heh, here's the thing...granted, not everyone is extremely ocd about their $1300 IEMs. but.
=) your one also has the semi transparent black faceplates showing one driver one one side instead of solid opaque black like on the product page, right? (actually mine shows more on one side, less on another). Do you think it looks great too and 'adds character'?
I dunno what the deal is there but I'd probably say:
a) they pre-fabbed a set of the faceplate (unequal or not enough black dye or something? (i was told before - too much takes too long to dry?) - hence why they show through the facepate.
b) didn't QC them, and then it continued to be used even after the initial impressions earlier on. or
c) maybe mount the drivers at slightly different depth per earpiece (hence why they'd show up to a different degree on each faceplate).
I don't think basic aesthetic appeal appeal is too much to ask for.
pretty sure
the pic there is showing the same thing for the faceplate (next to the UM logo when zoomed in). and there was another one a few pages back.
How about the milling on the nozzles (dodgy ?). Is it that difficult to reject the scratched ones or request to re-polish them? Probably not.
=) I think vendors of luxury goods (very high standards/ocd) ($1300) need to be publicly beaten senseless with a large stick if they veer off the stated quality, customer service or product description (or even implied product qualities).
Stephen is generally good even to high standards and I believe he is likely to treat people unknown to him to the same level of service as reviewers or existing customers, and is consistently getting good stated build times from UMLab. And UMLab do a great job on having no bubles in the shell and polished finishes. The acrylic will get a bit scuffed after about a year of use, but what wouldn't.
I think Stephen can (and probably does and ) should beat the lab up about QC and attention to detail specifics like the faceplate transparency bits, nozzles, etc but it's probably tricky jugging orders, customers and UMLab with many 'dealers customers'. I actually think (from previous experience) you (I, or person X) can express your dissatisfaction about some of the above and he will agree to fix it if you hate it probably with a pretty good turnaround time and reasonable terms re shipping costs.
I hold UM to an even higher standard given they've had prior 'incidents'
(e.g. the BS semitransparent black faceplates instead of opaque). I'm intentionally grilling them about it here because I've previous had to return my stuff to UM and dislike rework where it should be avoided. Likewise I hate it even more when the same issue recurs, especially if I experience it as a repeat customer.
If you talk about kittens and rainbows all the time, interesting issues arise with quality, customer service, (anarchy) etc that I don't want to be on the receiving end of. If UM amends the product description/pics ('your milling can be dodgy, and your faceplate might not be opaque when you ask for opaque'), stop bring stingy and add some foam tips -> oh
wow they did... and maybe DF or TF ones clearly state the return policy for universals on the website etc (yep they've done that on ciem com) I'd be happy
. ^ see they do listen and I do say positive things.
That said while I have my Mentor for sale, I'm thinking I might withdraw it and sell the jh16fp instead. I switched to JH16FP for a day, The lower mids on JH now seem honky and I miss the general mids detail of mentor soon after picking up JH.
Plus the bass on Mentor when eqed matches JH but is clearer (less upper bass and faster) and more effortless while as more or as impactful when required. (or more neutral without EQ)
beside i saw the Silver poison vs Silver widow, and both were tested on the Miracle, here check it out :3
I would suggest give both a bit longer to determine which one is more suitable for you before selling one of them.
