It’s well-known that Hifiman delivers some of the best audio experiences available in headphones. However, it’s also widely acknowledged that their quality control is nearly nonexistent. Despite this, many overlook these issues, perhaps because they believe Hifiman offers excellent customer support.
I’d like to share my personal experience. I own a 3.5mm Susvara that’s about six years old. Recently, its headband began oxidizing unexpectedly, so I contacted Hifiman to explore options for resolving the issue.
After nearly two months of email exchanges, they presented me with two options:
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Pay $1,200 USD for an out-of-warranty replacement.
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Pay $425 USD for a new headband.
I don’t find it reasonable to spend $1,200 in this scenario, especially since my Susvara has new pads and the drivers are in perfect condition. Moreover, $425 seems excessively high for just a headband. I engaged in further correspondence, requesting only the metal part of the headband—excluding the yokes, strap, and other components.
Their response was an offer to sell me just the metal part for $300 USD.
Consider this: you invest $6,000 in a flagship pair of headphones, paying a premium for R&D and other value-added aspects. Then, this premium product begins to oxidize, and the manufacturer’s response lacks any apology or solution that doesn’t involve profiting from the situation.
How much do you think it costs Hifiman to manufacture a metal headband without the yokes and strap? I wouldn’t mind covering the production cost and shipping, but $300?
I explained to them that if they chose this path, I would share this experience within our communities, as the reputational cost to Hifiman would outweigh the expense of resolving the issue in a fair and honest manner. Their response was:
“Hi, so if that’s how you want to be and threaten, you are welcome to do so, but may I suggest it’s not how to encourage anyone to actually want to help you.”
I only mentioned sharing this story after over a month of attempting to reason with them politely and after feeling treated like someone who would blindly pay $300 for a headband simply because I could afford to purchase top-of-the-line headphones repeatedly. When I suggested that the part probably costs around $5 to produce and expressed my discomfort with the $300 price, their response was:
"I think you misunderstand how things cost if you think it costs $5 to produce one of the headbands.
Blame you, no, you are free to say what you want. I’m just pointing out threats don’t inspire anyone to help others with a problem."
Keep in mind, this metal part is shared between the Susvara and the HE1000 lineup. Do you think they would charge $300 if I were requesting a HE1000 part? It seems they’re charging extra simply because it’s a Susvara component, showing no commitment to assisting their customers and instead seeking additional profit from a quality issue.
Before owning a Susvara, I had to deal with other Hifiman issues:
And now this.
To me, it’s time to reevaluate if I should continue rewarding a company that operates like this. I was someone who would defend Hifiman with the “they have great customer support” argument. Well, that is not even true anymore. With such great options in the high-end market, why would we keep rewarding them for acting like this?
Anyways, my intention with this post is to warn the community: this is how Hifiman does business. They will not see a single cent of my money ever again. You will do as you will, of course, but I strongly suggest you also consider not supporting this company moving forward, or we will just continue being treated like that.
This picture shows the metal part in question more clearly, the one they want to charge me $300 for. I have exchanged that between my HE1000SE and my Susvara, as i care less about how the HE1000SE looks.