Hi Guys,

Been a while since I've posted here. The reason for doing so is this morning I got up and discovered that my beloved HDJ-1000 headphones were failing pretty badly. The sound is still excellent, and there are no problems with the cord. I've discovered on both left and right headphone that the plastic clip connecting to the headphone speaker proper (the one on the swivel thing) are cracked pretty bad and one appears to have already failed (once I tried putting it on my head.

This was a big shock to me as I've tried to take excellent care of these reasonably expensive headphones in the past.

So I have a few questions:

1) Is this failure a known problem? Has anyone else experienced it? As it appears to be a design flaw.

2) Are there any replacement parts available to correct this issue

3) Would this type of failure be covered by the warranty or even repairable?

Attached are some photos I took of the failure:



And the other side of that same clip



And the one that's failed completely:





Other than this, these headphones are in mint condition. The fact that they both broke at the same time in the same way leads me to suspect design fault. =/

So after doing some quick research I've found that this problem is VERY common. A quick Google Search shows that many many people are experiencing this same exact problem. If this is so common why has pioneer ignored it and not corrected the issue? I mean come on, these are pretty expensive headphones and to have them all break at the same place is definitely a clear sign of design failure.

Contact tech support or if under warranty return them. My cans are now 4 years old and no issues, another companies phones broke twice on me???? I can't say that Pioneer is sitting back on this, and if it's a design issue I'm sure the concern has been addressed.

I would first try the tech support route..

god man what have you done to them! Are they the fake ones I wonder?

These are the real deal. Purchased from an authorized pioneer dealer a little over 2 years ago. They've been pretty lightly used and as I stated before are still in mint condition other than this issue.

As I stated in my second comment it really appears that this problem is very common with this headphone series and the folks that have not yet experienced it will at some point.

In fact if you dig through the forums you can find posts from me proclaiming exactly the same thing as djjay, stating 'No problems with mine, I've had them (x) years'.

I suspect that if you check any pair of these headphones that have been used for a while, you will find micro-cracks in nearly the same place. Those cracks just haven't caused the failures I'm seeing here (yet)

You have 3 options --

1) Go back to your retailer and ask them to replace or repair them.
2) Call Pioneer technical support and complain.
3) Email me and I'll send you replacement parts.

quote:

Originally posted by Pulse:
You have 3 options --

1) Go back to your retailer and ask them to replace or repair them.
2) Call Pioneer technical support and complain.
3) Email me and I'll send you replacement parts.

Hi Pulse,

Nice to chat with you again. Anyways, option 1 is out, retailer gave me the 'We only warranty for defects for 30 days after purchase, contact pioneer', I'll give option 2 a shot on Tuesday when the technical support people are back in business (Monday is a Holiday here in the states). If all else fails I'll fire you off an email.

Anyways, I hope these pictures make it to an engineer, as this does appear to be a VERY common failure with this model headphone.

Thanks.

I made a mistake not getting pioneer headphones,I got mine from Stan, and I won't put the hole name. But thay broke with very little use, and they will not fix or replace them.
I did not get the pioneer because some of the 1st units that were sold had a week joint, But pioneer fixed the Issue and you will find if you take a look at some of the post about this issue that pioneer replaced or fixed the units that were involed.

With the ones I have I'am out of luck, you can see that you still have a company behind you.

Yes, it's a known issue with the headphones (as you know - search and you'll receive). You'd be (somewhat) happy to know that Pioneer has already addressed the breakage by updating that piece in the moulding process. It's not to say that no headphone will break with the new pieces... you know how DJs are!

Pioneer isn't the only brand which breaks - virtually every make and model is going to snap or crack somewhere, the S brand is notorious for breakages.

Well,

Contacted technical support. They basically told me that I have no choice but to purchase a whole new set of headphones. I mentioned that the ones currently for sale have changed the broken part in question and if I can just order that. I was told no. I asked if I can send them in and pay for repair. I was told no.

So I guess my only option at this point is to either buy a new pair, or obtain parts through back channels.

Man... What a pain

Look at the above post from Pulse.

3) Email me and I'll send you replacement parts.

is there any way to tell the updated headphones from the older ones? mine are starting to crack and i want to buy a new pair, but i dont want to buy another pair that are going to crack.

Not as far as I know, sorry.

Since changing a production line plastic molding process can be quiet pricey, I suspect that the only thing changed here was the plastic formula used on the part.

No clue.

That stress point seems to cause a lot of brands' to fail. My T****** brand ones have a similar issue, but my Pioneers are still holding up so far.