[MelvinV]

So, most people probably remember me for being mad in the HD 800 appreciation thread.
Basically the unit started making noises and weird stuff as if it had a loose connection, it was 9 months old at the time and I handled it with extreme care.
I decided to re-insert the cable just in case that would help, this chipped the paint because custom connectors are horrible. Paint was perfect before this nonsense.
 
So, I've received my HD 800s from warranty after 3 weeks and 1 day. They didn't fix the paint...
 
I wonder what a car manufacturer would do when their engine would fail and scratch the hood of the car and chip all of the paint.
I doubt they'll only repair the engine, I'm pretty sure that they would also fix up the hood. Because it's their problem that the engine broke...
 
And guess what, it's still broken. They only checked out the actual headphones themselves but they don't even dare touching the cable.
So yeah, now I have to mail the HD 800 dealer and see what they'll do because the cable is broken.
 
Not only that, the headphone-output of my Mytek Stereo 192 DSD-DAC failed suddenly when I tried it to make sure that it wasn't my Violectric V200 messing around.
It worked fine on day 1 and the unit hasn't moved or something like that since. And it's one month old...
It's like magic, it just broke when I wasn't even using it.
 
I can only think that high-end and pro-audio is a joke, everything breaks within a year. The V200 is the only unit still functioning perfectly.
I, of course, have to pay shipping to Poland, which needs to be insured (or package will be lost with my luck) and that'll cost a bunch of money.
 
Do they want me to kill myself or what? Never had problems with mass-produced made in China stuff. €15 USB headset, €80 gaming headset, etc, etc.
And these "hand-crafted" failures all break. How can I not be mad?
 
Service sucks too, Sennheiser makes me wait for over 3 weeks and Mytek makes me pay shipping even though if it's one month old.
 
I wonder if the V200 will break too, 6 months or so until that unit is a year old...
 
So, is my luck just that terrible or is high-end a cash cow where everything breaks 1 month past warranty forcing you to purchase a new unit or pay for overpriced repairs?
 
Very kind, ambitious, sweatshop Chinese children slavery for higher quality products regards,
 
Mad Melvin.

 

[Currawong]

I had a friend like you. EVERYTHING he owned that was electronic died fairly quickly, and not from abuse. I think he was just cursed. Had the odd customer that was the same from time-to-time. One, at least, we found out had faulty power wiring in his house because everything worked in the shop but not in his home.

 

[P+D-MI]

I've seen this happen with several "high-end" manufacturers. One of them I owned, a cd player, which never functioned properly. An amp and cd player which a friend owned among others. The point is "high-end" and or "hand-made" doesn't necessarily mean reliable or sturdy. I believe an awful lot of "high-end" stuff is sort of experimental. The story of mikhail and singlepower is a good example. A guy starts building stuff in his basement, some people think its the greatest thing since sliced bread and it takes off. The thing it lacks is the quality control of a larger company. Your issue with the hd800 baffles me ,I thought Sennheiser would take better care of their customers and also have better quality control.  

 

[MelvinV]

Quote:

I had a friend like you. EVERYTHING he owned that was electronic died fairly quickly, and not from abuse. I think he was just cursed. Had the odd customer that was the same from time-to-time. One, at least, we found out had faulty power wiring in his house because everything worked in the shop but not in his home.

The wiring is my house is not the best in the world but it is very stable and clean. I also have a surge protector so I can't believe that this is the issue. And everything else in the house doesn't have any problems at all, nor did I ever have a problem with my other (Chinese) equipment.
Quote:

I've seen this happen with several "high-end" manufacturers. One of them I owned, a cd player, which never functioned properly. An amp and cd player which a friend owned among others. The point is "high-end" and or "hand-made" doesn't necessarily mean reliable or sturdy. I believe an awful lot of "high-end" stuff is sort of experimental. The story of mikhail and singlepower is a good example. A guy starts building stuff in his basement, some people think its the greatest thing since sliced bread and it takes off. The thing it lacks is the quality control of a larger company. Your issue with the hd800 baffles me ,I thought Sennheiser would take better care of their customers and also have better quality control.  

That's the weird thing, Sennheiser is very well known and has a lot of pro-audio stuff.
Violectric is the hifi department of Lake People, which is another quite big (in Germany) pro-audio manufacturer.
And Mytek is a well known brand in a lot of studios.
 
I actually stayed away from all the shady brands with ÜberJitterClock1337™ and fancy terms like that...

 

[twizzleraddict]

I think it's just your bad luck, unfortunately.
 
I've bought new and used for almost 20 yrs in the audio world (2 channel audio and headphone gear) and the only thing that I've had damaged were full-range speakers shipped to me, and that was mostly because of shipping damage, not the gear itself being bad.
 
In all pieces I've acquired (and sold), everything's worked pretty well.
 
So there's definitely some bad karma going on around you. Have you done anything particularly bad to invite it? 

 

[dukeskd]

Quote:

The wiring is my house is not the best in the world but it is very stable and clean. I also have a surge protector so I can't believe that this is the issue. And everything else in the house doesn't have any problems at all, nor did I ever have a problem with my other (Chinese) equipment.
That's the weird thing, Sennheiser is very well known and has a lot of pro-audio stuff.
Violectric is the hifi department of Lake People, which is another quite big (in Germany) pro-audio manufacturer.
And Mytek is a well known brand in a lot of studios.
 
I actually stayed away from all the shady brands with ÜberJitterClock1337™ and fancy terms like that...

Yeah it is definitely crazy that Mytek has broken down on you since it is a really solid piece of hardware with pro intentions. I haven't even seen one person have their unit break at the computeraudiphile huge thread for the DAC. I guess it must be bad luck or something going on with your Mains supply? BTW, what do you mean the headphone output was not working and how are you using it with the V200?

 

[MelvinV]

Quote:

Yeah it is definitely crazy that Mytek has broken down on you since it is a really solid piece of hardware with pro intentions. I haven't even seen one person have their unit break at the computeraudiphile huge thread for the DAC. I guess it must be bad luck or something going on with your Mains supply? BTW, what do you mean the headphone output was not working and how are you using it with the V200?

Only the left channel of the DAC's headphone-output works, the right channel just doesn't play anything and it doesn't connect when I plug it in (can't hear the usual noise that you hear when you plug something in there). I'll RMA it within a couple of days. I use the Mytek's XLR outputs and go into the V200's XLR inputs. The only thing that's broken about the DAC is the headphone-output, but still, this is a top-of-the-line DAC, and within one month, that is madness.

 

[dukeskd]

Quote:

Only the left channel of the DAC's headphone-output works, the right channel just doesn't play anything and it doesn't connect when I plug it in (can't hear the usual noise that you hear when you plug something in there). I'll RMA it within a couple of days. I use the Mytek's XLR outputs and go into the V200's XLR inputs. The only thing that's broken about the DAC is the headphone-output, but still, this is a top-of-the-line DAC, and within one month, that is madness.

It is interesting that only one channel works when you connect to the headphone output, but the XLR outputs work well?

 

[MelvinV]

Quote:

It is interesting that only one channel works when you connect to the headphone output, but the XLR outputs work well?

Feels like their "hand-crafted" solder-joints failed on path of the right audio signal in the headphone-output part. Probably after the amplifier chip itself because there is no thump when you plug something in, only the left channel has that.

 

[Currawong]

Maybe a stupid question, but have you checked that you've plugged the headphones in all the way?  Other than that, if the socket doesn't have a nut holding it to the chassis, it is possible it has a broken solder joint.

 

[TheGhostWhoWalks]

I also think it must be bad luck. In all my years of being involved in high-end audio I've only had one CD player go bad on me (the mechanism on the laser failed) and it was replaced under warranty and that fixed that. I've never had a pair of headphones fail, and some I've owned for over a decade...

 

[MelvinV]

Quote:

Maybe a stupid question, but have you checked that you've plugged the headphones in all the way?  Other than that, if the socket doesn't have a nut holding it to the chassis, it is possible it has a broken solder joint.

Yes, I actually put more pressure on it than usual just in case, it goes just as deep as in the V200 and still no right channel.

 

[smial1966]

Rest assured that your V200 is a solid and extremely reliable piece of kit, moreover, Violectric have excellent customer service and will do their utmost to assist customers whenever possible - speaking from experience when my V200 was subjected to a summer rain shower! 
 
My father is the same with mechanical watches, he likes wearing them but irrespective of make (Rolex, IWC etc) they always go wrong. 
 
Cheers,
Andy.

 

[wink]

Keep buying the high end gear.
 
That way, by the time you get something reliable all the gear will be perfected by the manufacturer....

 

 

[potterma]

I feel your pain...  For many years, any time I bought a piece of electronic gear, I'd be back withing a week to a month with a failure.  Nakamichi, Carver, Yamaha... Didn't matter. I always just joked that I was cursed...  Don't seem to have the same problem now... Maybe the curse is finally lifted!  

  Persevere... The rewards are worth it!