vegaceruleancycling
Member
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2021
- Messages
- 8
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- 31
I assume many people will say "we know!" but I wanted to add my story as a warning of poor support from SMSL. I have been using the SA300 and SP200 for around a year and a half now, both products have always been great for me.
Recently I re-organized my desk and in the process of it the SA300 stopped working. I noticed the micro-USB port felt a little loose, which was strange because I am always careful with my electronics and I have only unplugged/plugged the SA300 in 2-3 times total. I tried to open the case and inspect what was going on. Removing the screws and starting to slide the guts out, it stopped sliding after about half an inch. The micro-USB port was visible so I shined a light on it and attached the USB cable which caused the connector to fall off the PCB. Looking at photos, you can see the micro-USB is just floating in a slot on the chassis rear panel. It is not physically attached to anything but the PCB so all stress is on the solder joints. Look at the photo FROM SMSL, they don't even hide it.
To fix it, the plan was to solder the connector back on and load the edges of the connector with JB weld to keep this from happening again. The issue is that the guts still won't slide out. I checked SMSL's website for support and it's literally [email protected], so I assume they don't receive a lot of support requests. I explained what happened and asked what I should do, the response was to re-solder the micro-USB connector back on. I explained the issue of not being able to slide the internal components out due to something stopping it and they recommended removing the nut securing the volume potentiometer (their instructions attached). This did not help and based on YouTube videos about other SMSL products it seems the whole front panel needs to come off. The front panel is attached with adhesive and is nearly impossible to do it correctly without special tools and being skilled at disassembling cell phones, tablets, and MS Surface products, plus you would need replacement adhesive to put everything back together.
In conclusion, three key items that I believe SMSL should address:
First is that they should read the spec documents of any components they use, especially something like USB. The official micro-USB spec says you should be able to apply 25 newton meters in any direction on the connector without damage. Perhaps this is just for manufacturing the connector itself, but they should still consider matching their product design to the original spec.
Second, they should at least pretend they use a ticketing queue so emails are not lost and forgotten. I understand some people want to have direct 1:1 human interaction, but humans need a ticketing queue so they don't forget about cases.
Third, they should give their support team accurate documentation on servicing devices. The doc I was provided is not accurate and offers very little information. Having an engineer build a comprehensive maintenance book would only require 1-2 weeks of time and provide years of assistance to every customer.
I still like SMSL products because they hit a great price point and deliver good performance for casual listening. It is concerning that they let this obvious design flaw pass, if I had the skill to reverse engineer their circuit design I am slightly afraid at what I would find. I will pretend to believe that's where they spend all their time and couldn't be bothered for the rest of product aspects. That's all I have to say about that.
Recently I re-organized my desk and in the process of it the SA300 stopped working. I noticed the micro-USB port felt a little loose, which was strange because I am always careful with my electronics and I have only unplugged/plugged the SA300 in 2-3 times total. I tried to open the case and inspect what was going on. Removing the screws and starting to slide the guts out, it stopped sliding after about half an inch. The micro-USB port was visible so I shined a light on it and attached the USB cable which caused the connector to fall off the PCB. Looking at photos, you can see the micro-USB is just floating in a slot on the chassis rear panel. It is not physically attached to anything but the PCB so all stress is on the solder joints. Look at the photo FROM SMSL, they don't even hide it.
To fix it, the plan was to solder the connector back on and load the edges of the connector with JB weld to keep this from happening again. The issue is that the guts still won't slide out. I checked SMSL's website for support and it's literally [email protected], so I assume they don't receive a lot of support requests. I explained what happened and asked what I should do, the response was to re-solder the micro-USB connector back on. I explained the issue of not being able to slide the internal components out due to something stopping it and they recommended removing the nut securing the volume potentiometer (their instructions attached). This did not help and based on YouTube videos about other SMSL products it seems the whole front panel needs to come off. The front panel is attached with adhesive and is nearly impossible to do it correctly without special tools and being skilled at disassembling cell phones, tablets, and MS Surface products, plus you would need replacement adhesive to put everything back together.
In conclusion, three key items that I believe SMSL should address:
First is that they should read the spec documents of any components they use, especially something like USB. The official micro-USB spec says you should be able to apply 25 newton meters in any direction on the connector without damage. Perhaps this is just for manufacturing the connector itself, but they should still consider matching their product design to the original spec.
Second, they should at least pretend they use a ticketing queue so emails are not lost and forgotten. I understand some people want to have direct 1:1 human interaction, but humans need a ticketing queue so they don't forget about cases.
Third, they should give their support team accurate documentation on servicing devices. The doc I was provided is not accurate and offers very little information. Having an engineer build a comprehensive maintenance book would only require 1-2 weeks of time and provide years of assistance to every customer.
I still like SMSL products because they hit a great price point and deliver good performance for casual listening. It is concerning that they let this obvious design flaw pass, if I had the skill to reverse engineer their circuit design I am slightly afraid at what I would find. I will pretend to believe that's where they spend all their time and couldn't be bothered for the rest of product aspects. That's all I have to say about that.