Do companies make cheap headsets on purpose?

[Ages120]

I have yet to buy a headset that has lasted me more then a 6 months. I went from some plantronics one which I replaced 4 times with a best buy replacement plan to a logtitech I threw away and now a sennheiser I need to return. The always have one ear phone go out or the mic stop working or start working intermently. To me it always seems to be an issues with crap very thin wiring or the inline speaker volume and mic control has issues. Can't buy anything useful without the inline control either. Only once have I had more then 2 things go out and that was one single headphone and the mic went out.

Do they intentionally do this to make your buy replacements becuase they won't spend the extra 5 cents to include well insulated wiring that cots 2 more cents cause they make this stuff in china no matter who you buy it from. Or they make the solder connections easy to break cause the wire isn't held in place well because of horrible design and a the slightest tug can screw you over. I took apart the last one before I threw it away and the design made me sick it was so cheaply done and some of the simple improvements like a tiny plastic tab here or a lil extra insulation could have made the world of difference.

 

[Gomce]

dude
when it comes to headphones, i have only one thing to say

AKG k 141 Studio

Tried them all! The k141s are the best!

 

[powerMarkymark]

My two Plantronics headsets (DSP 300 and DSP 400) have lasted me 4-5 years respectively.

Maybe they were manufacturing them elsewhere back then, who knows?

Marc

 

[mage333]

Not to be rude, but based on your description and my own usage pattern, I'd say user error. Back in the 90's I'd get thin CD players or cheap CD players or more recently mp3-CD players, and they all died because I didn't take proper care of them (books and backpacks anyone?). I called them disposables because they were so cheap I could get a new one when I was done. Finally I shelled out $$ for a Phillips sports model that's designed to take a beating. Takes a licking, still ticking today.

As for headphones, I bought myself a case of Aiwa HP-X223's right after it got bought out by Sony. Stepped on them, dropped things on them, rolled chairs over them, left them outside overnight and found dew on them (that was creepy). Only had to replace the ones I lost and the one my ex destroyed. The rest should last me at least through the decade.

As for headsets, I've been using my Jabra since cell phones were bricks. I only replace the earpieces when the old ones get all waxy. Maybe I should clean my ears.

Durable vs disposeable? It's a trade-off.

 

[Ages120]

Well all of the above mentioned are headphones which means they do not have a mic. Except the dsp-300 and 400 which have built in soundcards and plug into usb ports. These do look like higher quality then most stereo plug headsets but anyone with better then onboard sound doesn't want to use a headset which forces you to use some out dated codec. There are a very few headset which use stereo plugs and an audigy 2 or 4 is much better then the ac97 most of the usb headsets use.