Hi Everyone,
Now that the drop is over and all of the units have been dispatched, we wanted to provide a post-drop update. The goal of this update is to give more transparency on the success and failure rates on this drop, along with clarity on what we're doing to resolve any issues that came up in this drop.
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Though the rate of issues reported was very low, we wanted to address the delay and gap in communication that occurred for this first production of the Noble K10s.
Many natural disasters hit Santa Barbara (where Noble is located) around the time of final production, and it was extremely difficult for Noble to receive the necessary parts and finish production work on a predictable schedule. This production delay caused us to change our normal fulfillment process and ship the IEMs from Noble’s office, rather than our east coast warehouse. Furthermore, the USPS office in Santa Barbara explained that a hiccup in their system caused the IEMs to be stuck for several days before moving to sorting facilities.
Issue Resolution:
Production Delay: We do not anticipate any production delays on future collaborations with Noble, as this past delay was directly tied to the natural disasters in Santa Barbara.
Shipping Delay: For all future collaborations with Noble we plan to ship directly from our warehouse, as we do with a vast majority of our collaboration drops so we have more control over the fulfillment process. If there is ever a case where we need to ship from a vendor, we're updating our process to ensure the best available courier is used and that we avoid USPS where at all possible.
Communication: We did not provide enough information, or timely enough information on the delays that occurred in the first production run for of this drop. For future Noble drops, and all Massdrop collaboration drops, we’re working to provide more transparent and frequent updates. This is a process we are still working on and we appreciate everyone's patience and feedback.
As always, if you have any issues with your IEMs please reach out to our community support team via your transactions page (https://www.massdrop.com/transactions), and they will help you out.
We apologize to those who experienced the delay on the first production run, and the lack of communication when the delay occurred. That said, we’re happy to hear that members are enjoying their IEMs, and we are working with Noble on the next run!
AveryCNot sure if it was because of USPS but my K10 wasn't even signed for. They just left it in my letterbox, where it was quite obvious something was in it. Could just be an isolated incident of a dodgy postman but for those who haven't received theirs yet, be careful!
OhhMyRiceMy CA lyra II from massdrop that I just got last week was left on my front porch no signature or anything either.
Probably worth taking a half day off of work or something on delivery day. Don’t give the scum that steal packages get these beauties!
They will probably sell em off for $100 if they don’t do a google search first
AveryCI’m in this drop and glad to hear USPS will not be used. Last few consecutivepackages were lost from my local post office. I even had to waste an hour each trip for 3 trips to post office to track package. They have record with picture where they leave package and dumb postman left it in some other address in totally unrelated city and address. They say they will try to go and get it, but I doubt they ever did and I was never notified with the outcome. So I had to go and find out what happened and waste another hour. They said they can’t find it and cannot give me any evidence so I can work with the seller for refund. Their reasoning was that it says it is delivered and they cannot provide the evidence that it was left at different address. I tell them that that is dumb response when it was delivered to different address but they will not give me printout that shows they delivered to wrong address. Luckily the seller reponded positively to the whole ordeal and it was resolved but private sector service like USPS will not give any care to provide competitive service. And even trained monkey won’t make mistake 3 times in a role, and how postman can deliver to wrong address 3 times in a role baffles me.
AveryCJust received my order yesterday and after a long wait I have to say that I am dissapointed with the lack quality control. When I opened the package yesterday I immediately noticed some paint chips on one of the shells. If you look at the attached image you can see chipped paint along the noble logo in three separate areas. Its almost like someone dragged it across a hard surface during the packaging process. This is unacceptable, especially considering the amount of money this costed. So while I appreciate the fact that Noble tried their best to meet deadlines given the delays I am not happy about the quality and would question another purchase from noble.
AlbobearHumm, then I personally do not understand your way of doing things... Why come here and complain about this subject to the place to discuss it directly with the people involved?! Whether it's the Massdrop team or directly Brannan from Noble Audio, they are quite amiable and widely proficient at solving your problem... It's just my point of view. 😉
AlbobearHi there! I'm sorry to hear about that. Please reach out to our community support team via your transactions page (https://www.massdrop.com/transactions), and they will help you out.
LaszloptlOk in his defense this is a TOTL product that many save up a while for because we all know iems are like a fine watch and if you spent $1000 on a watch and there was let’s say chipping or a scratch etc you would be very frustrated and disappointed after waiting many months and many delays.
Anyways I’m sure massdrop/Noble will resolve this and you can send updated pictures to this thread!
andypak01I would also think the number of misplaced deliveries would be higher if they mark it as delivered even when it is delivered to wrong place from my experience. They seem that as fulfilled and they won’t admit fault.
andypak01yeah mine was returned to sender in spite of my spending an hour a day on the phone with USPS for over a week - so it's marked as delivered even though I'm far from satisfied.
AveryCWell three months past the promised shipping deadline(11th of Dec. 2017) and two and a half weeks past the latest shipping deadline(28th of Feb 2018) my order is still in the USA and my delivery hasn't been moving for 5 days now(I live in the UK). This drop was a disaster. It is very likely that I won't be joining any drops in the near future if ever.
XatiivYup, mine got returned to sender and they refunded me without asking. After going totally silent for days massdrop support was unresponsive until I made noise on here. Even then I was just given a placating response and ZERO resolution. Then they reopened the drop!
If I were you, I might just call in the refund and shop elsewhere.
XatiivHi @Xatiiv, I'm from UK and got mine delivered by Royal mail this morning. The USPS tracking still shows it's in transit but looks the USPS doesn't have a way to track once it's accepted by Royal mail unless Royal mail informs USPS about the delivery. My order was accepted by USPS on 8th March and was delivered 17th. I understand the frustration it's been long but give it a couple of more days and it should hopefully be with you soon. Reach out to Brannan @ Noble if possible, he is really helpful.
@Sloblo sorry man, agree you had a bad experience which is unfortunate and most of us in the batch suffered delays. But I'd just ask you to stop discouraging others from waiting due to your personal experience. Just to let you know I'm not affiliated to Noble or Massdrop.
People complain about USPS being bad for delivery, but my personal experience with Fedex: they lost my visa application package with all my personal documents. Earphones are nothing compared to this. Just get over it and join the new drop if you really need the K10. Good luck!
adi.kdSince you have no affiliation it shouldn't matter to you what I do. If it makes massdrop improve their services then it only benefits you. I have no skin in the game, since I wont use the service anymore, but I do have technical knowledge in several of the communities and have product experience with many of the drops currently out. I figure if my being vocal saves one person the frustration and expense in terms of time lost and actual dollar loss then it's well worth it.
McCol@McCol It's around £200 including handling, VAT & customs duty. I was prepared as i have ordered from the states before. This might be a bit steep for most of the UK buyers. Hope this helps!
adi.kdWell, as I was not contacted by customs my guess would be that it is still not in the UK.
Sloblo is free to say whatever he wants to say. He has every right to do so after what happened to him.
This is my last drop with Massdrop for a while for sure. Their communication and handling of the situation was sub par to say the least. No one should go through an experience like this nowadays. Its super easy to communicate, we are not in the '80s anymore.
RareAirsI have to agree with you on that one.
Paying 900$ to have 3 VERY visible paint chips that are so obvious without zooming is screaming about weak quality control.
For something which is "partially" assembled and QC checked in the US, it is disappointing...
Using aluminum, anodization should allow the red paint to stick better than this.
TienbasseThe parts are anodized, paint is not used. Further more, Noble can not control how the shipping service treats packages during the delivery process.
HefePure anodization does not give access to all colors. Very often, anodization is done in a way to produce a porous white aluminum oxide layer which will be used a good primer coat for painting (liquid or powder painting). Given the scratches above, I suspect that this is the case here. Pure anodization without further painting usually yields more resistant colors.
And mind you, it is unlikely that scratching did occur during transit unless packaging was very poor. So it certainly happened before or during packaging, at Noble.
TienbasseMy guess, all the marks are the high points of the crown logo, all marks at the northern most of the crown logo, which suggests to me, that they were subject to being ground against something during shipping. If the marks were in sporadic locations then I would think there was a problem in the anodizing process.
AveryCHi Avery - I have the exact same nick!
I thought I may have damaged it when i held them in my coat pocket WITH my hand holding the buds apart while they were in there ...although i was highly skeptical..
That was only one day after I got them - I'm sure that the nick happened when I got it given what i'm seeing...
AveryCHi, I'm buying the latest batch (March 2018), and I'm having them shipped internationally to HK.
Please advise what delivery service I would expect. Please tell me you're avoiding Local Post as much as possible.
(Yes, I've contacted support, they keep giving me non answer)
jammuuDetailed, Spacious, non-fatiguing and very fast! I head the orchestra all around me so it has a wonderful Soundstage. Tomorrow my Pentaconn 4.4mm connector should arrive and I'll reterminate the free Noble Gold x Silver cable I received with these, and see how well the balanced output works on the K10s. So far from the 3.5mm output, they sound so revealing.
SlobloNice I got the the Lyra II in the drop for $499 but having fit issues because I am pushing them in a bit too far it bothers my inner ear but if I don’t they pop out of seal in less than 2 minutes. I believe Vegas are the same size do u have any advice?
P.S. The 2 minutes of seal they found amazing with a nice punch of air
XclzThey used USPS and it was a fukcing nightmare for everyone. I think Brannon has since convinced Massdrop that their high end products are to be shipped using UPS first class (or a similarly reliable) logistics company.
DovahkiinHaving just filed yet another complaint on my Postal Carrier for listing a package as delivered in mailbox (that is physically too large to do so and is no where to be found) I like the reinforcement of no USPS. There is a reason they are on the verge of collapse/bankruptcy.
DovahkiinYeah, I'm enjoying the "wall of sound" they seem to produce. Definitely more punch than any of my nobles. Just got the email about the ciem version of this drop, kind of a bummer for those who would have stepped up.
SlobloWhy is it a bummer? This drop is still live and at least on my transactions it still shows the ability to cancel. If one wants to switch they most certainly have that option.
andypak01hope I'm not the only one who wants universals so the drop still happens... :)
For anyone on the fence about the two here is why the universals are right for MY situation:
1) I have a ton of tips already including various comply foams that fit these (thanks TF10!)
2) I have not personally had an opportunity to listen to these. Universals are generally easier to sell on the 2nd hand market if they don't give me what I want over my current IEM of choice the Senn IE800. Re-shelling is available but does limit the market to people willing to invest additional time and money into the process of a purchase.
3) Customs can sometimes require a lengthy process of adjustments. I've read more than my fair share of people having to send them back more than once and re-visit the audiologist because they didn't get good molds the first time.
4) The customs are going to run beyond my own rules for headphone purchases, 1K+ is all speaker gear my friends.
ElectronicVicesI agree. It is also good to share your passion with friends. I let some of my friends hear with Senn IE800 with portable DAP and amp and they are floored. I just haven’t tried customs and this seems like good opportunity to try TOPL customs.
andypak01You are not wrong on the opportunity front... the home system (both Hifi and Headphone) get priority over my portable investment. I've scaled back to just an LG V20 for road use but the AK 70 Mkii has been catching my eye and good deals for those do pop up.
ElectronicVicesSame. I have 12 headphones hi and mid fi and 2 amps and dac and planning to get HDV820 around July for my birthday gift To match HD800S. I just can’t use headphones when I am out since it messes up my hair style so I am just getting into hi end IEMs and going TOPL makes sense since I always eventually get to TOPL. It will also satisfy my curiosity for customs since I have somewhat an issue with fit for my left ear With universals.
andypak01I've got a hard and fast $1000 ceiling when it comes to headphone expenditures. For my ears, that is the breaking point where investment in my speaker system yields greater benefit than in my headphones. As much as I love my headphones I will always like speakers just a bit better. For anyone who can't go as crazy as their wallet would allow on speaker systems (space, design, or eh... spousal reasons) I can certainly understand a greater investment in headphones!
SlobloIt's the wager of the first adopter and is a concept not limited to Massdrop. I've bought in several first rounds, would I have preferred my THX00 in Ebony or an E-MU Teak with Ebony cups and detachable cables? Yeah... a little. Do I regret in anyway jumping on that first round... no. I got exactly what I wanted at the time and didn't have to be one of those guys drooling over the comments and kicking themselves for not jumping in. They've added unique features to some of their 1st round drops (free webinars on use, additional support, one time discounts) so they are responding to things like this. Don't hate the player, hate the game.
ElectronicVicesOh, I’ve quit this player haha. I’m only here for the forums at this point or maybe some under 50$ drops. Anything higher I’ll buy second hand, the time spent with MD holding your cash is costing you more than you think and this drop has shown me that there’s absolutely 0 guarante you get that product at the end of the wait. So essentially you’re giving them a 0% interest loan.
SlobloIt's the upfront money that makes manufacturers agree to do stuff like this so yeah I'm 1000% good with it. I know you had some crazy experiences so I certainly understand your choice to limit your purchases on here.
ElectronicVicesyup, too bad it has to be through massdrop - if they hadn't bungled my last 3 transactions so badly I'd have been the first in line for the CIEM version of this (probably on top of the universals I'd already have had at that point)
Hopefully blockchain contracting advances quickly enough we can go straight to the manufacturers for this sort of group buy instead of relying on the lackluster 3rd parties such as MD.
adn_01Hi adn_01. I don't plan to return them since it took so long for shipping and while I am dissapointed with the QC, the product works fine. So in the end, I didn't escalate the issue any further than to simply inform massdrop about my experience.
AlbobearHi Albobear, FWIW I also had some defects with the construction of mine, and wasn't keen on returning mine either was able to ask for a partial refund, but the imperfections on mine were less "cosmetic" so your mileage may vary if you want to pursue the same haha
AveryCHey! What kind of shipping will you use for international orders? Is it possible for us to pay extra to use a service that allows prepaid duties and taxes (e.g. DHL Worldwide Express)?
- Production Delay: We do not anticipate any production delays on future collaborations with Noble, as this past delay was directly tied to the natural disasters in Santa Barbara.
- Shipping Delay: For all future collaborations with Noble we plan to ship directly from our warehouse, as we do with a vast majority of our collaboration drops so we have more control over the fulfillment process. If there is ever a case where we need to ship from a vendor, we're updating our process to ensure the best available courier is used and that we avoid USPS where at all possible.
- Communication: We did not provide enough information, or timely enough information on the delays that occurred in the first production run for of this drop. For future Noble drops, and all Massdrop collaboration drops, we’re working to provide more transparent and frequent updates. This is a process we are still working on and we appreciate everyone's patience and feedback.
As always, if you have any issues with your IEMs please reach out to our community support team via your transactions page (https://www.massdrop.com/transactions), and they will help you out. We apologize to those who experienced the delay on the first production run, and the lack of communication when the delay occurred. That said, we’re happy to hear that members are enjoying their IEMs, and we are working with Noble on the next run!