[441879]

Thought I’d post my opinion on the Verum1 here for those interested.


https://www.head-fi.org/threads/verum-1-loaner-program-ttvjaudio-com.908287/#post-15012857

 

[Ripley]

I thought I'd share a quick update on my own experience with the channel imbalance issue. I picked up a pair of Verum 1s from fellow Head-Fi member SilverEars back at the start of May. They arrived at my doorstop incredibly quickly (within four days of paying!). I immediately fell in love with them, both for their quirky aesthetics (that head band!) and their sound signature, which to me felt like a larger, more open sounding Aeon Flow Open.

However, I quickly discovered they had a minor channel imbalance. This was easily apparent when I fired up the Spatial Sound Card app to test out the new headphones with some surround sound material. The center channel sounded like it was coming from slightly off to the left. Tinkering around in Equalizer APO, it seemed that an approximately 3-dB adjustment was necessary to re-anchor the center channel to dead center. Since I'd been following this thread, I knew this was a known issue that could be fixed.

I fired off a PM to Garuspik, letting him know about the issue (and that I was not the original owner). He suggested I test the headphone resistance to each channel before sending them back. So I went to Home Depot, picked up a multimeter, read about how to use it to test resistance, and then went to work. (It was trivial, actually.) I measured 9.2 Ohms for the right channel and 6.5 Ohms for the left channel, which Garuspik confirmed meant that my pair had an issue. He kindly offered to repair them, for the price of return shipping ($40). I thought that was a very fair deal, so quickly sent them out. (I was super impatient to get them back, so I paid $75 to send them Priority International.)

It took about ten days for the pair to make it to him, half of which was spent stuck in Customs in Kiev. (I mailed them May 22, they arrived at Customs May 29, cleared Customs June 3, and arrived at Garuspik's place June 5.) Once he received them, he instantly fixed them and sent them right back. They arrived back on my doorstep yesterday (June 17). Not only was the issue fixed, he also included a pair of angled, perforated leather pads. Very nice!

Overall, I was very pleased with the interaction. Even though I was not the original owner, Garuspik treated me fairly and promptly fixed the issue. I'm now listening to "Mombasa" from the Inception soundtrack and loving every second of it.

 

[tuby sound]

Received my headphones yesterday... Wrong color
Wanted the Zebrano silver combo - got the Boobinga gold combo

Dunno what to do, I ordered end of October and don't want to send it back and have to wait a couple of months for the correct combination to come back.

So fustrated right now

Kelvin

 

[Garuspik]

Sorry ;( I can send you a set of pads as a compensation or you can return and get another color.

 

[Th3Drizzl3]

Received my headphones yesterday... Wrong color
Wanted the Zebrano silver combo - got the Boobinga gold combo

Dunno what to do, I ordered end of October and don't want to send it back and have to wait a couple of months for the correct combination to come back.

So fustrated right now

Kelvin

lol i got zebrano and asked for carbon. after having them for a bit i decided i liked the zebrano and just kept them. the bobinga is really nice imo if it was a bobinga with silver i probably would have honestly picked that over the either of the other ones.

 

[tuby sound]

Hello,
Thank you for your reply

Still deciding if I "need" the other color or if I can live with it
I believe I get some kind of distortion out of my iMac. Need to try my amp when my cable arrives

Need to test a few things first before deciding what to do

Will keep you posted

Have a nice day
Kelvin

 

[Garuspik]

Sure iMac isn't the best amp for 8 ohm planars)

 

[SilverEars]

I thought I'd share a quick update on my own experience with the channel imbalance issue. I picked up a pair of Verum 1s from fellow Head-Fi member SilverEars back at the start of May. They arrived at my doorstop incredibly quickly (within four days of paying!). I immediately fell in love with them, both for their quirky aesthetics (that head band!) and their sound signature, which to me felt like a larger, more open sounding Aeon Flow Open.

However, I quickly discovered they had a minor channel imbalance. This was easily apparent when I fired up the Spatial Sound Card app to test out the new headphones with some surround sound material. The center channel sounded like it was coming from slightly off to the left. Tinkering around in Equalizer APO, it seemed that an approximately 3-dB adjustment was necessary to re-anchor the center channel to dead center. Since I'd been following this thread, I knew this was a known issue that could be fixed.

I fired off a PM to Garuspik, letting him know about the issue (and that I was not the original owner). He suggested I test the headphone resistance to each channel before sending them back. So I went to Home Depot, picked up a multimeter, read about how to use it to test resistance, and then went to work. (It was trivial, actually.) I measured 9.2 Ohms for the right channel and 6.5 Ohms for the left channel, which Garuspik confirmed meant that my pair had an issue. He kindly offered to repair them, for the price of return shipping ($40). I thought that was a very fair deal, so quickly sent them out. (I was super impatient to get them back, so I paid $75 to send them Priority International.)

It took about ten days for the pair to make it to him, half of which was spent stuck in Customs in Kiev. (I mailed them May 22, they arrived at Customs May 29, cleared Customs June 3, and arrived at Garuspik's place June 5.) Once he received them, he instantly fixed them and sent them right back. They arrived back on my doorstep yesterday (June 17). Not only was the issue fixed, he also included a pair of angled, perforated leather pads. Very nice!

Overall, I was very pleased with the interaction. Even though I was not the original owner, Garuspik treated me fairly and promptly fixed the issue. I'm now listening to "Mombasa" from the Inception soundtrack and loving every second of it.

Interesting. That Verum 1 you bought was purchased from another Headfier as I was the 2nd owner.

When I initially listened to it, I noticed a significant channel imbalance, and then later I notice the issue disappeared (or wasn't so significant). I assumed initially the one of the pads may not have been put on properly (or sealed all the way), kept an opening reducing the loudness on one of the cups.

Another odd behavior I noticed is, one channel would go out with a particular OTL tube amp. That was a very peculiar behavior as well.

 

[Garuspik]

and then later I notice the issue disappeared (or wasn't so significant). I assumed initially the one of the pads may not have been put on properly (or sealed all the way), kept an opening reducing the loudness on one of the cups.

Yes please, be sure to attach earpad properly on cup. It should sit inside the cup.

 

[tuby sound]

Sure iMac isn't the best amp for 8 ohm planars)

Reason why I'm waiting for my cable. I got a tube amp that will push the Verum easily which will rule out the distortion coming from the headphone.

Best regards,
Kelvin

 

[Ripley]

Interesting. That Verum 1 you bought was purchased from another Headfier as I was the 2nd owner.

When I initially listened to it, I noticed a significant channel imbalance, and then later I notice the issue disappeared (or wasn't so significant). I assumed initially the one of the pads may not have been put on properly (or sealed all the way), kept an opening reducing the loudness on one of the cups.

Another odd behavior I noticed is, one channel would go out with a particular OTL tube amp. That was a very peculiar behavior as well.

It's possible that the headphones were slightly jostled during the shipping from you to me, causing the imbalance issue to reappear. I'd be curious to know what caused the issue, and what the fix was.

To be clear, I definitely don't blame you (SilverEars) for anything. The imbalance was very mild. I'm not sure I would have noticed it if I had just been listening to my usual music. It was only when in the surround sound software that the center channel made the imbalance obvious. And now everything is glorious, so I'm a happy Head-Fi'er.

 

[SilverEars]

It's possible that the headphones were slightly jostled during the shipping from you to me, causing the imbalance issue to reappear. I'd be curious to know what caused the issue, and what the fix was.

To be clear, I definitely don't blame you (SilverEars) for anything. The imbalance was very mild. I'm not sure I would have noticed it if I had just been listening to my usual music. It was only when in the surround sound software that the center channel made the imbalance obvious. And now everything is glorious, so I'm a happy Head-Fi'er.

That's good that you got it sorted out. Now I'm wondering how it sounds now.

I notice that the sound became better balanced after I swapped pads, and put the original back on. Which made me think during the shipping of the headphone to me, the pads could have mis-oriented in the cup, resulting of leakage of sound on one side to become unbalanced sounding. The pads are attached by magnets, so I figure they are susceptible to this.

 

[omegaorgun]

What is causing the imbalance?

 

[Garuspik]

Imbalance was caused by imperfect contact between wires and membrane. All problems are solved now, and those who had such problems received a repair service.

 

[shanecoughlan]

Imbalance was caused by imperfect contact between wires and membrane. All problems are solved now, and those who had such problems received a repair service.

There is a lot of credit due to you, @Garuspik. You have communicated really clearly around this issue, the return service and so on. I know you repeated yourself many times as various events occurred or reoccured, but you were always most clear that

• the headphones come with a two year warranty and
• you will work to fix any issues,
• that postage to return headphones is $25~35 and is covered by the customer,
• but the headphones are returned with a nice (and more valuable) pair of perforated ear pads.

All, I think we should probably refer to this part of the thread in future to stop loops around warranty discussions. We have other topics (like improving our measurements of the size, like retesting the sound performance, like finding nice cases) to explore!