Steelseries Spectrum 5xB Right Earcup not working

[NikePortugal]

So I've.. sort of.. been talking with Steelseries support.

 

I always had problems with my 5xB making this annoying "ticking" or "tapping" noise in the right EarCup.

 

But recently it decided to just stop working all together.

 

Now... once in a while the audio will kick back in for a second or two in the right side so my GUESS is that it's a frayed wire, or possibly loose solder point somewhere?

 

So yeah... I emailed them and said as much, AND, that I was almost certainly out of Warranty. I wanted to know if I had any options. (Like buying a right earcup separately since they come apart.. or whatever they thought the issue was)

 

Some guy responded, told me he was forwarding me on to some other guy, who basically gave me the steps to RMA... :huh:

 

I responded of course saying.. uuuuh.. I already said I am 99% sure I'm not under warranty, and now I know for SURE I'm not, so .. any options or just out of luck?

 

No response after 4 days or so after repeated messages.

 

So YEAH! I basically sent them one yesterday saying that if they can't help just say so, because if I have NO options, I may as well just open it up and look for loose solder points and rip open the wiring and look for frayed wiring that I can attempt to fix.

 

It would otherwise be a lost cause anyway.

 

 

 

Uhhh.. that turned into a bit of a rant... I actually just wanted to know if anyone else had similar headset/problems and what you guys have a "gut feeling" that it might be. B)

 

 

It sucks because I've had a Creative Fatality headset for like 7 years or something crazy like that now and they still work flawlessly.

 

Even so, LINUS likes the 7H's so much that I was going to give them a try.. but this shoddy "customer support" is giving me real reservations.. I can't reasonably expect to go with the company that make the headset that broke and then gave me no assistance whatsoever.

 

Anyway I ALWAYS make this stuff too long.. sorry... if anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I'd appreciate it!

 

I'm basically going to give it a few days and if no response... rip the sucker open and see what I can find.

 

 

THANKS! ^_^

[Calavera]

If it isn't working properly and you can't return it I'd indeed try and see what's wrong...

But since it's making contact now and then I think it's not like it's a total loss - before you open it up I would suggest making sure the audio-port in your PC is working right, some PC's ports have ports that only work one way, making you turn the plug and twisting it till it makes contact properly.

 

If that doesn't result in having a good experience then I think there's only one option and that's opening it up.

[NikePortugal]

If it isn't working properly and you can't return it I'd indeed try and see what's wrong...

But since it's making contact now and then I think it's not like it's a total loss - before you open it up I would suggest making sure the audio-port in your PC is working right, some PC's ports have ports that only work one way, making you turn the plug and twisting it till it makes contact properly.

 

If that doesn't result in having a good experience then I think there's only one option and that's opening it up.

Yes that is what I gathered as well.

 

Just keep in mind I use it on my XBOX 360 using some adapter that comes with it.

 

If I test on my PC the issue is the same though so I can rule out any problems with PC audio ports that way, and through the fact that my CREATIVE Fatality Pro Headset has worked flawlessly for many many years and continues to do so on my pc.

 

An interesting note though, is that someone from steelseries actually contacted me via email today and said they would RMA out of courtesy.. probably feeling bad for the 3 or 4 unanswered emails requesting somebody actually acknowledge I existed.

 

I thanked them and said I didn't want to break any rules. Just wanted somebody to actually communicate that there were no options left, etc.

 

So who knows they might actually RMA this thing after warranty which would be great, but I wasn't looking for any exceptions.

 

I'll keep you guys posted!

 

Just wanted to give SteelSeries a positive light, in relation to the generally negative experience I was getting at first.

[Calavera]

Alright, looking forward to hearing of an update :)

[Quaker]

I think there's only one option and that's opening it up.

Before you open it up, take some steps to determine where the problem lies.

The first thing to do is, while using it, flex and wiggle the cord starting from the plug end and going up to the earpiece, to try to determine where a possible break may be. (If the cord is broken anywhere along it's length, the earpiece will drop out.)

If the break ends out to be at the plug end, you may be able to geta tech-savy person to replace the plug. If it's further along the cable you could shorten the cable, install a plug, and use an extension if needed.

If the break is at the cup, or you can't locate a break, then you will need to disassemble the earpiece to check the wiring, or other circuitry. If the transducer (speaker) is broken internally, then you are SOL.

[NikePortugal]

Before you open it up, take some steps to determine where the problem lies.

The first thing to do is, while using it, flex and wiggle the cord starting from the plug end and going up to the earpiece, to try to determine where a possible break may be. (If the cord is broken anywhere along it's length, the earpiece will drop out.)

If the break ends out to be at the plug end, you may be able to geta tech-savy person to replace the plug. If it's further along the cable you could shorten the cable, install a plug, and use an extension if needed.

If the break is at the cup, or you can't locate a break, then you will need to disassemble the earpiece to check the wiring, or other circuitry. If the transducer (speaker) is broken internally, then you are SOL.

Hey guys,

 

Well I did plug it into my pc and really the wire is frayed along several points. One is close to the plug.. and then it seemed to be frayed along a couple different points running up into the earcup itself.

 

I did that by flexing and wiggling as you suggested but I had already done this.

 

I'm not really sure how this would have happened as I don't coil them up after use and there is nothing to snag them on or anything.

 

I would be capable of soldering if need be, I've done it before, or stripping the wires etc.. Just been a while and didn't want to do it unless completely necessary.

 

Either way, as an UPDATE, like I said I would.

 

SteelSeries has responded again and the guy decided to go ahead and RMA the unit for me. Even though it's out of warranty.

 

So in the END anyway, somebody on the support team came through.

 

I made sure to let them know I didn't have any expectations of breaking the rules and understood I was out of warranty, but he decided to go ahead anyway.

 

So I'm grateful for that and wanted to make sure I passed that along, because a company deserves praise just as much as it deserves criticism.

 

So I don't know if I should mark it solved because of an RMA, but I'm 99% sure it was frayed wires, from experience and common sense testing.

 

Anyway that's the update.

 

Thanks for taking the time to help out with suggestions guys.

 

It's very much appreciated! :)

[NikePortugal]

Just an update.. they sent me a pair of these... EVENTUALLY... there was more confusion with customer service as to whether they got my headset ( I had tracking on the shipment ), communication was suuuper slow and a bit confusing.. but overall, yeah, they ended up replacing with a much newer headset so you can't really complain.

 

Could be a little smoother but overall it ended up alright. 8)

 

http://steelseries.com/us/products/consoles/steelseries-siberia-v2-cross-platform-headset