Planned obsolescence in headphones - 1MORE headphones

[square_wave]

Just an alert to the headphone community with regard to a bad experience I had with 1MORE and Headphonezone. Many headphone manufacturers give just 1 year warranty to their headphones. I had bought one of these 1MORE headphones and within 1.5 years, the cord gave way and one channel stopped working. This has happened to a friend of mine in the US too. And the service centre refuses to repair the cord even when I offered to pay for it. So you pretty much have to throw away a perfectly working headphone because of lack of support.

Another amusing thing happened. I wrote a followup review on headphone zone. The guys promptly deleted the review.

Moral of the story :

1. Stay with brands that give 2 to 3 years warranty. Most refuse to repair anything out of warranty period
2. I am not too sure of headphone zone now.

 

[Ashenden]

I had a similar experience with Sennheiser HD380 pro which had a 3 year warranty. Though sparingly used, the cord gave away right after 3 years. Fortunately since the cord can be replaced in my model, I could do so, else it would've been planned obsolescence or a heavy bill from service.

 

[firearm12]

I have got sennheiser ie8 since last 9 yrs. Thank God its got replacable cables and i have replaced it 3 times. I think cables are very vulnerable part for headphones. Never buy a serious headphone without replacable cable.

 

[ajuvignesh]

Just an alert to the headphone community with regard to a bad experience I had with 1MORE and Headphonezone. Many headphone manufacturers give just 1 year warranty to their headphones. I had bought one of these 1MORE headphones and within 1.5 years, the cord gave way and one channel stopped working. This has happened to a friend of mine in the US too. And the service centre refuses to repair the cord even when I offered to pay for it. So you pretty much have to throw away a perfectly working headphone because of lack of support.

Another amusing thing happened. I wrote a followup review on headphone zone. The guys promptly deleted the review.

Moral of the story :

1. Stay with brands that give 2 to 3 years warranty. Most refuse to repair anything out of warranty period
2. I am not too sure of headphone zone now.

Same fate with my old soundmagic e10 iems. Soundmagic india refused to repair but suggested for an exchange with discounts. Even after the discount, their price was higher than amazon’s price.

 

[Ashenden]

I have got sennheiser ie8 since last 9 yrs. Thank God its got replacable cables and i have replaced it 3 times. I think cables are very vulnerable part for headphones. Never buy a serious headphone without replacable cable.

What is the condition of ear cups and padding on the headband? Mine has come off within a year of buying. Don't know what material they use, but it's of poor quality for sure.

Never buy a serious headphone without replacable cable

Do IEMs come with replaceable cable?

 

[firearm12]

What is the condition of ear cups and padding on the headband? Mine has come off within a year of buying. Don't know what material they use, but it's of poor quality for sure.

Earcups are fine. Nothing happened to them. But they can be replaced ir substituted if needed is suppose

 

[Ashenden]

Earcups are fine. Nothing happened to them. But they can be replaced ir substituted if needed is suppose

OK. I thought it was an over-ear model.

 

[firearm12]

Do IEMs come with replaceable cable?

Yes i have seen many iem with replaceable cables though it may be more in high end iem. shure, ultimate ears are some brands i remember. Sennheiser Ie8 also come with replaceable cable.

 

[square_wave]

Do IEMs come with replaceable cable?

Yes, but only the high end ones costing upwards of 15k.

It is such a pain to see electronic items that we are forced to throw away just because of these planned obsolescence practices which gain these remanufacturers higher revenue. They end up in the ocean and in the throat or neck of some poor dolphin

 

[Ashenden]

Yes, but only the high end ones costing upwards of 15k.

It is such a pain to see electronic items that we are forced to throw away just because of these planned obsolescence practices which gain these remanufacturers higher revenue. They end up in the ocean and in the throat or neck of some poor dolphin

Yes. Sad but true. It applies to all equipment, including electrical [FMEGs]. For the sake of boosting stock valuations they resort to these tricks. Other than the original iPod classic and old Nokia phones, I don't remember any handheld device I bought that has lasted over a decade and still works

 

[hifitoaster]

Just an alert to the headphone community with regard to a bad experience I had with 1MORE and Headphonezone. Many headphone manufacturers give just 1 year warranty to their headphones. I had bought one of these 1MORE headphones and within 1.5 years, the cord gave way and one channel stopped working. This has happened to a friend of mine in the US too. And the service centre refuses to repair the cord even when I offered to pay for it. So you pretty much have to throw away a perfectly working headphone because of lack of support.

Another amusing thing happened. I wrote a followup review on headphone zone. The guys promptly deleted the review.

Moral of the story :

1. Stay with brands that give 2 to 3 years warranty. Most refuse to repair anything out of warranty period
2. I am not too sure of headphone zone now.

If manufacturer doesn't have service centers in India, it's safe to ignore that brand itself. Headphone zone is not to blame here, since out of warranty a store doesn't have to care about the complaints there after. They can do it to satisfy a customer, but again it's not obligatory. Rant on 1 more is reasonable.


But deleting a negative review is not fair.

 

[square_wave]

If manufacturer doesn't have service centers in India, it's safe to ignore that brand itself. Headphone zone is not to blame here, since out of warranty a store doesn't have to care about the complaints there after. They can do it to satisfy a customer, but again it's not obligatory. Rant on 1 more is reasonable.


But deleting a negative review is not fair.

They do have a service centre in India. I dealt with them only.

Warranty - > Replace or repair free of charge

Out of warranty - > Repair for a charge

With regards to warranty or planned obsolescence, my rant is against the brand only.

 

[spirovious]

Do not worry about chord issue as it can be changed.l have replaced cables in my some of headphones myself.Its easy DIY.Problem can be getting exact same cable.Sometimes cable 3.5mm pin is an issue and before opening headphone assembly, cut that pin and solder a good quality new one once chord issue is confirmed.
Sometimes driver itself can blow off.I have changed ATH-M50 both drivers myself which I ordered from Company (U.S.).
There may be ytube video about repairing these.

 

[Vinod.R]

Moral of the story. Buy over the ear or on the ear headphones. Easier to replace the cord if it goes. Replaceable cord types are the best. Small ones, the cord is difficult to replace. I have two Xiaomi IE phones on which the cord is beginning to go to pot. They still work but I don't know how to replace them. Or better still buy cheap headphones (not necessarily high quality sounding) and Use and throw. or better Bluetooth headphones. At least no cord!!!