[FallenAngel]

Lol, doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure that one out

Digi01 is in Hong Kong and shipping from there is pretty slow. Steinchen on the other hand is in Germany and shipping from Europe to US/Canada is very fast (actually, it's usually faster than within US/Canada, and that's a laugh).

 

[headphonejunkie]

So,I should have ordered from steinchen. Oh well. I sure am learning the hard way on a lot of things. Some people were saying months. I hope that doesn't happen to me.

 

[FallenAngel]

Oh, sorry, I was not clear. Digi sells his boards, but he is in Hong Kong and shipping from there is very slow (took about 3 weeks for me).

Steinchen will hopefully get enough interest (I know I'll be begging him

) and and sell his buffers boards. He is in Germany; from there shipping is fast.

 

[headphonejunkie]

No Problem. It would have been nice to get the boards from steinchen though.

 

[tomb]

Headphonejunkie,
We're talking about two different things. Digi sells PCB's for the SOHA. That's what you've ordered and unfortunately, as FallenAngel says, it's a slow boat from China. However, that's the only source for SOHA boards, period. Any of us that have a SOHA board - including Steinchen - ordered from Digi in China.

Steinchen is doing an interest check right now for Buffer PCB's. The Buffer is the output stage for an amplifier, distinguished from other output stages in that a buffer is generally considered as current amplification, only.

The important point is - you have to have an amp in the first place in order to use Steinchen's buffer. What Steinchen is designing/selling is a replacement for the SOHA's opamp that will plug into the little opamp DIP-8 socket. It could be used on other amps, too.

Before you express shock at the wild interest for something that may only plug into the single opamp socket on the SOHA board (sold by Digi), you should look at Steinchen's web site that he developed for the Millett Hybrid buffers. After looking at that site and some of the drawings and photo's, I'm sure you'll agree that what Steichen is proposing to sell is practically another whole amplifier on the space of a tiny board.

Needless to say, it will sound loads better than any opamp you could plug in there.

Steinchen's Millett Hybrid Diamond Buffers:
http://www.diamondstar.de/dDB_overview.html

 

[headphonejunkie]

Don't misunderstand me. I love what steinchen has done. I have one of his diamond buffers for my millett. I just meant it would have been nice if there was another source for boards. That way we would not have to wait so long to get them. I think Digi01 has done a great job with these boards. I personally cannot wait till I get my boards and am going to get a buffer for the SOHA too.

 

[Heady]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FallenAngel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh, sorry, I was not clear. Digi sells his boards, but he is in Hong Kong and shipping from there is very slow (took about 3 weeks for me). Steinchen will hopefully get enough interest (I know I'll be begging him ) and and sell his buffers boards. He is in Germany; from there shipping is fast.

I don't think digi01 is in Hong Kong or at least he can't be shipping from Hong Kong. Hong Kong is one of the most efficient cities in the world.

The problem is with digi01. Some of us at sgheadphones ordered and PAID for buffer board from mid 2006. That's six (6) months and still no boards and NO correspondence from digi01 except vague promises on forum boards. He does not respond to e-mail or queries on the forum.

I think he has no buffer boards made yet. He only has the SOHA pcb boards.

 

[headphonejunkie]

I want to apologize if I said the wrong thing or offended anyone. I am sorry. I am just anxious to get my SOHA and hear how it sounds.

 

[tomb]

Personally, I think Beijing only adds a week or two to the total shipping time. I have ordered some stuff from Hong Kong - Taiwan, too. I've shipped to both, too. It's all slow to/from this side of the world.

As for the SOHA board and Digi, DIY PCB's are typically not offered from multiple sources - at least during the same period.

 

[bhjazz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heady /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't think digi01 is in Hong Kong or at least he can't be shipping from Hong Kong. Hong Kong is one of the most efficient cities in the world. The problem is with digi01. Some of us at sgheadphones ordered and PAID for buffer board from mid 2006. That's six (6) months and still no boards and NO correspondence from digi01 except vague promises on forum boards. He does not respond to e-mail or queries on the forum.

You are only a bit correct.

Digi is in Beijing. And I don't care about American impressions of how efficient Hong Kong might be. The real problem, as stated in most of his forum messages, is China post. I'll give you an example.

My own pair of Soha boards were said to be mailed from him on Nov. 9. The postmark from China post was December 4. From there, it took another three weeks to arrive in the states. (For comparison, a package from the UK arrived in five days.) The label is correctly affixed, and even has "United States" shown at the bottom. I don't know how much more the man can do to get things out.

It is very unfortunate that you did not get your boards, and I completely understand if you are irritated. I know I would be. But there are a lot of people who do get parcels from him, even through China post, so there must be something working correctly. I really doubt that he would selectively decie not to send things to specific people. In my case, I was just another name in the crowd, so my case is a good test subject.

If you paid through Paypal, now would be a good time to file a complaint with them. I understand they are very quick to respond.

As for digi, I think he's fine to deal with. I am a bit concerned that his only way to ship items is through China post, but there are many stories already online that tell tales of super long waits.

I'm sorry you didn't get your boards. Please don't get me wrong. I don't know why digi is negligent in responding. Really. But I think that China post is the bigger problem. Unfortunately, Buyer Beware is in full force here.

 

[motherone]

I've bought various boards from Digi01 on 5 separate occasions. Sometimes the boards weren't shipped because they were undergoing a revision (my SOHA boards), other times he shipped them and they took 4-9 weeks to arrive. I have purchased other PCBs from folks in China, and they generally take a similar amount of time.

I have also purchased a few items from China that were shipped through FedEx, which arrived within a few days. I agree that the problem is most likely with the Chinese postal service.

 

[FallenAngel]

Not necessarily true on problems with the Hong Kong post office, I actually firmly believe it's the US / Canadian post office that does the ********. I ordered quite a few things form one of my favourite stores in Hong Kong and it takes about 4 days for it to leave Chine and get to North America, and it all goes downhill from there. It takes over a week / 2 weeks to clear customs and get into the national mail stream, and a few days at least after that.

I just had a package sent using Hong Kong Post and this is what I got in tracking:

Nov 16: Accepted in Hong Kong
Nov 24: Arrived in Canada
Dec 9: Finally arrived at my door

Of course between Nov 24 and Dec 9, after a few phone calls, all I got was "It's in customs, we don't know anything but it'll get there." type of responses from Canada Post.

 

[tomb]

I'm sure you're right - the Customs is responsible for most of the delay. I've never tracked the packages closely enough to determine the different points in the progress - only the shipping and receiving dates.

That occurs on both ends, though - if you're shipping instead or receiving.

BTW, no offense - but I've had US Postal workers tell me that Canada is the absolute worst - they won't let anything in. Depending on how you look at it, that could be a good thing or a bad thing.

 

[motherone]

Well, from what I could see, most of the delay were on the Chinese side of shipping. On postal packages from folks like PartsConnexion, or from some of the folks in Canada who sell boards on diyaudio.com, it usually doesn't take more than a few days to clear customs.

 

[Heady]

Gentlemen, I am not trying to run down digi01. I am merely stating the facts, in a sgheadphones group buy, we purchased both SOHA pcb and the assembled buffers in mid 2006. The SOHA arrived after a few months but the buffers have not.

I am just trying to say that digi01 may not have actually made the buffer boards he has offered for sale. I have not heard any one said they have received the buffer boards. Perhaps I missed the posts?

As usual, caveat emptor.