IPodPJ
MOT: Bellatone Audio
Caution: Incomplete customer orders
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2006
- Posts
- 7,870
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I had to return my original Super.Fi 5 pro clears, because after 9 months they cracked, which I later found out was a defect in manufacturing. A few other thing I found out that were causing harm to the headphones were the soft case, the wiring wrap harness inside the hard case, and the cable was too thin and flimsy for most people.
So I receive my package back a few days later with brand new Super.Fi 5 pro clears.
So....UE rectified this by eliminating the soft case altogether. So bye bye to that. They also made this new hard shell case, that while may look nice and have a more attractive satin metal finish to it, has many flaws. First of all, it dents very easily. I wouldn't gamble stepping on these or even dropping them. They also don't seal very well. I had her send me another one which seals a little better but still not nearly like the original did. Why couldn't they just take out the wiring harness from the original, and keep everything else the way it was, higher grade construction and all. The third and MOST PROBLEMATIC of these issues is the black velvet bottom they put on the case. If you have a set of Super.Fi's and use this case [and while probably doing the same thing to all of the included tips] if you happen to use the standard silicone tips, you should know what I'm talking about.
Mass amounts of black lint fiber cling to those tips after being placed in the case, that take a bit to get all of them off. This indeed is a pain in the butt problem. I q-tip my ears every day, three times a day, and have no wax problems, but over the course of a working day, just through sweat, we build up little bits of liquid waxy layers in our ears. I think these pieces of lint are sticking to the waxy layers that adhere to the silicone. In addition to having to rub them down quite a bit to get all of this lint off [I certainly don't want it in my ears], you also have to wonder how much of this lint is actually entering the canals and potentially damaging your armatures.
Score 1 for Shure products here.... they have a metal screen that is replaceable and adheres to the tip of the canals to prevent objects like wax from getting in, but even the Shure screens may not protect against lint this microscopic and thin, and still wouldn't keep the lint from sticking to the tips.
[size=small]Is anyone else having this problem too?[/size] We need to know so we can address our concerns immediately to UE. I think they need to go back to their hard plastic case bottom [without the wiring harness if it was causing damage] or at least use some sort of foam or rubber, like they do inside their custom cases. This cheap velvet material is just a poorly made and not well thought out decision. Again, like I said, it may be less of an issue with other tips but if you use the standard silicone tips that are attached to the unit when you buy it new, those are the ones I use and so those are the ones I notice it on. Every ear builds thin layers of wax throughout the day - there is no avoiding that. It is part of being a human and having an ear. With that said, coming from someone who keeps his ears as immaculately clean as possible, I should not have to "de-lint" my silicone tips [with quite some effort] every time I take them out of the case.
We need an all-points alert here to the people at UE for new hard shell cases for all Super.Fi [and potentially Triple.Fi] products on the following grounds:
1) Velvet lint amasses itself to the silicone headphone tips when placed in the new hard shell cases with velvet case bottoms. Need to replace case bottom material with higher grade velvet, or switch to foam [as in your custom products cases] or rubber.
2) Manufacturing strength of case is just not of same integrity as previous model. It bends and dents easily, and also does not form a tight seal.
If you have this same problem, please share your thoughts here, and send all concerns to Customer Service at Ultimate Ears.
Here is the customer service phone number, as well: 800-589-6531
Thank you.
So I receive my package back a few days later with brand new Super.Fi 5 pro clears.
So....UE rectified this by eliminating the soft case altogether. So bye bye to that. They also made this new hard shell case, that while may look nice and have a more attractive satin metal finish to it, has many flaws. First of all, it dents very easily. I wouldn't gamble stepping on these or even dropping them. They also don't seal very well. I had her send me another one which seals a little better but still not nearly like the original did. Why couldn't they just take out the wiring harness from the original, and keep everything else the way it was, higher grade construction and all. The third and MOST PROBLEMATIC of these issues is the black velvet bottom they put on the case. If you have a set of Super.Fi's and use this case [and while probably doing the same thing to all of the included tips] if you happen to use the standard silicone tips, you should know what I'm talking about.
Mass amounts of black lint fiber cling to those tips after being placed in the case, that take a bit to get all of them off. This indeed is a pain in the butt problem. I q-tip my ears every day, three times a day, and have no wax problems, but over the course of a working day, just through sweat, we build up little bits of liquid waxy layers in our ears. I think these pieces of lint are sticking to the waxy layers that adhere to the silicone. In addition to having to rub them down quite a bit to get all of this lint off [I certainly don't want it in my ears], you also have to wonder how much of this lint is actually entering the canals and potentially damaging your armatures.
Score 1 for Shure products here.... they have a metal screen that is replaceable and adheres to the tip of the canals to prevent objects like wax from getting in, but even the Shure screens may not protect against lint this microscopic and thin, and still wouldn't keep the lint from sticking to the tips.
[size=small]Is anyone else having this problem too?[/size] We need to know so we can address our concerns immediately to UE. I think they need to go back to their hard plastic case bottom [without the wiring harness if it was causing damage] or at least use some sort of foam or rubber, like they do inside their custom cases. This cheap velvet material is just a poorly made and not well thought out decision. Again, like I said, it may be less of an issue with other tips but if you use the standard silicone tips that are attached to the unit when you buy it new, those are the ones I use and so those are the ones I notice it on. Every ear builds thin layers of wax throughout the day - there is no avoiding that. It is part of being a human and having an ear. With that said, coming from someone who keeps his ears as immaculately clean as possible, I should not have to "de-lint" my silicone tips [with quite some effort] every time I take them out of the case.
We need an all-points alert here to the people at UE for new hard shell cases for all Super.Fi [and potentially Triple.Fi] products on the following grounds:
1) Velvet lint amasses itself to the silicone headphone tips when placed in the new hard shell cases with velvet case bottoms. Need to replace case bottom material with higher grade velvet, or switch to foam [as in your custom products cases] or rubber.
2) Manufacturing strength of case is just not of same integrity as previous model. It bends and dents easily, and also does not form a tight seal.
If you have this same problem, please share your thoughts here, and send all concerns to Customer Service at Ultimate Ears.
Here is the customer service phone number, as well: 800-589-6531
Thank you.
