[sugarinthegourd]

OK, I ordered one of these from eBay a few weeks ago from seller ming0120_0:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=230159851169

While I was waiting, his eBay account was apparently suspended -- don't know why. After waiting a couple weeks, I emailed him to make sure it had been shipped, and got no reply. Well it finally arrived and I was relieved. It looked nice & appeared well made.

After a bit of listening I noticed that some things didn't sound right. Soundstage was terrible Sounded like super-crossfeed was enabled. I thought it must be my amp or a loose connection. Checked everything out & put a new battery in the amp. Still no soundstage. Then I tried plugging my headphones directly into the iPod. This happened to be a track with a wide stereo mix, and the soundstage was back! Went back to the amp and soundstage was gone again. I thought the amp was the problem. Finally I tried running a mini-mini from the ipod headphone jack to the amp and things sounded as they should again. Finally I realized it was the dock!

Short version of the story: Apparently this dock cable was mis-wired or has a short in it and both channels are getting mixed together. I have contacted the seller but have not heard back. Of course he doesn't fear negative feedback as his account is closed (I can't even leave feedback). So I have opened a dispute with PayPal and if that doesn't go anywhere will do the same with my CC company.

Thought I would warn others to avoid this seller if he reappears -- and if you have one of his cables, you might want to check it out to make sure it really works as it should!

John

 

[velogreg]

Thanks for the warning. Unfortunately, your experience is not that uncommon with Ebay now a days, hit and miss even with so many positive feedbacks.

 

[LawnGnome]

Why not crack it open then and fix the short?

It wouldn't be hard, there is only 3 pins connected inside a dock.

 

[sugarinthegourd]

Well, I don't think I should have to crack it open, but anyway, the entire inside of the dock plug is filled with a giant blob of hotglue or epoxy or something. It was not built to be repaired.

The cable has a pretty jacket though.

 

[LawnGnome]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sugarinthegourd /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I don't think I should have to crack it open, but anyway, the entire inside of the dock plug is filled with a giant blob of hotglue or epoxy or something. It was not built to be repaired. The cable has a pretty jacket though.

Yeah, I agree you shouldn't have to. But since it is of no use to you otherwise, you might as well try. Then it might not be a complete loss.

 

[braillediver]

Ever open an iPod and see how crappy the internal connections are? It's not a "high-fidelity" component it's consumer electronics.


Mitch

 

[sugarinthegourd]

Quote:

Ever open an iPod

Yes.

Quote:

and see how crappy the internal connections are?

No. I mean it's not hand wired or anything but it's a clean design, well executed and it works. It's not like they mix up the hot and ground wires or fill the case with gobs of impermeable goo.

Not sure what the iPod comment has to do with the subject at hand?

 

[spunkmeyer]

Sorry for your troubles. Hope that you can successfully dispute this charge. Shouldn't be hard to do through cc I would imagine.

Turbo does docks and cables for head-fiers. You may want to PM him for a dock. He does good work.