[xenochimera]

hey guys got my triples today..now on the box it says made in china. no knocks against chinese products but this is an high quality product, like how HD650s are made in Ireland?? and higher end AKGs are still made in Austria? sooo did i get fakes or what?

 

[IPodPJ]

You didn't get fakes. Their universal line of IEMs are made overseas. Only their custom-fit IEMs are made locally in their Southern California facility.

 

[NeObliviscaris]

I thought the same, I was somewhat dissapointed to see Made in China thought, was really hoping it was made in USA

 

[qqbingbing]

Is there anything wrong of being made in China?

 

[xenochimera]

no nothing wrong with it since it sounds great, 2 year warranty from UE. but it has the price tag of something made in USA. lets take mountain bikes for example. i own a giant reign, which is a taiwanese company and the bike was made there. now its an extremely versatile and tough bike, but it was also very cheap. now my friend owns a santa cruz nomad, its a bike made in USA, his frame cost more than my entire bike assembled. because the cost of producing things are cheaper overseas, i was not expecting these to be made in china.

 

[NeObliviscaris]

yeah

sounds fantastic and i am happy right now

 

[fdhfdy]

My jp freind bought a cannon camera in japan and it is made in China. It's been working right for 3 years till now and I got a kodak one which made in US, it couldn't work after one year using.

 

[Spyro]

I'd be far more concerned about the quality of raw materials than the labor. Also, Chinese women tend to be petite and have very small hands with far better dexterity than us Americans. Much better for assembling small products.

 

[NiceCans]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fdhfdy /img/forum/go_quote.gif My jp freind bought a cannon camera in japan and it is made in China. It's been working right for 3 years till now and I got a kodak one which made in US, it couldn't work after one year using.

moral of the story:
1) they can make crap anywhere in the world with the same level of 'expertise'
2) price and quality are not always proportional

 

[Cankin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xenochimera /img/forum/go_quote.gif no nothing wrong with it since it sounds great, 2 year warranty from UE. but it has the price tag of something made in USA. lets take mountain bikes for example. i own a giant reign, which is a taiwanese company and the bike was made there. now its an extremely versatile and tough bike, but it was also very cheap. now my friend owns a santa cruz nomad, its a bike made in USA, his frame cost more than my entire bike assembled. because the cost of producing things are cheaper overseas, i was not expecting these to be made in china.

The reason why UE(as well as others) make their products in Asia is to ensure that the maximum profit be captured, they aren't trying to lower the price you pay

 

[Jelle Schrijver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiceCans /img/forum/go_quote.gif moral of the story: 2) price and quality are not always proportional

Well, there are only 2 manufactures of Balance Armature drivers i know of. Knowles (most used for iem) and sonion. The cost of a iem is a very simple equesion. The drivers cost like 10 dollar a piece. See here. So for a dual iem it comes down to roughly 40 dollar. Add some cents for electronics and internal cabling wires. A few dollar for housing and external cable/plug (ever noticed that almost all IEM has the same shape/size plug). And a a lot of dollars for marketing. And you've got yourself a killer in-ear.
The filter is a different story and makes it hard for a diy too build these baby's yourself. As in the etyomitics, you can use dens foam to temper the high frequencies.

knowles advises the following drivers for in-ear use. These comes from a email of them:
Part # Description

ED-23619-000 Standard ED receiver

ED-26821-000 Back-vented ED receiver; improved low-frequency performance

BK-28507-000 Standard BK receiver; physically larger than ED receiver so will have higher output/improved low-frequency performance

BK-26824-000 Back-vented BK receiver; improved low-frequency performance

WbHC-23910-000 Wideband HC receiver; extended high-frequency performance

TWFK-30017-000 NEW Hi-Fi FK receiver (Tweeter/Woofer FK); extended low-frequency and high-frequency performance

I have attached our BF series Acoustic Dampers datasheet. BF Damped Coupling Tubes are used in ITE applications between the receiver output port and the ear mould sound outlet; they provide a modified acoustic horn to reinforce the receiver’s high frequencies, and can act as a practical wax guard. Technical Bulletins TB-6 and TB-14 (attached) provide useful information on the effects of acoustic damping plugs on receiver response.

Regarding frequency response, if you use just one receiver per ear mould (‘single-driver’), you can expect to achieve a frequency response of 40 Hz – 16 KHz. A balanced ‘dual-driver’ in-ear monitor system (using two receivers per ear mould) should yield a 20 Hz – 18 KHz frequency response. In a dual-driver in-ear monitor, the larger of the two receivers handles the low frequencies; the smaller receiver handles the high frequencies. The dual-driver arrangement provides lower distortion and higher power handling than the single-driver design. A passive crossover network is necessary so that the small receiver handles only the high frequencies, and the large receiver handles only the low frequencies. Details of passive crossover networks and resistor/capacitor values can be found on the internet.

 

[fdhfdy]

the first would be expensive and rest are just modular copies

 

[Spyro]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xenochimera /img/forum/go_quote.gif no nothing wrong with it since it sounds great, 2 year warranty from UE. but it has the price tag of something made in USA. lets take mountain bikes for example. i own a giant reign, which is a taiwanese company and the bike was made there. now its an extremely versatile and tough bike, but it was also very cheap. now my friend owns a santa cruz nomad, its a bike made in USA, his frame cost more than my entire bike assembled. because the cost of producing things are cheaper overseas, i was not expecting these to be made in china.

But the price has come down dramatically. They were introduced at $399 and are now selling for $260'ish?

I also presume there are HUGE R & D costs to launch a high level IEM. (Just ask Westone about Westone 3) They need to try to recapture these costs THEN make profit after that. It's a VERY small market for these as well. I'd be shocked if they even sold 5,000 a year. I bet they make much more money on the mid-level Super Fi Pro due to volume.

 

[berniebennybernard]

As long as the item has been confirmed legit, why go through all this hassle of wondering if it's cheap or bad? Be happy.

 

[Al4x]

sounds great, 2 yr warranty, im happy