How come JBL can afford to be so sloppy ????

[sergeauckland]

Do you expect the maker of your car to supply new tyres after 6 years?

Pad wear and durability depends on many factors including materials used, frequency and duration of wear, user's body chemistry etc etc .

Not for free, but I certainly would expect any car manufacturer to be able to supply tyres for an only 6 year old car, if there was anything special about them that would not be available in any tyre fitting place.

S.

 

[somebodyelse]

i mean i've never seen legit companies hold parts for effectively 6-7-8yr old commodity consumer electronics walmart products

Sennheiser and Koss do.

 

[VintageFlanker]

I purchased my JBL E62BTNC 6 years ago

...



To me, this seems perfectly "normal", for headphones in this price range, especially if used on the go, and on a daily basis...

It is also legit that JBL is not able to provide new earpads for free, at least after this period of use.

 

[DSJR]

With respect to you all, I think some of you are rather younger than the likes of me... In the UK, there used to be a rule that makers kept spare parts for seven years after the model was discontinued. Some makers didn't bother and one nearly went under when a CD transport batch failed very quickly (within a year or two), the maker didn't carry stocks and had long since moved on and there was a hell of a 'hoo ha' about it at the time.

Here's me having to put aside my twenty and more year old Sennheiser HD265's (one of the better closed-back headsets from the era) because nothing is available for them except the cables (shared with many models) and the third party ear-pads and headband 'cushion' were frankly cr@p and uncomfortable... The Zero 2 has more than replaced them thankfully...

Good luck with the pattern parts and hope it'll extend the life of these headphones...

 

[MaxwellsEq]

@World Traveller I commuted daily with 2 different generations of Bose over-ear noise-cancelling headphones. Daily use was therefore probably about 4 hours at a day. I needed to replace the headphone pads roughly every 2 years (and had to pay for replacements direct from Bose). I wear glasses and I think the arms increase wear and tear, especially being shaken about on trains and walking.

 

[Sokel]

The thin pads (like-leather,leather? ) of my ancient 40 years old ATH-M2 orthodynamics are still like new.
(I got them when I was 14,so you can imagine the abuse)
My three years old LCD-X pads on the other hand shows some evidence that they won't last more than 1 year or two down the road.

It depends really.

 

[TonyJZX]

these ANC sets I would treat them as a cost of doing business since i used to use them in noisy environments

you can literally buy a set a year and its a write off, as linus would say

if you can, replace the replaceable parts with knockoffs if that's what's available

but technology is evolving and really, how upset would you get from a commodity 6yr old set still on micro usb?

 

[PjV]

I use my DT880’s the most often and I have already replaced the cushions a few times, I guess every 2 years..
My sennheiser still has the original cushions.

This thread makes me wonder: Do you replace IEM ear tips?
Until now I only clean them myself every now and then. They still seem OK to me, after many years.
But, a quick Amazon search shows replacement ‘3 flange’ tips for my etymotics are available (and cheap).

 

[GGroch]

but technology is evolving and really, how upset would you get from a commodity 6yr old set still on micro usb?

Tony I think you hit on why many would not be upset over this.

The OP's headphones retailed for $200 six years ago, but wireless/active headphone technology has improved massively since. Improvements in ANC, DSP, Bluetooth, and App compatiblity make spending anything on pad replacement a questionable option.

JBL is offering Certified Refurb Live 660NC headphones on eBay for $57 including a 2 year warranty. These are the 2023 version of the OPs headphone with numerous upgrades. All of the Harman refurbs I have gotten are exactly as new but for the packaging.

I understand JBL/Harmon is now dead to the OP, but for a lot of folks the headphones would have been upgraded years ago even if the pads were still fine.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

What do you expect after 6 years?

 

[markanini]

Hardy pads might very well hurt the acoustic performance due to increased internal reflections. Given that I think JBL made a correct compromise that most consumers will prefer. Especially in the wireless segment where consumers want to upgrade at least once or twice over a six year period. Carrying an inventory of spares would not make much sense if there's no demand, inevitably it ends up in a land fill then.

 

[paudio]

JBL should provide replacement pads. Period.

Anyway you can buy a replacement set of pads on Aliexpress for <$10USD for this model luckily.

The listings I see claims the pads are the same for all these models:
- E65 E65BTNC
- Duet NC
- Live 650BTNC
- Live 660 BTNC

And some of these models have pads available on amazon.

 

[Chrispy]

LOL fwiw I have replaced the covers on my headphones several times, not OEM stuff at all that I could find, and seems each generation takes less time to flake away.....good thing I only use headphones when the power goes out....

 

[restorer-john]

Headphone pads are unfortunately a wear part. All foam starts breaking down from the moment it is made. That's why your brand new sofa cushions feels firm, gradually gets super comfortable, then start to collapse and eventually it all turns to dust.

You can't buy spare pads and store them either- they will be almost as broken down and sticky in 6 years.

Best to just accept it, buy some super cheap third party pads from Ali-express and revel in how clever you are.

 

[DVDdoug]

I don't want to say if JBL is "good" or "bad". They do make some good professional products, but this is "not your father's JBL".

Wikipedia tells me James B. Lansing died in 1949 (suicide). JBL was later bought by Harmon (another company with a solid reputation) and Harmon is now part of Samsung (also a good company, but not everything is "high end").

 

[World Traveller]

I can´t believe such a brand can manufacture such a sloppy product.

I purchased my JBL E62BTNC 6 years ago to enjoy HQ music at home, being isolated from all background noise and not disturbing anyone with my music.

Last year, the headphones started to tear apart.
I contacted JBL´s/Harman Customer Service asking for the replacement of the 2 headphone´s capsules and, they simply told me they have no resposibility on the product´s Quality and to go and take it as they are.

I am really upset with JBL and Harman.

How come they can treat a customer like that when it´s clear the issue is their Quality.

Ok guys, up to you.

JBL/Harman... NEVER AGAIN!.

Thanks to you all who led me to the replacement pads.

JBL did not offer me that solution as if they do not have it.

But, thanks to the advice I got here, I have been able to find the replacement on a website and have them replaced in my headphones.

Thanks, again, you all.

 

[World Traveller]

I don't want to say if JBL is "good" or "bad". They do make some good professional products, but this is "not your father's JBL".

Wikipedia tells me James B. Lansing died in 1949 (suicide). JBL was later bought by Harmon (another company with a solid reputation) and Harmon is now part of Samsung (also a good company, but not everything is "high end").

Whoever owns JBL or any others manufacturing Company who wants to position the brand ok the top of the pyramid, needs to take care of the customers pains with their stuff.

The ear pads, I have learnt on here that are commonly broken after a couple of years

I wouldn't expect that of my JBLs.
Neither of a Bose or a SONY (BTW, haven't heard anything about Sony's cushions)

Nevertheless, if I contact JBL customer support, I would have expected them to offer me replacement pads.

That's not too much to ask. I believe.

And they did not.

 

[JOCoin]

I picked up a pair of extra ear pads when I purchased a set of HD600 as I've always heard they wear out fast. Heard of people having to replace them every year or two. I agree that companies should offer replacement parts for wear items. But in the end they are just that, wear items. I would be ecstatic if I got six years out of a pair of ear pads with daily use on any set of headphones. 6 years is a long time in the world of Bluetooth headphones. I wouldn't expect manufacturers to be providing replacement parts for more than a few years at most as 98% of Bluetooth headphones are destined for the landfills anyways with their extremely hard to replace batteries.

 

[Gringoaudio1]

these are $200 headphones

earliest review i got is from 2017

i mean... OP seems to think that companies will keep inventories of spare parts for long long long obsoletely generations old products

is that realistic???

its a real high standard to hold for companies who are largely box shippers for their China OEMs right?

i have had headphones fall apart like OPs... from B&W etc.

and when you google the name you get amazon and ebay links for China copy parts for a few bucks

i mean i've never seen legit companies hold parts for effectively 6-7-8yr old commodity consumer electronics walmart products

and OP comes here, like as if this is a direct line to Harman Samsung, like as if they killed his pet dog?

I mean... wow

OMFG exactly!

 

[Gringoaudio1]

What do you expect after 6 years?

Exactly! It’s a wear item. Has the OP been living a cave? Even the entire headphones are a disposable item in the times we live in.