Thanks for nothing, Sony. (WH1000-XM5)
That just looks like a terrible design. The background joint looks as if all the pressure of the ear cup is pressing outward on that exact spot where the foreground joint broke since it’s at that weird angle with no other support.
Built to Fail: The story of 21st century consumer technology.
This is the second time these broke on my WH1000-XM5’s. At least they’re easily replacable by just removing a few screws and dropping in a new one.
Compared to that, this bad boy is over 30 years old and never broke once - thanks to a headband which is made out of metal. Despite that, it’s even more comfortable than Sony’s modern one:
Those are over 30 years old???
Yeah dude if they’re 30 years old I feel like 2 “easy” replacements is … good.
The good ones are 30 years old. The one they needed to fix is the sony one, which was not specified how old but “modern” implies not very.
Yeah well what if I can’t read?
Yeah WH1000XMs are a very popular bang for buck wireless set. 5 is the latest.
That said, I have 2s that still go strong besides the battery. 4s going strong for a few years. Partner has had 5s for a while, no issues. All plastic hinges.
Not sure what OP is doing. Seems like a difficult part of the headset to break.
I have a pair of AKG 240 of the same age if not a bit older that have seen plenty of other headphones come and go. Not the best headphones in any other categories but damn the most reliable and durable of studio cans ever built.
The older headphones there don’t look like you can rotate the pads, yeah? I mean, it’s that rotating hinge which failed here.
I guess one could say “well, I don’t want headphones with rotating pads”, but it’s that rotation that lets the XM5 headphones fit into a fairly-flat carrying case.
I will say, though, that the XM5s probably weren’t going to last over 30 years, if for no other reason than because they use an internal battery…
Steel stick. Set with krazy glue first, so it’s aligned then get the steel stick and mix up a marble-sized ball and mold it around the break. Leave to harden for 24 hours. Shit’s amazing.
Just had the same problem with my LucidSound LS45 … the headband is metal, I saw the recommendation to get them in one of those “buy it for life” threads so I did …
Turns out that the end caps of the headband are plastic and prone to breaking … I was able to save them by buying a non working “parts only” set on eBay and replacing the parts
This thing has been with me for 8 years and counting … they’ve been along for 3 motherboards, 2 cars and 6 girlfriends LOL
My XM4s are still holding up after 3 years and are definitely beefier than this.
Sony parts prices are insane. The urethane pleather on my headband started cracking on my xm4’s. A replacement headband was half the price of a new unit. So I ended up getting a silicone cover that will hopefully keep the pieces from flaking off into my hair. I also needed new earpads. Oem pads were around $40 for EACH side. The pleather just has a certain degradation time and once it hits, it all falls apart at the same time. Replacing all the pleather parts on my unit would have cost just as much as a new headset.
I hate having something designed to be somewhat repairable but practically speaking it isn’t due to pricing.
The urethane pleather on my headband started cracking on my xm4’s. A replacement headband was half the price of a new unit.
This is third-party, but it’s $19.
It’s also just the pad, but I assume that that’s what’s failed, if you’re talking about pleather.
I have found that the backing cloth under the pleather is durable as hell. Take some masking tape and do a wrap around your fingers - sticky side out like you’re gonna de-lint a shirt - and use it to pull off the peeling pleather. Took me all of 20 minutes to get my ancient Denons free of the peeling pleather…
I already bought 3rd party replacement pads, but I’ll keep that trick in mind for the future.
Same happened on my hph-mt5 yamahas, i took a piece of wire and my soldering iron and basically melted rebar into it, and that fix is still going 3 years on
I’m pretty sure I almost bought those years ago. Instead I bought the Seinheiser PXC 550. This was 2018. I’ve had to replace the ear padding once. Which was super easy. They just unclip, and the new ones clip right in.
I have a pair of PXC 550 as well from 2017 and they’re still going strong too though I don’t use them every day.
Sony are the worst with form over function bullshit on headphones.
I have a set of Soundcore Q20i that I use anything rough (travel and such) and they’ve held up like champs.
