the one where Campfire and LH Labs clear the air a bit

Yes, it's true that Xaomi does that but at the same time they try (and many times succed) to give costumers good products for the value which is something LH does not. Also their costumer service is good, even in Europe (afaik), which, again, is something LH (unfortunately) seems to fail to understand.

For the forementioned reasons (among others) i can't really see both companies in the same light in the grand scheme of things, although yes Xaomi has done (and continues to do so) it's share of rip-offs.

I am not criticizing what you said, just to show, even more bluntly, how despicable LH really is.

 

Not to play Devil's Advocate (almost literally it seems), but LH GO series has been a very good product for the money.

This is what especially pisses me off. You have a really good product. Just focus on meeting demand for that and providing good customer service. Update it every few years. Don't spread yourself so thin that you feel inclined to cheat on crowd funding or rip off a competitor branching out into IEMs.

 

Copy cat. Smelly.

 

They don't f**k people over on the quality, they f**k people over on the availability. That's why they've had such a long leash.

 

Both, really. 3 out of the 6 products I bought from LHLabs had issues. I was lucky to get them resolved, but it took many months to do so. The ones that worked sounded great, but not extraordinarily so for the money. So really, outside of maybe the first GO, the only way to get real value from LHLabs is on the secondary market from a Friend here.

I defended Larry in the past saying he was a good engineer, but had no real idea about how to run a company. This latest episode seems to show that if he has learned anything since he started, it hasn't been the right kind of thing.

 

I bet the backers of other undelivered LH products must be thrilled that Larry is investing resources into this blatant knockoff.

I’m wondering which LH production trends will come to pass for this one:

1. Some flaw in the design is found late into production and they need to revise it before delivering (e.g. GOv2 3D printed cases)
2. Offer a confusing number of different variations of the same product before launch, and releasing an improved version shortly after backers receive the units they preordered (Pro, SE, Infinity, etc.)
3. Taking credit for the design of an IEM (even though it was an OEM model), marking up the retail price to make backers feel like they got a great discount (even though the preorder price was higher than the OEM it was based on), and releasing it despite laughable audio quality (LH Verb)
4. Supplier issues leading to extensive delays with minimal updates to backers
5. All of the above

 

I think a side-by-side teardown of Asteria prototype and Stella is in order. That way we will know without a doubt that the internal design was stolen.

 

I´m really curious with what lame excuse Larry will respond (if he has the guts to do it).
Probably with something like he wasn´t aware of this....Groundhog Day Part X

 

I think the GOV2+ Infinity is the best sounding battery-powered DAC/Amp out there, and I normally hate Sabre designs. But I got mine for less than $150 on EBay, because LH has such atrocious production time and customer support that people dump their stuff for pennies on the dollar. Why LH doesn’t just focus on straightening their production and customer support out is beyond me.

An amazing example of Chinese companies that do knock-offs of other brands is ONEMIX shoes. I have several pairs of their Nike knockoffs. Super comfortable and durable. Also, they have a commercial that, quite literally, makes it seem like they have designers working hard to invent their Nike knockoff designs. I bought my first pair based on loving the absurdity of this commercial alone.

 

Hi everyone, here is our official response to Ken's post:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/light-harmonic-geek-wave.713829/page-300#post-14313952

In case no one wants to visit the link:

Hi everyone, I spoke to Larry tonight and this is our official response to Ken's post:

The Asteria project ran from Feb. 2017 to Nov. 2017 with the contract signed by both parties. In this contract, Light Harmonic was the technology provider and designer for the new products. However, the project was terminated by Campfire’s CEO Ken Ball himself with no reason given. Light Harmonic put a lot of effort and cost into research and development into this project, and we were upset to see it terminated. (see attached photo)

Re: Asteria’s sound chamber...While we still were partnered, we didn't like and didn't want to use this design at all. We hoped to use another design and reduce the one high frequency peak. But it didn’t work out in that direction. To be perfectly clear: Light Harmonic doesn’t want to use this design and will never use this so called liquid metal design. Both Mr. Ball and we found that design is quite problematic. Mr. Ball even mentioned in an email that this design dragged the production speed and time.

We also have another solid reason that we have zero intention and didn’t use this Asteria’s design. Dealers in Asia found a lot of similar enclosures that has been commonly used by Campfire and other manufacturers. They had strong doubt on that and suggested Light Harmonic don’t get involved. Here are some quick screen captures of these products we got from them. (see attached)

For Asteria’s sample, we didn’t possess it from a long time ago. One distributor in Japanese has that. And they are quite pissed off due to the sudden and uncommon termination of the Asteria project and that cost them a lot in money and marketing. We have tried a few times to let them return to Campfire but currently didn’t get good reply yet.

And for the record, Light Harmonic didn’t open any of Asteria samples and we don’t need to. Asteria was simply an upgraded version of Dorado which we were trying to improve more. We have quite a few sound chamber and enclosure designs from 2015.

HBSC is the Hexagon shape designed and measure by computer simulation. Both outside and inside use the Hexagon shape to reduce any potential resonance surround the dynamic driver. We already applied the design patent for these. If Mr. Ball has any proof that Campfire ever used this kind of hexagon design before us, please send to us at anytime. On the other hand, if he doesn’t, then please withdraw these wrongful accusations.

The name of the IEM, Asteria, also was created and assigned by Light Harmonic. We emailed that name, Asteria, to Mr. Ball on Sep 4, 2017’s email. Light Harmonic never got any background image, or any detail marketing design from Campfire for Asteria. All Asteria marketing design came from our Japanese partner. For Stella, we came up with the marketing and design, and we have all the original hi-res photos, including rendering of Stella done by our designer. Again, since the Asteria project got terminated, we don’t want to associate ourselves with any part of that project.

By using one terminated project to hint or suggest Light Harmonic “stole” any of Campfire’s design or technology is really not acceptable. We urge Campfire to stop this kind of behavior and if they are unhappy that any other vendor including Light Harmonic is entering the earphone market, please compete fairly and reasonably.

 

Lol.

Shame that G. Fish is not involved any more with LHL hence Larry could blame the marketing division again as he did in the past.

Maybe the japanese dealer/distributor has to be blamed now ...

 

Its probably the worst excuse I've ever seen...
Check https://www.head-fi.org/threads/light-harmonic-geek-wave.713829/page-301 for more smelly excuses they've made.

Basically this guy is saying Campfire's Lyra, IEM released in 2015 summer, copied Dunu's FalconC which released in 2017 summer.

Is there any professor can prove this statement?

 

Malaka, no one cares about your excuses. You have to have some morsel of a reputation for people to believe you. I would rather take Ceausescu's word over yours.

 

He is blaming Chinese distributor now... LOL

 

P.S. LH labs will only be redeemed by actions. Words will only drag you down.

 

I'd like to believe it, but I don't. Not when everything that we have seen so far goes against it.

Manufacturers, distributors, partners - whatever. Is there really zero control or communication here? If Campfire asks that a sample designed and produced by Campfire is to be returned to Campfire, get down to it and get it done. This is basic professionalism.

Pretty sure that companies are also liable for the actions of their subcons. How about taking some ownership instead of assuming no responsibility and simply deflecting the blame.

Also, the Vibrato/Verb debacle doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Nor does the failure to apparently secure components for (let alone assemble) a final product 4 damn years in the making despite taking a fuckton of trips across Asia. Nor does the sheer amount of QC issues that have plagued multiple LH products.

And we are expected to believe that LH Labs churned out a completed, polished $1.5k hybrid IEM from the ground up? Not impossible, but consider me extremely cynical.