Deferian t1_je9bqmb wrote on March 30, 2023 at 11:00 AM

Reply to comment by AbbottsOnion in The right driver on my HE1000SE just died, again... by fgt-boi

Same. So many Hifiman headphones I would have loved to try/own. But at the price we're paying, durability should be very much consistent.

blorg t1_je9il29 wrote on March 30, 2023 at 12:11 PM

...says the Focal / Audeze owner

Deferian t1_je9jlcl wrote on March 30, 2023 at 12:20 PM

There are failures with every brand. But it would be a stretch to say that other brands have issues as widespread as Hifiman. And consistently across their models, too.

blorg t1_je9k0bg wrote on March 30, 2023 at 12:24 PM

I think they are very prevalent with Audeze and Focal. Particularly Focal, they were having driver and headband failures on certain models at an extraordinarily high rate.

They had to up the warranty on the Utopia to five years to try to reassure people, because they were crapping out left right and center. The Elex, even worse, a very high percentage of them were breaking. I have the Clear and Utopia myself, so nothing against Focal, but I'm more concerned about them than I am my Hifimans. Listen to this for headband quality.

random_LA_azn_dude t1_jee02od wrote on March 31, 2023 at 9:58 AM

Yeah, Focal headbands have a chintzy internal construction.

Remember the goo that leaked from Utopia stock pads and got into the driver chamber? This caused a number of driver deaths.

I'm also a Utopia owner (2020 edition).

blorg t1_jee0ui4 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 10:09 AM

I have the 2020 Utopia as well, on Head-Fi Focal acknowledged but also said they had fixed the driver death issue with the Utopia by that point (I hope!)

random_LA_azn_dude t1_jeff3fv wrote on March 31, 2023 at 4:48 PM

I saw that post too. Fingers crossed because I love my Utopia despite disliking most of the other Focal headphones that I've encountered (Elex, Elegia, Radiance, and Clear Mg, with the Clear Mg not being in my dislike bucket).