Buying Hifiman, Matrix, etc in China

Knowing many on SBAF are in the know about many behind the scenes aspects of the personal audio world, does anyone know if buying a matrix x-sabre pro, any hifiman that lists for over $500 ( from Ananda to he6se to hek, etc.), or other chinese brand audio products in china is the same as buying them in the us? I know that many companies in all industries from clothes to electronics change the "same" product for different markets while others do not.

In particular: I was looking at listings in China for a he6se and one of their newer models I can't remember the name of. It's about 1000-1100 usd new directly from hfm (or authorized dealer, wasn't completely sure ) for he6se at the current exchange rate instead of 1800.

Does anyone know if hfm headphones are the same in china as they are in the us? I don't want to find out hfm saves the "good ones" for the us market or they tune the sound differently in a way I don't enjoy after the fact.

Similarly, I like the matrix x sabre but can't justify $2k on this as I slowly save for a pavane... but it's also cheaper in china. However, does anyone know if for example the interface has a language option or do I have to buy one in the US to an interface in English (not that I couldn't figure it out in Chinese, but this is just an example), if the same components are used, etc?

So on so forth for different brands. Please share if appropriate.

 

- Hifiman: no difference, a can is a can, but if you know someone who knows Chinese, they can probably bring the price down by at least another 10-15%. Hifiman is cheap in China - the Susvara you can get new for less than what used ones are selling for stateside. Makes me wonder why anyone pays US pricing at all, but that's neither here nor there.

- Matrix: the DAC itself I would not expect to be any different, you might get a Chinese manual and Chinese remote. Make sure that the DAC takes global voltage. I would look for one for at most $1,400, maybe $1,300 if you get a local guy to do the talking.

 

I personally know nothing about this directly, but you should also factor in that dealing with any warranty/RMA issues from abroad would be a nightmare. Also, I have it from a good source that Hong Kongers do not trust Chinese goods in general, and would rather pay the premium buying through one of their "domestic" distributors. For them this drastically affects resale value.

 

Yes, but we're talking about Chinese brands. They literally come out of the same factory. Just because some people are superstitious about it doesn't mean that it's true.

And this is not untrue for some goods - beer and cigarettes come to mind. But that's because companies run surveys and tweak the recipe for what they perceive to be Western tastes. Hifiman doesn't care enough to pick out good copies for either market - and if anything, the big spenders aren't in the US (or Hong Kong) these days. Having been on both sides of the delivery chain, I can assure you that once something goes past QC, it's all in the same bin.

RMA is a problem, but Hifiman service is pretty horrific in general. If you blow a driver on an HE6, it might be easier to order a driver yourself than to go through their US warranty process these days. If you're buying a DAC or amp, consider letting the dealer run it for about 2-3 days before shipping it over, since most quality issues will show up very early on. Not really different from dealing with any other foreign manufacturer in that regard.

 

Thanks guys.

Yes, voltage compatibility before I even consider buying stuff meant for 220-240V // 50Hz markets.

Any of these things would be purchased by trusted persons in China (or other counties if applicable). None are audiophiles, but they are trusted to handle this w/o any worries. Products would be ready for me when I arrive, I'd set it up in my hotel room for 2-5 days, and if problems arose, I'd have them return it for me before leaving applicable country with product.

Not worried about HFM warranty as yes, I have heard pretty universally the warranty process is so bad that if something happens, you either deal with it yourself or sell dirt cheap to someone who is willing to fix it. This is part of the reason why I'm not willing to pay US market prices for HFM stuff.

I ask about quality as I know first hand of several companies that sell the "better ones" to places where it's needed... sometimes that would be the US, sometimes that would be China, etc... but yes, having handled that side of the business before too, for something like headphones, I wouldn't want to deal with would effectively "binning" them, and I can't imagine HFM staff would want to do that to themselves either.

 

Where are you going to be? I know a few dealers in different cities and might be able to comment on which is the more reliable one.

There's a lot of emerging brands in China that might be worth a listen. QDC and Moondrop come to mind, although QDC for me has been much more consistent in their product line's performance. Meze is nominally Chinese and it won't be hard to find the Empyrean if you haven't yet tried it. Fitear and Fostex have very little US presence beyond the TH900 line, and they have some interesting universals.

 

PM inbound for you Zhanming.

Similarly, this question also applies for European products... however, from what I have seen so far, pricing usually doesn't vary by too much for anything I want.

If anyone does know of any major differences somewhere, please share.