Tuesday, February 25, 2014

continuing the discussion with sennheiser

jessica
hi.

sorry to bring up a ghost thread, but i'm a little concerned about the cord that got here. it arrived when it did back in december, and i've been ecstatic about it since. but i've been noticing for the last several weeks that the left side of the cord again comes in and out.

i've swapped the inputs on the phones a few times and am convinced it's the cord, rather than the phones. the red/right in is flawless regardless of which phone it's plugged into, but the black/left one slowly fades over long periods regardless of which phone it's plugged into. often, merely touching it is enough to reset it.

i ultimately think it's a contact issue. that is to say that i think that the metal on the cord is sort of falling out. maybe it's a hundredth of a mm smaller in diameter. and i'd actually be willing to believe it's a production thing if you told me that. it's very obvious that there's not a short in the cord. but it's also obvious that if i keep messing with it one will develop.

i'm just wondering if you have any information that might be of interest. would you be able to verify that there is a small difference in the size of the metal plug going into the phones, over all these decades? is it possible i got a mild defect that's a tad small?

phones:
sennheiser 440-II (ireland)

cord:
069427
Cable steel 3m jack3.5/jack6.3

sennheiser
Hi Jessica,

No problems, please don't apologise!

I am rather surprised that a cable so new could be defective, but it's not unheard of. That's why you've got a 3 month warranty. Before we get into the whole rigomorol  surrounding replacement, I'm bound to ask if the cable polarity has always been respected, you'll notice one pin is fatter than the other. If the cable has been forced in backwards, then the problem may not actually be the cable!

Just asking!

Please let me know about that, and we'll proceed from there!

Cheers,

jessica
i've definitely been careful about polarity - letters always on the outside. i'm certain it's not that. and, as mentioned, it does it with both phones on the black side, and only on the black side.

the entire idea of a warranty completely slipped my mind. it's getting to the end of the three months. so, how does that process work?

(pause)

i'm just a little concerned because you were always previously quick to apply.

i have to say that i don't want to send this cord back. it seems like there's something wrong, but it's a minor adjustment and i know now i can replace the cord when i need to.

but if it is under warranty, i kind of feel entitled to it.

again: if i have to send it back, then forget it. it's not worth the trouble.

also, do you have any information about possible manufacturing mismatches?

sennheiser
Hi Jessica,

My apologies for the delay in response! I was out on holidays.

If you'd be so kind, please provide your address (to save time trying to find it in the computer...) and parts will send you out a new one. No need to return the other, just toss it.
i am so remarkably bad with my hands. it makes me laugh to think i wanted to be a brain surgeon when i was a kid, although to be fair to myself what i *meant* was a mad scientist that hooks up brains to computers rather than somebody that goes in and physically carves up the mind.

there's currently crazy glue *everywhere*.

and i feel kinda funny. aha. ahahaha. ahahahahahahahahah...\