[Evshrug]

I'm assuming this is units sold directly with Sennheiser and returned to Sennheiser and not including any resellers such as Amazon.

5 or 6 sounds very low especially if I'm 2 of those 5 or 6. I must be one unlucky bar steward!

I mean issues mentioned here on head-fi, in total. I don’t know where each was bought, nor do I look at up-to-date sales data. If you buy from an authorized seller, there shouldn’t be a problem. It’s unlikely that any are counterfeit from unauthorized 3rd party sellers this early in life, however that could be a possibility going forward (though the internals important to the sound of the IE 300 and 900 will be harder to reverse engineer cheaply and consistently).

But yeah, I’m very sorry you had extremely bad luck. I wanted to help reframe things for you, since you probably didn’t realize just how low the reported number of issues there have been (even if you don't consider how many were sold). Personally, I think working with Sennheiser customer service helps reduce the chance of repeat issues: they might be able to tell you what went wrong or with some other people maybe help troubleshoot and find an easy fix without needing to ship packages, and especially now when demand is high and stock is *ahem* selling very well it’s good to keep in mind that Sennheiser reserves some parts and units for service.

Your link is broken !!


Broken like my IE900 for more than 2 weeks now .. once you got a ticket and have send the item back .. you don't have anyway to reach them anymore !! so I have no idea what is happening right now !!! do I have to open a new ticket ?
It's really annoying, there is no way to ask anything about my ticket. Strictly no mail link available.

Sorry, I was trying to adapt a link for the US to international, I guess it didn’t work (I’m located in the US, I was aware that you were from France). Here’s the link for you (that you probably already used): https://fr-fr.sennheiser.com/service-et-assistance

I did see your support request here. I was hoping you had good news and went back to enjoying, but realistically the logistics of service take some time. I don’t have a direct connection to the customer support for your region, but could you send me a private message with your RMA number and your shipping tracking number? I would reach out for you and see if someone can forward the message to the right people.

 

[544592]

I mean issues mentioned here on head-fi, in total. I don’t know where each was bought, nor do I look at up-to-date sales data. If you buy from an authorized seller, there shouldn’t be a problem. It’s unlikely that any are counterfeit from unauthorized 3rd party sellers this early in life, however that could be a possibility going forward (though the internals important to the sound of the IE 300 and 900 will be harder to reverse engineer cheaply and consistently).

But yeah, I’m very sorry you had extremely bad luck. I wanted to help reframe things for you, since you probably didn’t realize just how low the reported number of issues there have been (even if you don't consider how many were sold). Personally, I think working with Sennheiser customer service helps reduce the chance of repeat issues: they might be able to tell you what went wrong or with some other people maybe help troubleshoot and find an easy fix without needing to ship packages, and especially now when demand is high and stock is *ahem* selling very well it’s good to keep in mind that Sennheiser reserves some parts and units for service.

Why mention counterfeits if you think it's way too early for them to be in existence?

I bought mine directly from Sennheiser's website in both occasions anyway.

Not everyone that has bought the IE300's or IE900's will be on HeadFi either.

The amount of IE900 owners on this thread are what, somewhere in the twenties? (Serial number in the thousands) and out of the twenty or so there's been 2 or 3 failures.

The large scale manufacturer, high volume sales arguement doesn't really matter, it's the percentage rate of failures. In these instances I'm seeing an abnormally high rate of failures (although my estimates are taken from online sources, forums, reviews, my own experience).

I dont see very many issues, total breakdown issues, with any other IEM mentioned in these forums, not anywhere near the same extent. From all headphones/IEM's/electronic devices I've had in the last 10 years not one has failed! (With the exception of minor software bugs/firmware upgrades). Yet two sets of IE300's go bad after a number of days. Strange. Even considering it's a basic single dynamic driver, no electronics, no crossovers, nothing, pretty basic thing to have issues with.

 

[newworld666]

Sorry, I was trying to adapt a link for the US to international, I guess it didn’t work (I’m located in the US, I was aware that you were from France). Here’s the link for you (that you probably already used): https://fr-fr.sennheiser.com/service-et-assistance

I did see your support request here. I was hoping you had good news and went back to enjoying, but realistically the logistics of service take some time. I don’t have a direct connection to the customer support for your region, but could you send me a private message with your RMA number and your shipping tracking number? I would reach out for you and see if someone can forward the message to the right people.

Thank you ...
I understand you won't probably be able to help a lot, but it's nice from you to try to do it.
I have send you a PM .. we never know, at least if I can get some info about what is happening.

Best regards
Marc

 

[Evshrug]

Why mention counterfeits if you think it's way too early for them to be in existence?

Because, since we’re talking publicly, I’m not only addressing you, and people will wonder. Sennheiser is popular enough that fakes have been made of past products, but people can avoid being victim of being tricked by substandard products by buying from authorized dealers (like you did) and the other authentication measures Sennheiser lists here:
http://www.sennheiser.com/about-sennheiser-at-a-glance-counterfeit

Being an early adopter and buying new are also ways to not get fakes.

The amount of IE900 owners on this thread are what, somewhere in the twenties? (Serial number in the thousands) and out of the twenty or so there's been 2 or 3 failures.

There simply isn’t any way for you to guess, which is why I was trying to give you an idea of how many units have been sold. Some people read threads like this, but never say anything. Head-Fi is the largest and most diverse headphone enthusiast community online, and high on internet search results for IE 900 reviews and customer discussion, so naturally this thread . This thread alone has over 2k replies, and 144k views. Community forums are not the best place to get manufacturer support, but people who have exceptional experiences, including your negative two with a different product, are more likely to feel like talking.

The large scale manufacturer, high volume sales arguement doesn't really matter, it's the percentage rate of failures. In these instances I'm seeing an abnormally high rate of failures (although my estimates are taken from online sources, forums, reviews, my own experience).

Last I overheard, the official company-wide customer support % was less than a percent. That includes any type of issue, like accidental damage or issues resolved with a little troubleshooting. The quantity of units in customer hands absolutely matters, it’s half of the data needed to calculate the percentage of failures. But even if you don’t consider percentages, I have been tracking how many repair requests have been made in this thread on a spreadsheet… there were just 3.

Thank you ...
I understand you won't probably be able to help a lot, but it's nice from you to try to do it.
I have send you a PM .. we never know, at least if I can get some info about what is happening.

Best regards
Marc

Thank you for the PM. I appreciate that you went through customer service, and though sometimes these things happen the best action we can take is to try

 

[544592]

So counterfeits still has nothing to do with our conversation at the present time, other than saying "buy now before the fakes are out".

Company wide warranty/failure % sheds absolutely no light on the IE300/IE900 side of things. These are "audiophile" products and probably make up less than 5% of total sales of ALL Sennheiser products.
----
Edit:
3 repair requests or total number of failures of IE900's, how many people are in the #IE900Club?

Have you done the same for IE300 thread?

Just so we have an idea of percentage, albeit based on a small sample.

 

[Evshrug]

probably make up less than 5% of total sales of ALL Sennheiser products.

I am trying carefully to give you numbers I have found, especially those publicly verifiable here on head-fi (serial numbers, keeping an eye on the posts about customer service requests). The data I am sharing is directly applicable to the IE 900. All I am advising you to do is carefully consider the basis for your perception, it isn’t as bad as you have been speculating after returning your IE 300’s months ago.

The only reason I brought up counterfeits now is because I anticipate people asking, and in this case I’m assuming Sennheiser will be responsible for resolving each issue since counterfeits are unlikely right now. It was an attempt to assure people at the present time ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[544592]

...it isn’t as bad as you have been speculating after returning your IE 300’s months ago.

So are you saying there WAS a problem but it's now been identified and fixed?

The data I am sharing is directly applicable to the IE 900.

As the sample pool is a small one I guess.

Anyway, I shan't take up any more of your time.

 

[Evshrug]

So are you saying there WAS a problem but it's now been identified and fixed?

No, I acknowledge your IE 300s probably needed service. Since you returned them to Sennheiser though, they were probably able to determine what was wrong.

As the sample pool is a small one I guess.

Anyway, I shan't take up any more of your time.

Ok, cool. I hope the rest of your day goes well

 

[ericpalonen]

So counterfeits still has nothing to do with our conversation at the present time, other than saying "buy now before the fakes are out".

Company wide warranty/failure % sheds absolutely no light on the IE300/IE900 side of things. These are "audiophile" products and probably make up less than 5% of total sales of ALL Sennheiser products.
----
Edit:
3 repair requests or total number of failures of IE900's, how many people are in the #IE900Club?

Have you done the same for IE300 thread?

Just so we have an idea of percentage, albeit based on a small sample.

@Gm7dha Some additional context: we monitor and report the positive and negative conversations we see here for further review and investigation within the manufacturing & development chain. There is additional quality monitoring through the dealer channel as well, though the pace is naturally different due to more parties involved. Sennheiser cares about your experience with the product and is actively listening. Trust me, not one person in the organization wants a failure rate above 0.0% so these matters are taken seriously, but they take time and there are so many variables. We're fortunate to have a great community sharing pictures and details of their experiences so they can be further refined and/or corrected where applicable.

Despite the use of probability terminology, purchasing an IE 300 or IE 900 is not a gamble. In a buzzing, active forum like this of course you're going to hear about a failure from a member. It wasn't the first time, won't be the last, for any brand here. The feedback loop is what keeps brands accountable and builds trust with the members. We're here to remind everyone that we'll do our best to make it right and that Sennheiser has no interest in bailing on you or your monies spent. Like @Evshrug said, we can help and provide additional context that the community might appreciate, but from a transactional perspective the best route to getting the experience you purchased back in your hands is to work with the customer service team associated with that point of purchase. Thank you all for your detailed feedback on these new products and happy listening!

 

[MATWIN94]

Any debate is a virtuous by itself and ends with the appropriate answer.. and this is a very appropriate and professional one ..

 

[vernSL]

Loving my IE300 so much, just pulled the trigger on an IE900. There's just nothing else I've owned or tried that is as comfortable as the IE300 has been for me and I find myself using them more than anything else. So I figured it was time to just grab an IE900. Can't wait to receive it!

 

[ericpalonen]

Loving my IE300 so much, just pulled the trigger on an IE900. There's just nothing else I've owned or tried that is as comfortable as the IE300 has been for me and I find myself using them more than anything else. So I figured it was time to just grab an IE900. Can't wait to receive it!

Happy to hear it! Welcome to the #IE900Club and don't forget to check out our IE 900 playlist to get started

 

[Evshrug]

Happy to hear it! Welcome to the #IE900Club and don't forget to check out our IE 900 playlist to get started

Oh yes, I need to update the title of that thread and add a few descriptive goodies for why I chose my song pics. I also just got the green light to create playlists in Apple Music, so soon there will be my Sennheiser playlists there, Spotify, and Tidal. The flow of community recommended songs was awesome to see as well, and I added a ton of those tracks to flesh it out with more variety

More to come!

 

[dougq]

Loving my IE300 so much, just pulled the trigger on an IE900. There's just nothing else I've owned or tried that is as comfortable as the IE300 has been for me and I find myself using them more than anything else. So I figured it was time to just grab an IE900. Can't wait to receive it!

I'm curious about your impressions / differences coming from the IE300. Congrats.

 

[gLer]

Loving my IE300 so much, just pulled the trigger on an IE900. There's just nothing else I've owned or tried that is as comfortable as the IE300 has been for me and I find myself using them more than anything else. So I figured it was time to just grab an IE900. Can't wait to receive it!

Congrats. I'm loving the IE 900 so much I'm now curious about the IE 300 as an all-day/travel alternative to the stay-at-home IE 900.