerous accolades and, honestly, sounded fantastic.
 
Then, after the first year, my left driver stopped working.  Just died out of nowhere.  I sent it in to get it repaired, received them after a month, and they worked fine.  Then, it occurred again.  About 6 weeks ago, it occurred the third time.  Always the left driver.  
 
Now, Audeze has had my headphones for over 5 weeks and has shut down communication.  I've been contacting them through their support line and have just stopped receiving responses.  Furthermore, this is not an uncommon occurrence.  Head-fi, a respected headphone enthusiast forum, has a long running poll of not if your LCD-3s have failed, but how many times.  If you extrapolate the poll to "three or more times" being three, then of the 181 total votes, there are 184 failures.  That's 184 failures of a $2000 pair of high end headphones.
 
In the amount of time I've owned my LCD-3s, during the three repairs, they have been in the possession of Audeze for over 10% of the time.  I can't imagine any other product, high or low end, where a 10% downtime would be acceptable, especially over the course of three repairs.  By their own admission (I can provide documentation), these failures are not due to mistreatment.  I keep them stored on a special stand so they're always sitting upright, use a proper amplifier which is turned off when not in use, and baby them.  
 
Since I've purchased my LCD-3s, Audeze has released several products including an iDevice only headphone (uses the lightning port) and a higher end, LCD-4, which can only be purchased through Audeze at a premium price of $4000.  It hasn't been out nearly long enough to comment on that product's longevity.  They have also changed CEOs, which gave some false hope of a better run company.  Audeze seems to have no compunction about charging a premium for a premium product, nor should they.  However, they also seem to have abandoned all hope of constructing a well manufactured product that can last for more than 12 months before failure.
 
Myself, I'm a software engineer specializing in testing and product quality.  I know how hard it is to make a product that doesn't fail when a customer uses it and I'm also aware that it's nearly impossible to test in all customer situations.  However, sitting in an air-conditioned office, on a stand, never driven beyond office listening levels, is not an unpredictable environment and, if the LCD-3 can't handle it for years at a time, Audeze should issue a recall.  
 
I'm not sure if there is anything you can do.  I'd love to see some press covering the failures, because Audeze has been largely silent about it and there is very little documentation outside of Head-fi anecdotal evidence, but the failures are very real and Audeze's conspicuous silence about why it happens combined with poor support is a total failure to customers who paid a massive premium to get the best they could afford.
 
I'm happy to provide documentation of my communications with Audeze, proof of purchase of the product itself, and verify my identity, along with any other information you may need.  
Thank you,
[REDACTED]

 

[bfreedma]

I've never had any issue contacting Audeze by phone or getting my headphones repaired.  I've done so multiple times and while I would prefer not requiring service, I've always had good communication and turnaround time.
 
Have you called them?  Have you asked to speak to someone in Sales instead of service?  If not, give it a shot.
 
If you look at the LCD3 threads, Audeze has been on them discussing the failures.  Most of them seem to relate to bad film, though I'm sure that isn't the only issue - bottom line, I suspect strongly that if Audeze had a permanent fix for the LCD3, they would have executed it on headphones returned for service.  That would be both cheaper and better for their reputation.
 
Though the LCD3 clearly has had failure issues, I don't see how the thread you reference demonstrates anything measurable.  To do so, one would need to know the total number of LCD3s produced (and when produced/what batch) to assess whether the frequency of failure is outside the norm for headphones.  It may well be, but there isn't sufficient data in that thread.
 
Hope you get resolution soon.  I'm not sure a public bollocking is going to make Audeze more responsive to you though.

 

[KyPeN]

No, I haven't called sales because I don't have time to go bouncing department to department trying to figure out if Audeze has repaired my headphones, where they are, etc.  They're not responding to me through their support system.  That's utterly unacceptable.  There's no two ways about that.
 
I've seen a bit of them discussing the failures, but mine were repaired just after they should have the new film and they still failed.  To be honest, I don't care about their interworkings, corporate structure, or reputation any more.  10% downtime on a premium product is silly.  
 
The thread I reference is the thread you're commenting on now (the link didn't come through in the copy-paste).  It demonstrates that my situation is not unique or isolated.  It is endemic to the nature of the product they've released, their inability to execute on an engineered product, their inability to support it, or some combination thereof.  I don't disagree there is insufficient data to prove the failure rate, but there is enough to prove that Audeze is failing on supporting their customers as well as constructing a well supported product.  
 
I'm posting in a public forum and contacting the press because they've stopped responding to me.  They've had my headphones for 5 weeks due to a failure on their end for a super premium product!  In what other industry is this acceptable such that their customers will defend a company with such failures?  

 

[bfreedma]

  No, I haven't called sales because I don't have time to go bouncing department to department trying to figure out if Audeze has repaired my headphones, where they are, etc.  They're not responding to me through their support system.  That's utterly unacceptable.  There's no two ways about that.
 
I've seen a bit of them discussing the failures, but mine were repaired just after they should have the new film and they still failed.  To be honest, I don't care about their interworkings, corporate structure, or reputation any more.  10% downtime on a premium product is silly.  
 
The thread I reference is the thread you're commenting on now (the link didn't come through in the copy-paste).  It demonstrates that my situation is not unique or isolated.  It is endemic to the nature of the product they've released, their inability to execute on an engineered product, their inability to support it, or some combination thereof.  I don't disagree there is insufficient data to prove the failure rate, but there is enough to prove that Audeze is failing on supporting their customers as well as constructing a well supported product.  
 
I'm posting in a public forum and contacting the press because they've stopped responding to me.  They've had my headphones for 5 weeks due to a failure on their end for a super premium product!  In what other industry is this acceptable such that their customers will defend a company with such failures?  

 
If hitting "1" for Sales is too much for you, then there isn't much I can do to assist.  If you want to get your headphones back quickly, that would be the best approach.  Right or wrong, it works.  I'm not defending the failure of support to respond, but as a long time customer, I'm offering up a better solution for you.  My headphones have been back many times and the total turn around time has never exceeded two weeks.  You might also find help with shipping costs.
 
I'm offering up a solution that will highly likely result in you getting your headphones back quickly.  This same solution has been mentioned numerous times in the Audeze threads.
 
Whether you want to pursue that vs. your current solution that is unlikely to help you get your LCD3s back is up to you.

 

[VoodooSamurai]

I have bought two LCD-3s, and both had driver failures. Now I have to pay $400 bucks. I don't get why are they allowed to legally do this. Release a terrible faulty product and then force the customer to pay for it. 

 

[KyPeN]

  I have bought two LCD-3s, and both had driver failures. Now I have to pay $400 bucks. I don't get why are they allowed to legally do this. Release a terrible faulty product and then force the customer to pay for it. 

 
I demanded they pay shipping back/forth.  My LCD-3s were/are in warranty, but they were willing to pay shipping.  You just have to ask/demand.

 

[Sko0byDoo]

Is the $400 for the out-of-warranty repair cost?  Shipping would be extra (significant for out-of-the-country customers).