backtop

Blog: Internet Headphone Maker Sennheiser Debuts Trade-In Program
Jason Mick (Blog) - April 10, 2008 5:13 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 23 comment(s) - last by 4wardtristan.. on Apr 14 at 2:03 AM
Trade in the old for cash off the new, says Sennheiser!

Heaphone maker Sennheiser, featured in DailyTech's Christmas guide to headphones, produces many quality earbuds and headphones.  However, many penny-pinchers (or broke college students) shudder at the thought of spending their hard earned dollars on an entirely new pair of headphones and thus stick to their old pair.

I know how bad this can get-- I, until recently, owned a pair of iPod earbuds, which had to be the worst fit for my ear possible.  Yet I kept listening to them out of unwillingness to pony up the cash for a new pair.  Sure they would slip off the ear, and the sound was horrible, but it beat spending money right?

Well now deal savvy audiophiles can find a better solution than languishing in old earphone purgatory.   Sennheiser has just announced a pretty exciting program that offers users cash back for sending in their old headphones.

The program gives users a $5 refund on street earbuds, $10 on classic and sport earbuds, $15 for in-ear models, and $25 on the high-end noise canceling models.  The sweet tiered system, ensures a significant discount at any price.  Better yet you can send Sennheiser any pair of earphones, no matter how damaged or abused. 

Getting your rebate is as easy as filling out a quick PDF form and mailing it with the old earbuds to Sennheiser.

Its nice to see a company looking to win over new customers with a good promotion.  If you're looking to pick up headphones, it certainly seems worth a look.

I would almost regret purchasing my latest Skull Candy earbuds, had they not been a measly $10 (and still better sound quality than the Apple earbuds!).  However, if you haven't already bought a pair, review DailyTech's holiday guide and see if you can find a pair of Sennheisers that float your boat and mail in your old ones, while this sweet deal lasts.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Earbuds... pah
By TomCorelis (blog) on 4/10/2008 7:33:40 PM , Rating: 1
It amazes me that people can even stand to listen to earbuds. While I make no claims of being a true audiophile (I don't have the money for it), I can tell you right now I have a sizable stack of Apple and other craptacular earbuds sitting in my sock drawer, waiting for use in.... something. I don't know.

Let's see... between horrible sound, a higher propensity for ear damage (because they're practically shoved into your ear canal), and a response range that often looks more like a bell curve than anything else... it amazes me that anyone who actually cares about their audio experience (and their ears) would even use them. Besides, big ass headphones just make you look cooler, re: http://www.dailytech.com/blogs/bio.aspx?user=84 (minor plug there :-) ... you think earbuds would make those pictures look better or worse?

Actually on that note, I'd love to see photos of a DJ tearin it up... on earbuds :-)




RE: Earbuds... pah
By HaZaRd2K6 on 4/10/2008 7:42:01 PM , Rating: 2
Never a truer word spoken.

As for your bio, where are the CDJ1000s, man? Tech12's are so 90's ;-P. As for DJing with earbuds, I couldn't imagine it. You'd have to have them so loud that it would make you cringe, plus you'd never hear the bass kick so beatmatching would be an absolute nightmare. I love my HD477s, but I'm looking at picking up a pair of Sennheiser HD25 Pros or Pioneer HDJ1000s. Decisions, decisions...


RE: Earbuds... pah
By TomZ on 4/11/2008 9:05:04 AM , Rating: 2
Well, for some people, the small size of earbuds is an important factor. I basically carry my entire office in a laptop bag, and while there's room in there for a set of earbuds, there's no way I could fit anything larger. And for the occasional listening to music while working, the cheap Sony pair I have sounds just fine.


RE: Earbuds... pah
By onwisconsin on 4/12/2008 2:05:53 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
It amazes me that people can even stand to listen to earbuds.


1) I can't fit my headphones into my already-stuffed to the max backpack (aka they aren't practical outside of the home), so the cheapy earbuds are the only alternative
2) Audio quality doesn't matter on the go for me. I can listen to my music almost anywhere
3) Most times the volume is near minimum because it does get load even at half of maximum.


RE: Earbuds... pah
By TomCorelis (blog) on 4/12/2008 2:26:37 PM , Rating: 2
I run into (1) a lot as well... so I just keep them around my neck. I can understand why that may not work for some. To each their own, I guess.


RE: Earbuds... pah
By RobFDB on 4/13/2008 1:54:15 PM , Rating: 2
The last thing I need at the gym is to have my HD600's on my head or wrapped around my neck, it would be a massive inconvience. Any serious music listening I do is on my computer so with my HD600's. When I use my iPod it's in the car or at the gym or even at work, and in none of those places to headphones make sense to me.


RE: Earbuds... pah
By Axbattler on 4/13/2008 6:25:32 PM , Rating: 2
From an aesthetic perspective, artists typically use In-Ear Monitors on stage. On the other hand, they probably record using full sized cans. It comes down to the right tool for the right job and place. I am often biased in favour of full sized cans, but I am not taking my Grados or AKGs to the gym or even on the street. When the priorities are portability and isolation, IEMs fit the bill pretty well.

Plus, higher end IEMs can sound pretty good (though you do pay more for the convenience). Stock earbuds often sound pretty dire, but so are generic $10 cans.

At the end of the day, I don't think that headphones make particularly great fashion accessories. But hey, there are clearly people who disagree: http://www.headphet.org/ ;)


No rebate needed if you got HD 600
By Pirks on 4/10/2008 7:19:44 PM , Rating: 2
I'm going to run mine forever. Replaced two cables already, not too bad for seven years I own them. Got some dents from dropping, and people fall outta their stupid car windows when I whooozzz beside them in my luxury li-ion hi-powered electric bike with these sweet cans on my head :P




By KristopherKubicki (blog) on 4/10/2008 9:31:02 PM , Rating: 2
Third cable in 6 years but I'll never replace my HD600s either :)


RE: No rebate needed if you got HD 600
By Etsp on 4/11/2008 10:15:21 PM , Rating: 2
I've had my HD485's for 4 years and I couldn't be happier with my purchase. On my second cord...These ones seem like a bit of an anomaly though... I couldn't find the cords online, and I had to call them about it... they even had trouble finding the cord, but in the end I got it.


By xphile on 4/13/2008 8:01:48 PM , Rating: 2
Just MHO - but 7 years is nothing, nor is this new policy. Try a company named Koss, who have forever stood behind their products with a LIFETIME guarantee.

Try a pair of PortaPros that I bought brand new in 1987 and that are now on my ears as I write this sounding just as good as the day they were purchased 21 YEARS AGO!

I have had two cable repairs, one entire driver unit replacement - and they came back from the fourth repair a month or so ago with a new plug and while they were at it they decided to replace the ear pads and the side cushion pads. Cost to me - the prepaid padded envelope I sent them off in (times four over 21 years).

Estimated hours of use - average 3 hours a day at least 5 days a week (15 hours a week). Weeks a year used lets say 35 to be fair. 21 years.

15 X 35 x 21 = 11025 hours of constant use (459.37 days)

They were the best sounding portable headphone then and they are often reviewed as beating the crap out of everything else still today. And they are still made today, almost exactly the same, because the company has another policy in that if it ain't broken dont try to fix it.

Who needs a trade in policy when for 21 years and counting I've had nothing I'd want to trade in, no reason to trade in, and it costs me nothing to still have outstanding headphones.

Maybe Sennheiser wants to announce a similar program - but this announcement is still to me no competition whatsoever.

Like you I will probably run mine forever too - just the company I bought mine from have a better policy in agreeing that they want me to do it and that their product is capable of it. Post again in 14 years and I will compare your results to mine today :-)


yay!
By 4wardtristan on 4/11/2008 4:30:42 AM , Rating: 2
thank GOD for that.

i am so horribly unimpressed with these plantronics .770's, i will be looking into this asap..

(you can trade other brands in, right?)




RE: yay!
By Googer on 4/11/2008 7:24:47 AM , Rating: 2
I know exactly what you mean. I had pair of top end plantronics and ditched them for the Sennheiser PC161/PC166 (166 has a bundled USB sound card) headset and it's definitely money better spent. My Plantronics purchase was a waste of money, now I only wish I hadn't tossed them in the trash.


RE: yay!
By Googer on 4/11/2008 7:28:35 AM , Rating: 2
RE: yay!
By 4wardtristan on 4/14/2008 1:54:06 AM , Rating: 2
:O

i knew the .770's were bad, but now this makes them look like a generic product..


not
By Baov on 4/10/2008 7:20:29 PM , Rating: 1
How will they win new customers if this is a trade in program for Sennheisers? You have to have bought from them to start with.




RE: not
By Mattd4AX3 on 4/10/2008 7:27:27 PM , Rating: 2
If they're offering programs this good to OLD customers how good do you think they're going to treat the new ones?

It's all good business, I just bought myself a pair of hd-555s and this makes me even happier with them :).


RE: not
By drinkmorejava on 4/10/2008 7:56:47 PM , Rating: 2
The trade-in is for any of the user's own headphones (ipod, generic, w/e) with a different rebate depending on which Sennheiser headphones they buy. This is not meant to be a trade-in for those with Sennheisers, or really, any high end headphones.


Am I reading this correctly?
By HaZaRd2K6 on 4/10/2008 7:37:23 PM , Rating: 2
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I read in the article, I can't send my HD477s in for this rebate. That's a bit of a cheek. So yeah, I didn't buy the stupidly high-end noise-canceling ones, but I didn't cheap out on them either; they still cost me a cool $100. I hope I'm not reading that right.

Either way, I loved my old HD555s but I returned them when I came to my senses and realised I'd just dropped $300 on headphones (this was several years ago). Since then, I've been through their HD437s and the HD477s (which I now own). This will make me seriously consider going back up to those sweet HD555s. Too bad they don't sound that great off an iPod, but hey, it's a small price to pay for amazing cans.




RE: Am I reading this correctly?
By mindless1 on 4/11/2008 6:41:38 PM , Rating: 2
HD555 are now much more reasonably priced, about $100.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...

As with any (more than low-Z) cans, you ought to consider a headamp inbetween your player and cans. HD555 just sound a large leap better than the HD4x7 line.


Sweet!
By One43637 on 4/11/2008 2:20:39 PM , Rating: 2
Good news to customers. My PX 200s are getting quite worn. This is a great way to keeping current customers.




aust??
By 4wardtristan on 4/14/2008 2:03:42 AM , Rating: 2
i just spoke to sennheiser reps here in Australia..he had not heard of this at all (then again, we always get "brand spanking new" tech ~2yrs after release -_-)

in this for sennheiser USA, or sennheiser germany(global)?




iPhone earbuds
By dagamer34 on 4/10/2008 7:14:27 PM , Rating: 1
Still waiting for them to make iPhone earbuds. THEN I will jump on board.




"I f***ing cannot play Halo 2 multiplayer. I cannot do it." -- Bungie Technical Lead Chris Butcher













botimage
Copyright 2010 DailyTech LLC. - RSS Feed | Advertise | About Us | Ethics | FAQ | Terms, Conditions & Privacy Information | Kristopher Kubicki