[zilch0md]

A brand new pair of T1 arrived today with some serious sonic problems.   First impression?   Total piece of junk.
 
This is what I'm hearing:
 
1)  There is an obvious buzzing in the left driver that resonates with signals that have a lot of energy around 2kHz, but it's not detectable, otherwise.  
 
2)  I've got almost no bass at all in the right driver - it seems to be entirely on the left side when playing most music.  If I use Bink Audio Test Files instead of music, to play equal-strength pure tones to both drivers, it's easy to determine that the right driver starts suffering a massive bass roll-off at about 250 Hz.  By the time you get to 100 Hz the left driver is easily 6 dB louder than the right driver.  Lower still it's pretty much all in the left driver with nothing in the right driver.
 
3) Even in the left ear, where the bass at least appears to be functioning, it sounds like crap compared to the same test files run through my LCD-2.  With the T1, selecting any of the test files at or below 100 Hz, especially, running the volume up and down while the pure tone is playing brings in all kinds of artifacts and harmonic frequencies that change as you change the volume.  The LCD-2 performs this test beautifully - with nothing but a change in SPL as I sweep the volume control back and forth while playing any one of several test files at or below 100 Hz.
 
All three of these problems can be reproduced on three different amps - DACmini CX, Meier Stepdance, and iBasso PB2.   And in either ear.  If I flip the headphones around, the problem swaps to the other side of my head - so it's not my ears.  

 
My choices are:  Return them to Amazon for exchange, return them for a refund, or register them and send them to a Beyerdynamics authorized service facility.
 
It's ridiculous that a flagship headphone could leave the factory with no evidence of quality control.  My impression of Beyerdynamics has taken a huge nose dive.
 
I feel like sending them back for a refund and leaving it at that, but my calmer intellect tells me that I'll be missing out on what a properly functioning T1 has to offer.  
 
Recommendations anyone? 
 
Thanks,
 
Mike

 

[Focker]

Take this for what it's worth, but I went to pretty great lengths to find out about Beyer's QC. My guess is that Amazon was the culprit, and you got a bum pair from a third party that was not a proper pair to sell. First thing I would do is see if the third party was an authorized Beyer dealer. Even if fulfilled by Amazon, it came from a third party in all likelihood. Second thing I woudl do is contact Beyerdynamic. They will respond to you within a 24 hr period and will be very helpful. 
 
I had that exact same thing happen with a pair of Grado RS-1s. The pair was damaged and was meant to be going back to Grado, but somehow it got sent to me instead. I know it's frustrating as hell, but I would honestly give Beyerdynamic (and Amazon) the opportunity to make it right. 
 
Sorry that happened to you, man...I buy from Amazon between 12-15x per month, but I try to avoid buying headphones from them anymore....especially flagship types. 

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

A brand new pair of T1 arrived today with some serious sonic problems.   First impression?   Total piece of junk.
 
This is what I'm hearing:
 
1)  There is an obvious buzzing in the left driver that resonates with signals that have a lot of energy around 2kHz, but it's not detectable, otherwise.  
 
2)  I've got almost no bass at all in the right driver - it seems to be entirely on the left side when playing most music.  If I use Bink Audio Test Files instead of music, to play equal-strength pure tones to both drivers, it's easy to determine that the right driver starts suffering a massive bass roll-off at about 250 Hz.  By the time you get to 100 Hz the left driver is easily 6 dB louder than the right driver.  Lower still it's pretty much all in the left driver with nothing in the right driver.
 
3) Even in the left ear, where the bass at least appears to be functioning, it sounds like crap compared to the same test files run through my LCD-2.  With the T1, selecting any of the test files at or below 100 Hz, especially, running the volume up and down while the pure tone is playing brings in all kinds of artifacts and harmonic frequencies that change as you change the volume.  The LCD-2 performs this test beautifully - with nothing but a change in SPL as I sweep the volume control back and forth while playing any one of several test files at or below 100 Hz.
 
All three of these problems can be reproduced on three different amps - DACmini CX, Meier Stepdance, and iBasso PB2.   And in either ear.  If I flip the headphones around, the problem swaps to the other side of my head - so it's not my ears.  

 
My choices are:  Return them to Amazon for exchange, return them for a refund, or register them and send them to a Beyerdynamics authorized service facility.
 
It's ridiculous that a flagship headphone could leave the factory with no evidence of quality control.  My impression of Beyerdynamics has taken a huge nose dive.
 
I feel like sending them back for a refund and leaving it at that, but my calmer intellect tells me that I'll be missing out on what a properly functioning T1 has to offer.  
 
Recommendations anyone? 
 
Thanks,
 
Mike

 
What a bummer!  How much of a deal was it? Was is amazon or a 3rd party?

 

[Timmyw]

My choices are:  Return them to Amazon for exchange, return them for a refund, or register them and send them to a Beyerdynamics authorized service facility.
 
It's ridiculous that a flagship headphone could leave the factory with no evidence of quality control.  My impression of Beyerdynamics has taken a huge nose dive.
 
I feel like sending them back for a refund and leaving it at that, but my calmer intellect tells me that I'll be missing out on what a properly functioning T1 has to offer.  
 
Recommendations anyone? 

I would say return for a replacement. You might regret it if you give up on them now.
 
Sorry to hear about your troubles

 

[zilch0md]

Thanks for the encouragement, Focker.
 
As yet, I've only given the short version of the story.  Here's the long version:
 
On November 18th, I had placed an order for the T1 from an Amazon Marketplace seller, Amazing Deals Online - not from Amazon - for $950.00.
 
When cautioned by a fellow Head-Fier regarding the possibility that the seller might not be a Beyer-authorized U.S. reseller and that I could find myself without a valid two-year warranty, I cancelled that order within 30 minutes of placing it - well before they had shipped it.  The cancellation went through, just fine.
 
Five days later, on Black Friday, I ordered the T1 again, this time from Amazon itself - not from one of their Marketplace sellers, for only $949.42 - well worth the wait to secure a valid U.S. warranty from a Beyer-authorized reseller - the price being pretty much the same.   But now I've received a piece of junk from Amazon, not from a Marketplace seller with fulfillment by Amazon.
 
But during those five days that transpired between November 18th and November 23rd, I tried very hard to find a published list of Beyerdynamic's authorized resellers - to no avail.  I ended up buying from Amazon (not an Amazon Marketplace seller) on the HEARSAY that Amazon  is an authorized reseller!
 
Just TRY and find a list of Beyerdyamic authorized U.S. resellers out there on the web.  So far as I can tell, it simply does NOT exist.
 
If you go to the main Beyerdynamic site, you can research who the U.S. distributors are (there are two of them), but when you go to either of those U.S. distributors websites, you CANNOT find a list of authorized U.S. resellers to save your life.  At least I cannot.  Please, anyone, dive in and let me know what you manage to find.  (Note:  Don't search for a list of Sennheiser authorized U.S. resellers, as the speed with which you find it will only make you more frustrated.  Sennheiser even maintains a list of non-authorized retailers!)
 '
So the obvious thing to do then, in the absence of a published list of Beyerdynamic authorized resellers would be to write each of the two U.S. distributors.  Go ahead - try that.  It's fun!  See how long it takes them to respond to a request for a list of Beyerdynamic authorized U.S. resellers.  
 
I finally got a response, from one of the two U.S. distributors - see this post I made on November 20th (if you've any patience left to suffer this story of trying to do business with Beyerdynamics).   
 
So, what has happened since?
 
That Beyerdyamics representative with whom I was exchanging e-mails passed the baton up to a sales manager while leaving me in the dark for a couple of days, not responding to my follow-up queries.  But finally, I got an e-mail from this sales manager who wrote (paraphrasing):  "This is too complex to discuss in writing - please let me know when it would be a good time for me to call you."   Really?  Fine.
 
That was just before Thanksgiving day, then Black Friday came and I ordered the T1 (tonight's jack-in-the-box) and a DT 1350 (not delivered yet), at prices that were too good to pass, while trying to establish communication with a company that expects me to write them and wait five days every time I want to know if this reseller or that reseller is an authorized reseller! 
 
Seriously, how reasonable is it that even the sales manager failed to answer my question:  "OK, if you can't give me a list, then how about this seller called "Big Value, Inc." - are they an authorized reseller? "   I still don't have an answer to that question.   Neither the first rep (who has since vanished from the face of the Earth), nor the sales manager (who wants to talk on the phone but could easily have provided a link to a list of resellers if such a list actually exists) has bothered to tell me whether or not Big Value, Inc. is an authorized reseller.  And that's AFTER the first rep asked me straight up to tell him which reseller was in question!
 
I am not impressed...   But now that I've bought two of their headphones without any assurance of having bought them from an authorized reseller, the first pair to arrive is a joke.    
 
I know that Amazon will take care of me, surely.  They have their act together.  And yes, I will call the sales manger, not that I'm any longer interested in a list of authorized resellers, but rather in his opinion of what I should do with this T1.  
 
I will report back with whatever he offers as an explanation for why it is so impossible to find a list of Beyerdynamic authorized U.S. resellers - and why he thinks it reasonable for prospective customers to contact them each and every time we're about to place a purchase to find out which, if any of the sellers who have the lowest prices, are legitimate, then wait days and days for a reply, or no reply at all - as has been my experience with the other U.S. distributor..
 
OK...  That was the long version.
 
I realize that for many, many satisfied customers, all this goes completely unnoticed as long as they...
 
1) Don't concern themselves with verifying the legitimacy of a reseller before making a purchase
 
or
 
2) receive a perfectly functioning unit that leaves them blissfully unaware of the dysfunctional inner-workings of Beyerdyamics' U.S. distributors.
 
Mike

 

[Focker]

Mike: Check PMs when you get a  minute. 

 

[zilch0md]

And for my 1000th post, I think it would be appropriate to remind myself:
 
 "Contentment is a choice made independent of circumstance."
 
(From my signature...)
 

 

[Lord Soth]

Dear Zilch0MD,

Why don't you simply return your T1 and get either a refund or a replacement?
Amazon has an amazing "no questions asked" return policy which I've utilized before many times.

Why go through this hassle of jumping thru so many hoops?

 

[kyledotroberts]

Yeah, I kinda have to agree with Lord Soth. I'd have just used the Amazon 30day returns saying they are faulty and leave it at that.
 
That is what makes amazon just flippin' amazing to deal with, especially for headphones or other audio/electronic equipment!
 

 

[shipsupt]

I would not get overly concerned with Beyer making good on a warranty. I have a used pair that I purchased with NO paperwork and they made good on a warranty claim. They impressed me with their customer service. I'm not saying that they are going to do that in every case, but I just want to share the good with the bad...

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Quote:

I would not get overly concerned with Beyer making good on a warranty. I have a used pair that I purchased with NO paperwork and they made good on a warranty claim. They impressed me with their customer service. I'm not saying that they are going to do that in every case, but I just want to share the good with the bad...

 
+1
 
 
beyer has pretty good customer support as far as warranties and repairs go. 

 

[the fool]

Beyerdybamic really has a very bad quality control in their T1 model headphone, in Taiwan there are quite number of cases report from buyers that their T1 having problems, at first I thought it is fault of distributors, but it looks like Beyer really is the problem, could not believe T1 is made in Germany, maybe made in China!

 

[zilch0md]

Quote:

Beyerdybamic really has a very bad quality control in their T1 model headphone, in Taiwan there are quite number of cases report from buyers that their T1 having problems, at first I thought it is fault of distributors, but it looks like Beyer really is the problem...

 
I have to say, that rings true with my very limited experience.  The performance of the T1 that came out of the box last night at my house is atrocious.  I cannot imagine how Amazon or any other party could be at fault.  Everything spanked of being absolutely brand new, so just exactly who is the most culpable party?  
 
I can only conjecture, but looking through the tiny straw through which I can see, in my obviously very limited experience, the probabilities suggest that the fool is correct - that Beyerdyamics' own manufacturing facility, wherever it is, has no concern for validating audio performance before the units leave the factory - but great concern for cosmetic appearance.  This could actually be intentional.  It wouldn't be the first time a manufacturer embraced a business model of maximizing profit by greatly diminishing quality control, then doing damage control via customer service downstream - where you only have to deal with those customers who can actually discern that a problem exists and who care enough to demand satisfaction.  Every bad unit that's accepted without complaint is money in the pocket.   
 
Jumping through hoops (as Lord Soth has discouraged) doesn't make sense to me either, despite wanting to hear what a "good" T1 sounds like. To do an exchange is to play roulette - no thanks.  To register the item and allow Beyerdynamics customer service do their thing is to play their game, bending over backwards, paying for shipping, making phone calls, waiting, waiting, waiting - all so that I, the customer, can accommodate a problem that gives every appearance of having originated in greed. 
 
Lastly - consider purrin's experience with Beyerdynamic T1 quality control:
Quoting one of purrin's posts to the DT1350 thread:
 

Your pair is probably fine. Heck, the success rate of "good" T1s is 3 out of 6 for me. =)

 
I can't wait to see how the DT 1350s perform - they're due to arrive today.  I'll keep them if they just sound the same in both ears - that's all they have to do - which will be a whole lot more than my T1 can do.
 
 
Mike

 

[knopfy]

Quote:

Beyerdybamic really has a very bad quality control in their T1 model headphone, in Taiwan there are quite number of cases report from buyers that their T1 having problems, at first I thought it is fault of distributors, but it looks like Beyer really is the problem, could not believe T1 is made in Germany, maybe made in China!

I can definitely say that the T1/T5p/T70/....are ALL made here in Heilbronn. Definitely NOT in China or any other asian/american or whatever Country. They are truly made in Germany.
 
If there are such defaults out of the Box, please contact the dealer or the beyerdynamic Service.
 
The T1 should definitely be the same on both ears as the Drivers are normally tested and selected throughout the whole Production Process multiple times and beyerdynamic is always interested - if there are multiple cases - to investigate WHY this happens...

 

[kyledotroberts]

I have both, and I'll be honest, I do love the DT1350's. Hopefully you'll have a similar reaction
 
(although bear in mind that you might have to adjust the position of them over your ears right when you first try them, but i just auto put them on 'right' nowadays every time)