I admit, I’m plenty pissed off. Why, that is actually also quickly explained. I oute myself today once as a private headphone collector and all the parts that I do not actively use or have ready, go together and in best harmony in the original packaging in my warehouse. I should note that this room also houses headphones in the four-digit range and it is dry, tempered at about 16 to 20 degrees and also completely free of mold. So the best resting place for acoustic companions. At least that’s what I thought.
The Custom One Pro from Beyerdynamic are now just under 8 years old, which is actually no age for expensive headphones, especially since I also own older specimens (e.g. a DK66 from PGH Funktechnik Leipzig from 1984), which are still all completely intact today, after almost 40 years. From that point of view, I almost had a stroke when I unpacked the Custom One Pro. I assume that this specimen does not have 200 operating hours on the hump and actually only stood around. I even have a photo from back then from a test. Everything was still chic and fine then:
However, what I fished out of the box today for an actually planned retest (under a torrent of black plastic particles) looks as if the dear Fritz-Kevin had diligently gone through it in 8 years of Counter Strike 20/7. This is a crumbly cellar child patina, which is actually only known from cheap 50 euro products in this form. And we learn once again: even expensive products are often made of the cheapest material:
All the leatherette has de facto disintegrated and the pictures show the harsh reality after the escape of the soft maker. The ear pads are also completely out of shape because the material has also shrunk properly. Even if the upholstery of the almost 40-year-old DK66 is now a bit stained, there was nothing like it even in the GDR economy of scarcity. That’s because the so-called consumer goods had to last for generations. Appetizing is somehow different and sustainable is not.
Actually, I originally wanted to write an article about mechanical sounding, but unfortunately that has to be cancelled now. And so that there is no gap today because of that, I just show you these pictures of horror as a substitute:
Would you still put such a headband on your hair? I also got to completely deep clean my photo corner after this session, including the carpet, because the badass particles of disorderly self-dissolution hooked onto all the loops.
The damage is repairable – but for how long?
The article will have to wait for now, but it is only postponed. After all, spare parts are still available even for such old copies, because some of other headphones also fit. At this point, Beyerdynamic has to be praised, although the prices are of course very high. If I had used the headset intensively, the price wouldn’t hurt me either, because I at least had an equivalent value through daily use. However, this all looks like a potential break point, because the manufacturer probably didn’t expect the product to be used (or stored) by the customer for long.
Since I had already noticed various signs of fatigue with other PU cushions from the same manufacturer, but they were never so extreme (at most a few cracks in frequently used parts), I prefer to go back to the tried and true sofa cushions. Of course, this is only plastic in the end, but at least my old Beyerdynamic T90 are still really fit pad-wise. Since the pads of the DT770 also fit the Custom One Pro, I prefer to use those. Only that with the headband is such a thing, which I will now rather check once a year. Because the replacement part is unfortunately again made of PU imitation leather.
Despite all the hassle and the monetary bleeding, I’m still an extremely sustainable person who doesn’t immediately throw everything away out of anger. But it will probably be my last Beyerdynamic product in the end. It is not the first case, but the most blatant. And that is exactly what I have now filled the article gap with.I am also not one of those who threaten to go public and then scrounge the spare parts for free via PR. I prefer to buy and repair myself, but then also evaluate it like a responsible customer. And yes, the original theme would certainly have been more interesting. Sorry for that.
141 Antworten
Kommentar
Lade neue Kommentare
Mitglied
Mitglied
Urgestein
Urgestein
Mitglied
Urgestein
Veteran
Urgestein
Mitglied
Urgestein
Mitglied
Mitglied
Mitglied
Urgestein
1
Mitglied
1
Veteran
Alle Kommentare lesen unter igor´sLAB Community →