[Anaxilus]

I'm worried the drivers were abused.  All too familiar story about IEMs loaned out to friends.

 

[LFF]

Quote:

I'm worried the drivers were abused.  All too familiar story about IEMs loaned out to friends.

Yup! More often than not that's the main reason for DOA IEM's from non-audiophile friends.

 

[AngryBaconGod]

Ohman just ran into a disaster with my DBA02s. Lent them to a friend for a week, he said he kept them in a dry box most of the time when they weren't in use. I got them back today and they were busted, extremely soft now. Sound still comes through but its as if its playing through water or a wall or something. Anyone knows what might have happened? :/ My friend says they were fine till he returned them me and I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt :/

It does rather sound like your "friend" is trying to dodge financial responsibility for damaging your IEMs...

Is it one ear, or both?

 

[dogears]

Check if he stuffed some cotton or foam in the nozzle - he might tried to kill the 'sibilance'

 

[8xOverMsOctober]

Quote:

Nope, both filters still intact. A first gen version with the paper-ish filters right at the top, nothing can get in.  . . .

 
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Check if he stuffed some cotton or foam in the nozzle - he might tried to kill the 'sibilance'

There's probably a good chance that nothing is stuffed in the nozzle.

 

[PretentiousFood]

Silly question, but how exactly would you go about "abusing" the drivers, or damaging the crossovers, or really harming anything but the cable? It's all passive. Unless they plugged it into a source with DC offset and something melted, can you really damage something other than the cable without damaging the enclosure as well? Sounds more like a failed unit., barring cable damage.

 

[ichbinder]

Quote:

I'm worried the drivers were abused.  All too familiar story about IEMs loaned out to friends.

 
Quote:

Silly question, but how exactly would you go about "abusing" the drivers, or damaging the crossovers, or really harming anything but the cable? It's all passive. Unless they plugged it into a source with DC offset and something melted, can you really damage something other than the cable without damaging the enclosure as well? Sounds more like a failed unit., barring cable damage.

As I am getting my second pair of nice IEMs and I want to keep them in a good shape for as long as possible, this is interesting to know. It sounds like this damage could be caused by wrong usage? What would that be?
 
Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
 
 

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

Silly question, but how exactly would you go about "abusing" the drivers, or damaging the crossovers, or really harming anything but the cable? It's all passive. Unless they plugged it into a source with DC offset and something melted, can you really damage something other than the cable without damaging the enclosure as well? Sounds more like a failed unit., barring cable damage.

OK, put on some crap mastering like most of todays pop music.  Plug the DBA or any phone into your desktop receiver.  Press play and crank the knob to max volume and let the clipping and distortion do its work.  Comeback in a day or two and see how it sounds.  Better yet, plug your sensitive IEMs into the jack on your airplane seat and listen to in-flight music at max volume and wait for the Captain to make a few announcements.  Enjoy.
 
Electrical engineering is more than DC offset I believe.  
 
(On a side note, I don't get why a subject that involves quarks and quantum mechanics is always simplified.  Topic for another forum.)
 

 

[ahmadmfz]

Send it for warranty?

 

[AngryBaconGod]

Silly question, but how exactly would you go about "abusing" the drivers, or damaging the crossovers, or really harming anything but the cable? It's all passive. Unless they plugged it into a source with DC offset and something melted, can you really damage something other than the cable without damaging the enclosure as well? Sounds more like a failed unit., barring cable damage.

Certainly with conventional speakers and crossovers, too much power can cause damage. You can directly damage the crossovers, and if there's also clipping from the input source you will generate higher frequency harmonics which, along with too much power (which is more likely to occur with clipping), can overheat and kill tweeters.

Can't say I know how BA's work, but the crossover is certainly suspect if nothing else.

 

[goodvibes]

Crossover probably can take more that the tweeter driver and it's probably just one cap here. Lets see, They're owned for a year without issue, they get lent out and now BOTH channels sound dull. Must be a coincidence that 2 transducers failed in exactly the same way at the same time. LOL

 

[svyr]

Finally got my pair - a bit difficult to get a good fit and the straight 3.5mm plug is really annoying (and looks flimsy), but other than that - more than decent for the money.

 

[Nightslayer]

Hmm thing is he IS an audiophile, he took my DBAs while I got his SM3s. Only difference is that his SM3s went back they way he got them.. And actually the thing about the tweeters being damaged sounds quite accurate, the sound IS dull with a lack of any attack in the sound whatsoever. But the queer thing is that the trebles are still there, sort of. :/ AFAIK he only plays music out of his iPod though, so how in the world could they have been damaged? Also, considering that both filters are still intact that kinda eliminates any possibility of things going down the nozzle yes? Thanks for the suggestions so far guys! 
 

 

[goodvibes]

Filters may be dirty. If the tips fit is different than his sm3s, he may have waxed yours. The filters may be clogged and that's what folks mean by checking them. From your description, it shouldn't be the drivers but stuff happens. Weren't people having moisture issues with these where drying them out helped?
 
 

 

[Nightslayer]

Quote:

Filters may be dirty. If the tips fit is different than his sm3s, he may have waxed yours. The filters may be clogged and that's what folks mean by checking them. From your description, it shouldn't be the drivers but stuff happens. Weren't people having moisture issues with these where drying them out helped?
 
 

You, my good sir, are a genius. I thank you for clarifying, cleaned em out and they sound great now.