[jasonb]

It might not be a very common issue, but for the people that have had the issue it doesnt sound like a minor issue. If one person has been through 4 of them, then id say thats not good. 
 
Has anyone spoke to a Yamaha sales or tech rep about this? If so, what are they saying about this?

 

[stozzer123]

If someone goes through 4 of them i think its something up with that persons ears, they are doing something wrong or the conditions they are using them in. Probably should of moved on after the 2nd time.
 
I dont doubt this has happened but I dont think the failure rate is much higher than any other iem.  It just depends on whether or not people report it.

 

[H20Fidelity]

I have issues with my pair of EPH-100, i lost the sound in the right ear a couple weeks ago, blowing on it and general violence fixed it but now i have just lost the right ear, so far the same tricks do not help. I am kind of pissed since finding them and ordering them through audioaffair.co.uk was long and painful and i really like the sound. First and last time i buy anything Yamaha me thinks.
So, how does RMAing work, gotta go through Yamaha or the reseller? This sucks 

I'm having the same problem with my pair of EPH-100's where one driver has lower volume than the other. Granted, I went jogging in them (stupid I know for such an expensive pair of IEM's) and there was definitely some moisture build-up.

During the job, the EPH-100 shorted out but worked fine after it dried. Now, on rare occasions and without any moisture at all, one side either dies or has a lowered volume. Blowing into it helps for me.

It's too bad that these don't handle well with moisture to an acceptable degree. I really enjoy the sound and I absolutely love the design and exterior construction. 

Could anyone recommend another IEM that has a similar performance as the EPH-100's? Preferably something that is more durable with various conditions and has a similar construction.

EDIT: Oh, I forgot. Something that has similar isolation too would be great. And it'd be perfect if I can wear it while sleeping. I think I'm asking too much now

I noticed with mine when they did the moisture build up, it was from the moisture that remained in my ear after a shower. Ever since I experienced it 1 time, I always clean out my ears with q-tips now after a shower. I haven't had the build up again since I started doing this. 

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones that had this problem as it only happened once and since then they've worked and sounded great.  If you registered them with Yamaha you can send the IEM to them and they'll replace it.

Well the strangest thing has happened to my eph-100. The right earbud has suddenly lost a whole lot of volume and gone quiet however the next day all is fine and balanced again. It has done this twice so far, different sources and not listening at loud volumes...

How strange is that, normally something dies/breaks and stays dead/broken.

hi all.. been using the ephs for a few months.. totally love it.. something sinister happened 2 hours ago though.. the volume on the right side suddenly dropped drastically.. enough for me to think that it's faulty.. problem doesn't lie with the source (iphone 4s in case you're wondering) as there wasn't any sound even when i plugged it into my laptop..

and then.. miracle.. i went to take a shower.. tried it again.. and wow it works..

anyone experienced this before? i guess something inside is messed up and the problem will surface again.. problem is.. i bought my pair from audioaffair and im currently working in HK.. exchange is gonna be a hassle..

The same happened to me couple of time, and i think the reason is humidity. There is moist on the mesh after long listening periods, guess these phones are especially vulnerable to it

In a matter 10 minutes sifting from page 190 - 158. I found this many users with the problem. You can also add myself and ich1ban to the above (who has had four pairs) = +2 more users. Now, I could of gone deeper into the thread though chose not to because I feel that was enough.

 

[stozzer123]

Im through about 113 pages now, problem is to keep it monitored i take a note of everyone owning them and write down there name so I dont count them double as owners (Im only adding them when they confirm getting them not "oooooo im ordering tonight comments", because who knows if they ever did, so theres probably more owners than im giving credit to..  I slacked a bit because it was doing my nut in specifically reading all the comments to make sure if the issue was talked about.  Ill get back on it and finish up at the weekend.  Just looking for the issue would be easy but im trying to make a balanced picture of owners vs issues, Ill take the number of issues at word and from 158-190 will just check for new owners against my list, should definetly speed things along.
 
So far that puts it at 11 issues with 105 owners.
 
Still to count 77 pages for owners and 40 pages for defects.
 
My estimation so far is it will work out at around 7% fail rate, then take into account more people are going to come on and bitch rather than those that are happy (everyone can make there own assumption as to how that will affect output).  If it does come out at 7% here id put fail rate lower at about 1-3% (purley conjecture).
 
To further add some perspective on famous phones with issues:
 
Shure (many models) - cable failure
Brainwavz b2, dba-02 - cable breakage
Kilpsch S4 - Driver dying 
re0 - clicking
hje 900 - filters fall off
tf10 - falling apart
ha-750 - fagile (broken clamps)
Jvc - strain relief falures

 

[jasonb]

It is still a high failure rate. Do the same for the GR07 or the GR01 threads, or the R-50 or CKM500 threads and i think you will come up with a lot less failures. 

 

[stozzer123]

lol 97%-99% people have the opportunity to be satisfied with a product and 1-3% is a high failure rate........... head...... brick .........wall
 
oh and they offer a 2 year warranty as well btw.

 

[jasonb]

Quote:

lol 97%-99% people have the opportunity to be satisfied with a product and 1-3% is a high failure rate........... head...... brick .........wall
 
oh and they offer a 2 year warranty as well btw.

 
11 out of 105 isnt 1-3%.... And just because it has a long warranty doesnt make it a good headphone. If you spend more time dealing with warranty claims than actually using them then that doesnt really make it worth it.
 
Like i said, search the others threads of the popular IEM's i listed and you wont find 11 out of 105 failing. Ive been through most of the big CKM500 thread and dont remember reading about a single failure. 

 

[ich1ban]

 
Quote:

I see no logical reason why it would happen on the right side only for multiple people. I havent read this whole thread, so i didnt realize its only been the right side thats going out. Thats is definitely a bit strange.

Mainly the right side, sorry, forgot to report that it has happened to the left side a few times, 90% mainly right side though.
 
 
[size=small][size=12pt]Dear xxxxxx,[/size][/size]
[size=small][size=12pt] [/size][/size]
[size=small][size=12pt]Thank you for your email.[/size][/size]
[size=small][size=12pt] [/size][/size]
[size=small][size=12pt]For your case, our supplier replied us the headphone does not have any problems and we have asked them to provide the technical report to us.[/size][/size]
[size=small][size=12pt] [/size][/size]
[size=small][size=12pt]At this moment, we cannot arrange the exchange to you.[/size][/size]
[size=small][size=12pt] [/size][/size]
[size=small][size=12pt]Best Regards[/size][/size]
 
This is the latest email from the pair I bought overseas... lol. 
 
I asked if I could exchange it for a different CHEAPER pair and that was his answer.
 
I'm not going to accept the same pair back... what can I do about this? should I call up my bank and backcharge them? 
 
I'm sure those 1-2 times in the hundreds of times it's happened to your GR01 is also quite annoying jasonb(although you can actually fix the issue easily), you'd rather it never happen. First world problems... but it's a problem you don't want to get when you purchase expensive earphones... 
 
 

If someone goes through 4 of them i think its something up with that persons ears, they are doing something wrong or the conditions they are using them in. Probably should of moved on after the 2nd time.
 
I dont doubt this has happened but I dont think the failure rate is much higher than any other iem.  It just depends on whether or not people report it.
 

 
Yeh it's pretty much confirmed that it's the conditions the earphones are used in, non-dry ear canals. I'm not doing anything wrong with them as every other pair of earphones/headphones I have used are perfectly fine and the source of the sound isn't the problem either.
 
I probably should have moved on after the 2nd time just shows how much I enjoyed the sound and that it's also 100% natural user caused due to a design defect not catering for condensation collected on the insides of the metallic nozzle and build from ears on a minority of users. 

 

[cnaiur]

I used a digital camera sensor blower on them and the sound came back, along with better treble and overall sound.
Seems the right ear craps out on most people with the problem, pretty much everyone agrees that there is an obvious issue with condensation/moisture, i would say the design is defective, i might have wet ears but that certainly did not bother the various iems i used in the past, this is the first time i have an issue with audio gear now that i think of it.
 
I would really advise anyone considering buying them to look elsewhere, sound is good but not worth the risk.

 

[stozzer123]

Quote:

 
11 out of 105 isnt 1-3%.... And just because it has a long warranty doesnt make it a good headphone. If you spend more time dealing with warranty claims than actually using them then that doesnt really make it worth it.
 
Like i said, search the others threads of the popular IEM's i listed and you wont find 11 out of 105 failing. Ive been through most of the big CKM500 thread and dont remember reading about a single failure. 

Probably should have read the post a couple above you then to here my reasoning of 1-3% its right there 3 posts above so please dont patronize by stating that 11 out of 105 is not 1-3% either you didnt bother to read the post or are having an obvious dig.
 
The fact that it sounds excellent makes it a good headphone, the fact that ichiban persevered 4 times is testament to him liking the sound enough to go through a problem he has issues with.  Where did I say that it having a warranty makes it a good headphone, that is an excellent warranty period plain and simple don't twist my words.
 
I'm sure, as I stated, around 97%-99% of people get to enjoy them without having to make a warranty claim and are happy in the knowledge that they have that the warranty to back them up.
 
Yes you can maybe name plenty of phones with a higher failure rate, and I can name ones that may have a higher rate.  The point is a lot of very popular phones have issues.  And FYI there has been some reported issues on the gr07 having sound drop out of drivers 

 
Its kind of pointless anyway, the eph-100 is now pretty much dead in the water due to overhyping/exaggeration of the issues commonality.  Ill be happy with mine for now but a whole bunch of other people are going to be put off and its a shame because the sound excellent and for me are built like a tank and never failed even in extreme conditions.

 

[glac1er]

The EPH-100 has become an FOTM in my local forum, causing theYamahas to be sold out anywhere in Jakarta for some time. Still no report of broken EPH-100 yet in the forum. 
Mine is still working strong despite the humid weather. I have never taken them outside though.

 

[eke2k6]

It really doesn't matter how many people are affected. It's just like a rate side effect of a drug that may cause you to go blind. It may only happen to .3% of the population, but it's VERY significant to those who lose their sight.

What I'm seeing is one side being very vocal with their issues, while the other side downplays these said issues as insignificant.

 

[stozzer123]

Quote:

It really doesn't matter how many people are affected. It's just like a rate side effect of a drug that may cause you to go blind. It may only happen to .3% of the population, but it's VERY significant to those who lose their sight.
What I'm seeing is one side being very vocal with their issues, while the other side downplays these said issues as insignificant.

Thanks for backing up my point, grandiose statements such as comparing it to blindness are utterly ridiculous, also do you get a warranty on those pills. 
 
Of course it sucks if you experience an issue, and many many many other phones also experience an issue.  Where oh where oh where did i say the issue was insignificant, if it happens it plain sucks but the chances of it happening are probably no higher than with many other phones.   (Shure, Jvc,b2, panasonic etc etc etc)
 
What we are seeing now over the past 20 or so pages is
 
Issues been raised
 
No more people purchasing said iem because to them it will start to seem like it will definitely happen to them or at least a 50/50 shot (reality is more likely 2% or so chance)
 
Only posts being to the negative side of the phone, because new users are more likely to post rather than old ones who have no issue or have moved to something else.  
 
Simple as that.  Can people not see this or is it just that I work in the field of product failure and have a more balanced rationale.
 
Personally as long as mine keep ticking along I couldn't care less, its more an issue with the Head-fi mentality.

 

[sandwichman1973]

I have used my pair every day for months and months. No problems at all.
 

 

[eke2k6]

Quote:

Thanks for backing up my point, grandiose statements such as comparing it to blindness are utterly ridiculous, also do you get a warranty on those pills. 
 
Of course it sucks if you experience an issue, and many many many other phones also experience an issue.  Where oh where oh where did i say the issue was insignificant, if it happens it plain sucks but the chances of it happening are probably no higher than with many other phones.   (Shure, Jvc,b2, panasonic etc etc etc)
 
What we are seeing now over the past 20 or so pages is
 
Issues been raised
 
No more people purchasing said iem because to them it will start to seem like it will definitely happen to them or at least a 50/50 shot (reality is more likely 2% or so chance)
 
Only posts being to the negative side of the phone, because new users are more likely to post rather than old ones who have no issue or have moved to something else.  
 
Simple as that.  Can people not see this or is it just that I work in the field of product failure and have a more balanced rationale.
 
Personally as long as mine keep ticking along I couldn't care less, its more an issue with the Head-fi mentality.

 
How was my statement "grandoise"? I'm comparing the issue at large, not the EPH, to side effects of a drug. I was actually agreeing with you somewhat. 
 
All I've seen is defensive posts from you, basically stating that it sucks that these people have a problem, but it's not the EPH-100's fault. That's pretty much your argument.
 
2% or not, my point is that the statistics become irrelevant when you are the person affected, just like drug side effects.