[HOWIE13]

  The left driver of my HP100 stopped working all of a sudden yesterday. Does anybody have any idea about what can be done here?

I had the same problem after 3 weeks use, only it was the right side.
In the early days of manufacture of the HP100 there were a number of reports of failure such as this, but I thought SoundMagic had improved their build quality.
If you are in Warranty I would get a replacement. I have had no further problems with the replacement in a year of use.
Good luck.

 

[KewlMunky]

Just got these in Monday, and I already my right driver is going out. It's about 1/3 the volume of the left side. Swapped the RCA's on my amp to see if it was somehow a channel messed up in my audio settings, but it was the same result. Tried plugging it into my computer with just the 3.5mm jack, and the same thing. Also tried my Fiio X5, and the results are the same.
 
Maybe it's the cable, but it's proprietary, so I can't test it. Guess I'll be contacting Amazon. Very upsetting, I'm going out of town this weekend and will be on the road for around 12 hours. I was looking forward to some good listening.
 
UPDATE: Return filed, and I will be shipping them back tomorrow. I was able to get another pair on order and to arrive by Friday for only $5 shipping. Maybe my time on the road won't be spoiled after all.

 

[reguax]

My HP100 started to sound lower from one side after 1 year of use. 
Since warranty was expired, I decided to investigate
It was an assembly problem. The wire was not properly aligned through the center of the slider and was very compressed at the point where the slider joins the headband. Only a few filaments survived
 
I had to replace the wire. It was not easy since it's a very fine wire, without jacket and there is not much space to work.
The path is difficult to follow. In a few points I just couldn't remove the old cable  so I had to look for an alternative route.
Now I have a nice piece of orange kapton wire coming out of each cup.

 

[KewlMunky]

  My HP100 started to sound lower from one side after 1 year of use.
Since warranty was expired, I decided to investigate
It was an assembly problem. The wire was not properly aligned through the center of the slider and was very compressed at the point where the slider joins the headband. Only a few filaments survived
 
I had to replace the wire. It was not easy since it's a very fine wire, without jacket and there is not much space to work.
The path is difficult to follow. In a few points I just couldn't remove the old cable  so I had to look for an alternative route.
Now I have a nice piece of orange kapton wire coming out of each cup.

 
I'm thinking that most likely a connection came loose inside of mine. Being I was still well within the return period, I figured I'd take advantage of it. I could have warrantied it through SoundMagic themselves, but that probably would have taken much longer.

 

[cj42]

Sorry for not being responsive, I've done nothing but work and sleep in the past 3 days.
 
The headphones were working fine all of the time without any distortion or whatsoever. I took them out of their bag few days ago, connected them to the amp (with Modi)  and discovered that there is no sound in the left channel although they were fine a day earlier. My amp (SMSL sAp-5) isn't powerful enough to blow up the drivers (and the issue is with one driver only, while the other one works perfectly) so it doesn't sound that its a blown driver, but on the other hand i just opened the cup, connected the cable, and tested the connectivity between the cable's 3.5mm connector and the solder points on driver and there were no connectivity issues. So it looks like there are other ways for drivers to die (or maybe i'm missing something?).
 
SoundMAGIC replied to me (their CS isn't bad after all), they'll fix it for 5$, but they'll only ship DHL which costs 55$ :/
 
PS thanks for the replies/suggestions

 

[TreblaX]

This kinda makes me sad to see so many people with build quality problems.  I just ordered the HP100's and I will hopefully get that order cancelled.

 

[Stillhart]

Hi all,
 
I just got my measurements back from Tyll on the HP100!  I'm happy to post the graphs here, but I'm not sure how to get the PDF uploaded.  Here's a screen snip of the freq response chart:
 

Apparently they're very sensitive to pad sealing.  And apparently, I have an impressive driver mismatch.  lol

 

[cj42]

  This kinda makes me sad to see so many people with build quality problems.  I just ordered the HP100's and I will hopefully get that order cancelled.

on the other hand, they're that good that they made me decide to ship mine to china to get them fixed! (i've tried M50x, HD598 , SR60i, k240 and i'd take the HP100 every day)

  Hi all,
 
I just got my measurements back from Tyll on the HP100!  I'm happy to post the graphs here, but I'm not sure how to get the PDF uploaded.  Here's a screen snip of the freq response chart:
 

Apparently they're very sensitive to pad sealing.  And apparently, I have an impressive driver mismatch.  lol

 
did he review them / give you any feedback about them?

 

[TreblaX]

  on the other hand, they're that good that they made me decide to ship mine to china to get them fixed! (i've tried M50x, HD598 , SR60i, k240 and i'd take the HP100 every day)
 

 
Yeah I've heard amazing things about their SQ and soundstage.  It's just I really wished there weren't any build quality issues.  I am on a tight budget and I'm looking for a good pair of closed headphones and I honestly thought the HP100's were the perfect choice.  Would you recommend any other headphones that are nearly as good as the HP100's in their SQ and soundstage aspect with better build quality (no common issues such as the HP100's driver issues)?

 

[Stillhart]

  on the other hand, they're that good that they made me decide to ship mine to china to get them fixed! (i've tried M50x, HD598 , SR60i, k240 and i'd take the HP100 every day)
 
did he review them / give you any feedback about them?

 
He didn't review them, just measured them for posterity and sent them back.  When I asked if he had any thoughts, this was his response:  "Pads are SUPER sensitive to seal, otherwise they're just okay."
 

   
Yeah I've heard amazing things about their SQ and soundstage.  It's just I really wished there weren't any build quality issues.  I am on a tight budget and I'm looking for a good pair of closed headphones and I honestly thought the HP100's were the perfect choice.  Would you recommend any other headphones that are nearly as good as the HP100's in their SQ and soundstage aspect with better build quality (no common issues such as the HP100's driver issues)?

 
FWIW, I've never had a build quality issues.  I love my HP100's, I've used them every day at work for about half a year or more and I'm still happy with them.  
 
I'm considering the Oppo PM-3 for an upgrade right now, but it costs twice as much and it's a planar magnetic vs dynamic, so a very different headphone.  I'm also looking at the new Audio Technica MSR7 that's on Massdrop right now.  Tyll has it on his wall of fame and at only $50 more than the HP100, it seems like a solid option.  I've been hearing some good things about the new Sennheiser Momentum 2, but that's expensive and I wasn't particularly impressed with the first one so no.
 
Under $200 tho, I wouldn't pick another closed can.

 

[cj42]

   
Yeah I've heard amazing things about their SQ and soundstage.  It's just I really wished there weren't any build quality issues.  I am on a tight budget and I'm looking for a good pair of closed headphones and I honestly thought the HP100's were the perfect choice.  Would you recommend any other headphones that are nearly as good as the HP100's in their SQ and soundstage aspect with better build quality (no common issues such as the HP100's driver issues)?

the only "good" closed headphones I've tried other than the HP100 are the M50x (which according to reviews has the same SQ as the M50, which is cheaper but without detachable cable), they're not very far behind imho (I'm in no means an audiophile and i'm relatively new to this world).
 
PS i bought my HP100 used and i've been using them everyday, everywhere, for the last 5 months. Its just the driver died on me for an unknown reason :/ (to be honest, i don't know how they broke with other people .. i've even slept with them on!)

 

[TreblaX]

 
FWIW, I've never had a build quality issues.  I love my HP100's, I've used them every day at work for about half a year or more and I'm still happy with them.  
 
I'm considering the Oppo PM-3 for an upgrade right now, but it costs twice as much and it's a planar magnetic vs dynamic, so a very different headphone.  I'm also looking at the new Audio Technica MSR7 that's on Massdrop right now.  Tyll has it on his wall of fame and at only $50 more than the HP100, it seems like a solid option.  I've been hearing some good things about the new Sennheiser Momentum 2, but that's expensive and I wasn't particularly impressed with the first one so no.
 
Under $200 tho, I wouldn't pick another closed can.

 
Are the ATH-A900X's comparable to these?  They're $160 and I have heard great things about their soundstage, build quality, and comfort.  Maybe they don't sound AS good as the HP100's but are they close to it?

 

[Stillhart]

   
Are the ATH-A900X's comparable to these?  They're $160 and I have heard great things about their soundstage, build quality, and comfort.  Maybe they don't sound AS good as the HP100's but are they close to it?

Sorry, I couldn't really say.  I've never heard any of the popular Audio Technica headphones. 

 

[cel4145]

Are the ATH-A900X's comparable to these?  They're $160 and I have heard great things about their soundstage, build quality, and comfort.  Maybe they don't sound AS good as the HP100's but are they close to it?

I'd say that the A900X are of similar quality/similar in class to my HP150s. I just don't like the wings. The cups tended to slip down on my ears occasionally.

 

[TreblaX]

Is the damaged driver and build quality issue just occurring in the hp100 or is it in the hp150 as well?