Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Sigh. I really want to give these a higher review. I really do. To start, they sound great. Just great! Very balanced and a real pleasure to listen to music through them. Unfortunately, that's about where the good things end. About 2 weeks into using these, very lightly (I commute to work on a train, and walk as well, and take very good care of my things.), a small tear appeared in the braided cord sheathing on the bottom half of the headphones. No problem, I thought, really isn't that bad. I continued to always return the headphones to their little zippered pouch, and chalked it up to some wear and tear. Over the next few days, the tear got bigger and bigger, until the wire inside was popping out. It was impossible to get back in. I suffered through it for another couple weeks before the sound in my left earbud went totally dead. If I jiggled the earbud, it would sometimes comes back, but at this point I was a bit sour about my $79 headphone purchase and decided to contact HiFiMan. Big mistake. They told me to ship them the headphones back and they would send me a replacement paid. That sounds like a fine exchange, except they only respond to emails at 11PM and in very broken English. I agreed and shipped them the broken headphones at a cost of $10. A week later I received my replacement pair; a pair of headhones in a small plastic ziplock bag with no accessories or manual or anything. Fine, I thought, I guess that's how they do it here. I plugged in my new headphones, excited to finally have them back after a week of reading Reddit on my phone on my commute. Except this time, the right ear was immediately broken. No sound at all. Not even jiggling it worked. Frustrating. Now I'll have to deal with Customer Service again. Ugh. I said this time I wouldn't pay to ship them back, that they'd have to provide a label. I also said I wanted a BRAND NEW pair, since it was apparent they sent me some refurbished pair that wasn't actually refurbished, since you know, they didn't work. After 4 days of emails back and forth, they sent me the label and I shipped off the headphones. The customer service guy, Hong, agreed to send a BRAND NEW pair. Another week goes by, another week of browsing Reddit. There are only so many interesting AskReddit threads to read before you get bored, trust me. A week goes by and I'm excited to get my new pair and finally end this nightmare. I track my package every day, and today is the day they arrive! I rush home from work and open my package. Sitting in front of me is another small ziplock bag with another refurbished pair of headphones. I shudder inside, for I know this nightmare will never end. I plug them in, hesitantly, and they actually work. Fine, I thought, I'll just hope these are functioning and continue on with my life. It's been 1 week since I've received that pair, and there is already a big tear in my braided cord. I have no strength left to deal with their sub-par customer service. long waiting times and empty promises. I will have to simply move on, bite the bullet on these headphones and look elsewhere for a serviceable pair. It's a shame, as these really do sound great. Don't make the same mistake I did. The headache involved here is not worth $79. It's not even worth $59. Look elsewhere.