Well, after 10 6 months of waiting, I finally found my M7 in the mailbox. No note, no invoice, no email, no nothing, but I guess I am now used to Ben's communication being limited to sending automated advertising emails...
I haven't heard the thing yet, and I'm wondering if I will, because:
1) the capsule is not properly mountable as it is
2) there's no way the 2 membranes could be matched, as one of them was obviously not assembled properly.
I understand that sh*t happens, and I usually do not post when I have nothing positive to say, but in this case, I believe it is not a question of bad luck, cause if you use the right tools the right way, some stuff just cannot happen...
Let's start the tour with the holder, As you can see in the following pictures, it is simply crooked, meaning the capsule will not sit where it should, and the membrane will not face the vertical axis of the mic. How hard is it to make a jig that keeps the parts straight in line while you glue them?
Now the membrane. It was very difficult to take a still of the problem, but on one side I can see small wrinkles near the centre screw. Very small, but it's obvious than the membrane is not perfectly flat as it should be. Look around the centre screw, between 5 and 6 o'clock, it is not a reflection or an optical effect...
Here's another pic I had a friend take with a macro lens. The darker line on the left side is the reflection of a straight veranda beam under which the picture was taken. Should the membrane had been flat, the beam reflection would appear straight.
I have checked carefully, and it is NOT a dust that could have been stuck between the washer and the membrane, which would have bent it the same way... Actually, the centre screw appears to be not perpendicular to the backplate where it's threaded in! The red arrow in the next picture shows the top of the centre screw that is several degrees off.
Was that hole hand drilled or what? Any decent CNC, or even drill press, is supposed to drill reasonably perpendicular holes, ain't it? Unless the operator forgot to clean the jig, and left some metal chips on it, offsetting the backplate.... Back to machining 101 then... And even if such a mistake happens, 10 seconds of simple visual inspection should have resulted in this particular capsule being rejected.
My conclusion is that there are flaws in the building method, and less than average quality control.When one pretends to build one of the best capsule in the world, that is not acceptable IMO.
Now, should I try the other side to hear if there's enough mojo to make it worth the trouble of sending the thing back and waiting another undetermined period of time to get a decent capsule? Is that only possible? Or should I just ask for a refund and be done with it?
Axel
Edited to fix the pictures links...
2nd edit: October<>July looks like 10 months. But to be fair, I placed my order at the very end of october, and the package says it has been posted early June, so I have waited my *** off for only 6 months.
I haven't heard the thing yet, and I'm wondering if I will, because:
1) the capsule is not properly mountable as it is
2) there's no way the 2 membranes could be matched, as one of them was obviously not assembled properly.
I understand that sh*t happens, and I usually do not post when I have nothing positive to say, but in this case, I believe it is not a question of bad luck, cause if you use the right tools the right way, some stuff just cannot happen...
Let's start the tour with the holder, As you can see in the following pictures, it is simply crooked, meaning the capsule will not sit where it should, and the membrane will not face the vertical axis of the mic. How hard is it to make a jig that keeps the parts straight in line while you glue them?
Now the membrane. It was very difficult to take a still of the problem, but on one side I can see small wrinkles near the centre screw. Very small, but it's obvious than the membrane is not perfectly flat as it should be. Look around the centre screw, between 5 and 6 o'clock, it is not a reflection or an optical effect...
Here's another pic I had a friend take with a macro lens. The darker line on the left side is the reflection of a straight veranda beam under which the picture was taken. Should the membrane had been flat, the beam reflection would appear straight.
I have checked carefully, and it is NOT a dust that could have been stuck between the washer and the membrane, which would have bent it the same way... Actually, the centre screw appears to be not perpendicular to the backplate where it's threaded in! The red arrow in the next picture shows the top of the centre screw that is several degrees off.
Was that hole hand drilled or what? Any decent CNC, or even drill press, is supposed to drill reasonably perpendicular holes, ain't it? Unless the operator forgot to clean the jig, and left some metal chips on it, offsetting the backplate.... Back to machining 101 then... And even if such a mistake happens, 10 seconds of simple visual inspection should have resulted in this particular capsule being rejected.
My conclusion is that there are flaws in the building method, and less than average quality control.When one pretends to build one of the best capsule in the world, that is not acceptable IMO.
Now, should I try the other side to hear if there's enough mojo to make it worth the trouble of sending the thing back and waiting another undetermined period of time to get a decent capsule? Is that only possible? Or should I just ask for a refund and be done with it?
Axel
Edited to fix the pictures links...
2nd edit: October<>July looks like 10 months. But to be fair, I placed my order at the very end of october, and the package says it has been posted early June, so I have waited my *** off for only 6 months.