Headphone manufacturers are the lowest IQ demographic on Earth

I'm not talking about brands. I am literally referring to the assholes that micro solder the micro wire on the piece of crap jacks with what I assume is a mixture of Flint tapwater and Chinese saliva. Woopsie that's mono! Not stereo!

Let me meet a person that works for Uniden in real life I'm going to give them a new job at Uniball. I'll probably have a martini afterwards.

I want you to refund me the time I spend without music, with time from your lifespan, not money. I want to be there when you're on your death bed, so I can hawk a lugi down your throat that chokes you to death just a few hours before you were supposed to die.

I have shredded about 30 headphones, wires, etc... I get it, I'm an abusive headphoner person.

It probably adds up to the thousands what I have spent just trying to enjoy some damn music.

Here's a list of my favorite failures:

Sentry earbuds - Because the Metallix drivers were the best we ever made, until woopsie, we switched partners and the new guys "made improvements"
Screw you. Go back to your original supplier for the Metallix. Did you bastards not realize you were getting Bose quality earbuds for dollar store prices? Jesus. Now they sound like the library provided headphones circa 1995.

Uniden - Everything we touch is either crap out of the box, or we screwed up!

Seriously. I buy 5 Uniden products involving audio, if 2 are in GOOD working condition? That's above their quota.
My recent purchases from Uniden were mostly auxiliary audio cables to keep my decent audio gear going.
Holy blind sign language. 1. Only ONE of 5. Don't even waste your money. If you're about to buy a Uniden WIRE, just kill yourself. That's kind advice in this situation.
Better yet, buy a lottery ticket. If you're going to throw money away, might as well have a shot at getting something out of it. Uniden if you somehow see this, do not contact me. They could offer me a million dollars, I'd ignore them. If anyone asks why I passed up the million dollars I'll just explain that when they called me to offer it to me, I was using a Uniden audio cable for my headset. Didn't hear a word they said.

Can some Jesus Master Chief Norris Godzilla Super Saiyan out there please for the love of Christ make a headphone set that produces quality sound AND has nice big ass wires with nice big ass connections to the jack. So if I do break it, I can actually fix it without a davinci heart surgery robot?

a reply to: Archivalist

Those ten year old kids get tired of soldering after working 16 hour days...
Cut em some slack...

But yeah, they suck..

a reply to: Archivalist

This was a funny rant my armchair warrior friend.
The part that talked about you getting your time back was awesome!

a reply to: Archivalist

Lmao

Thats funny sh*t

Wow, I don't know where to begin, with the fact you are so angry or that you let yourself get so angry when there are maybe 500 other manufacturer's out there. Who is making you buy "Uniden"?

Second, why not just cut the end of and add a new jack yourself - seems like a plausible option.

I just don't know why you have stayed with the brand so long if you hate them so much.

Buy headphones that cost more than $5 from a real brand and you won't have this problem.

I've been using a pair of JVC RX700s for 10 years and they're still going strong.

I basically find a driver I enjoy, and then stick with it through all the breaks.

At some point, I end up with a unit that has everything replaced except the drivers. Then I usually give them to someone I know and start over. I enjoy the process.

I do like how many products are now using systems that make things like replacing wires super easy.

a reply to: Archivalist

I've got some Sony extra bass headphones, now usually Sony is crap to me..but these ones have lasted me a while. They sounded amazing at first, now they still sound great but not amazing. The wires have been chewed, pulled and the headphones thrown around by my kid. They still work great.

The model I got is MDR-XB950, I highly recommend them from my personal experience.

a reply to: Serdgiam

Where? I need some jacks and some real equipment. These micro wires are a pain in the ass without a set of clamp arms and sandpaper. I was trying to get a jack resoldered to a g430 set with a soldering gun and a set of pliers. If I can't hold it steady with fresh copper I should just shoot myself because this is bogus homie.

How do you abrase microwire without sandpaper?

I heard putting electro-magnets inside your skull can make you moody.

What are your thoughts?

It probably has something to do with the replacement of lead with harder metals in the soldering in consumer electronics. Lead being a fairly "soft" metal meant that in the past the connections would hold up longer and be more shock resistant. With the removal of lead from most consumer products, the connections are going to be much poorer, as well as much more brittle.

a reply to: Archivalist

There are a lot of different routes to take, from using what's there to replacing everything.

My thought process is that if I'm going to be replacing something, I might as well improve it.

Have you used sites like Mouser or Digikey? They are good options for parts (like jacks), though I think you can get them on Amazon too.

"Helping hands" are super useful, but when I'm doing something very fine I try to use heatsinks as clamps (there are a ton of different kinds). Ill melt a tiny bit of solder on both surfaces, heat it just enough to stick, put the heat sink clamp on it and do the final joint.

If that's not possible ill frequently jump to superglue and use it on surfaces that wont be in the signal path. All it needs to do is hold it in place while soldering (and watch out for fumes).

I have been known to make jigs too. A lot, actually..

There are a lot of different tips when it comes to soldering irons, some VERY small. Trying to use an actual soldering gun will probably be tricky though.

Id use a dremel on the wire, just make sure you point the end of the wire with the spin. Speed and repetition will do the work since pressure cant. I generally put the dremel in a vise for this type of work.

Though, if I didn't need to keep it for some reason, I'd probably just get new wire that's easier to work with. That said.. its tiny stuff to work on, no matter what.

originally posted by: Archivalist
Did you bastards not realize you were getting Bose quality earbuds for dollar store prices?

You had me until that. Bose headphones sound like crap.

Why not just get something with replaceable cables ? The only reason to take out the soldering iron should be if you are making improvements to the headphones.

But here is a couple suggestions for headphones that have decent cables or replaceable cables and will not break the bank.

BTW I am disgustingly hard on headphones and earbuds.

Sony 7506's / V6's have big ass wires that will probably NEVER need replacing (I gigged mine for over 15 years and have only needed to replace the earpads)

Price range :$65 - $90

KZ ZST / ZS6 / ZS10 / BA10 all have wires that can be replaced easily for $10 if the cat chews them out

Price range: $40-$100 once you include the braided cable and comply foam tips.

Both suggestions above sound damn good, the KZ's are amazing at the price point and rival many $300 earbuds.

I have a number of other "fancy" $100-$300 headphones but the ones above are the ones that I have found to stand up to the most abuse.

Q: Why are you buying cheap budget crap and expecting it to be anything other than cheap budget crap ?

**KZ's are cheap, but the exception - you check the audiophile reviews on head-fi

a reply to: Archivalist

You can quickly flame the tip of the wire with a small torch to remove the varnish - you do NOT need sandpaper, clip to size.

Or

Dip the tip of the wire in Acetone, rub with tissue after a few mins and clip to size.

Don't use a solder gun for soldering headphones - use a proper iron with a small tip.

Don't use a pliers to hold the componants it will act as a heatsink and you might never heat the joint enough with the iron.

First: Sennheiser. I use them gold prospecting and they generally cop some pretty rough treatment.
Despite that they've never once failed to perform exactly as needed.
Second: more money=/=better quality.
It can and it definitely should but in the current climate of peak competitiveness and the parasitic bond it shares with mandatory cost cutting across the board it seems that good, old fashioned quality control has gone the way of(insert name of once great/now bankrupt company that once manufactured consistent quality product here).
Third: "I want to be there when you're on your death bed, so I can hawk a lugi down your throat that chokes you to death just a few hours before you were supposed to die."
Lolololol. Poetry worthy of Shakespeare!

I use Samson SR 850 and some Sennheiser Momentum

a reply to: Archivalist

Go blue tooth and wireless stuff all those cables

If what you normally buy falls to pieces, then stop buying it. Is it that difficult? Also, no matter the quality of build, if things are misused then they will break. It's just one of those inevitable facts of life.

It is frustrating and very angering when you feel like you have been ripped off so I know how you feel.

On a more Serious note though I snagged my own headphones cable the other day and broke the headphone jack into my TV set, it still work's but take's a bit of jiggling to get it right.

Also for at home listening try some quality gamer head phone's, you don't have to use the mic and they are often just as good if not better than dedicated (And overpriced branded crap) headphones (or look for a pair of really good 1990's Sony or Phillips brand - made in Japan or Western Europe only not the later made in china or some other place crap - full over ear headphones) but if ear bud's are your thing I never use them myself due to sensitive ear's and can not give any advice on those.
But here is some guy giving some recommendation's on some that he REALLY like's and they are Gamer's headphones as well.



Most electronic's today have inbuilt obsolescence meaning they are designed to have a predictably average lifespan, usually with head phones it is the wires that break since remember they are usually fine metallic cables and metal only flexes so many time's before it fatigues and break's anyway which usually leads us to (Swear a bit and then try to) find the part were the break is in the wire, since they are often too fine to solder (unless you are a watchmaker with very steady hand's) that part is usually scrunched just so until we get a fairly steady connection, tied and wrapped in insulating tape to try to immobilize - which usually last's about half an hour or so before eliciting another temper tantrum.

Wireless headphone's are a gimmick they usually have far lower quality audio there audio range is limited by both the digital compression used to transmit the sound and the tiny low frequency range ear pieces themselves but there are some excellent gamer's set's, the early creative lab's variety were very good but even more delicate than a rare bird egg if you know what I mean, I sat on a pair that had cost me over a ton breaking them.

Myself though for digital it has to be a very high sample rate and I can actually tell the difference between even a CD quality sample rate and an analogue because there is so much more range in an old analogue recording the music is just so much better (well it's a true representation of the original source and not a sampled recreation approximating it) but hey showing my age there so I'll leave it there.

And Joking aside audio enthusiasts still swear by Valve amplifiers (they did come in stereo as well).
I had an old college lecturer by the name of Mike Delahunt whom used to buy up and renovate old Valve set's, also completely rebuilt some vintage car's for himself including - over here in Britain - an old MG midget sport's car which he used to drive around with his wife in both dressed in in 50's style clothing being one of them (you could go faster on a
modern powered lawn mower but they were fast for there day - seriously they could do up to 80 or 85 miles per hour - he domed and chromed his piston's so probably got a good ten miles per hour faster out of his old car).

Very old headphones fall into the antique category and are often referred to as crystal set's, they sounded very different and often had very low frequency range, the best headphone's though probably emerged during the last gasp of the old analogue audio era back in the 80's and 90's with some brilliant set's back in the 70's, the sound range on some of these put's all modern mass produced crap to shame but with the advent of Digital audio since so very much of the original bandwidth is lost due to the sampling and compression rate of the digital sound modern headphone's are now only tailored to those frequency's so often have a very poor bandwidth range by comparison and for those that know the difference it make's them sound awful but hey time wait's for no man so on we go.
Now the counter argument is that modern headphone's make digital music sound better but as to that I am not convinced, I like to hear the full range of frequency's myself.

a reply to: LABTECH767

Very old headphones fall into the antique category and are often referred to as crystal set's, they sounded very different and often had very low frequency range, the best headphone's though probably emerged during the last gasp of the old analogue audio era back in the 80's and 90's with some brilliant set's back in the 70's, the sound range on some of these put's all modern mass produced crap to shame but with the advent of Digital audio since so very much of the original bandwidth is lost due to the sampling and compression rate of the digital sound modern headphone's are now only tailored to those frequency's so often have a very poor bandwidth range by comparison and for those that know the difference it make's them sound awful but hey time wait's for no man so on we go. Now the counter argument is that modern headphone's make digital music sound better but as to that I am not convinced, I like to hear the full range of frequency's myself.

Nail on head.

On topic: Have you considered buying better quality, and then taking care of what you buy? No manufacturer warranty covers abuse.