Light Harmonic, disappointing millionaires.

[sandyk]

Hi Alex C

Having seen the price of these LH cables, I thought it was quite topical to ask whether they, in your opinion, were still a big advantage, or whether there was less need to spend over $1,000 on USB cables if the computer power supply area was further addressed..

Regards

Alex K

[edo]

I'm certainly no millionaire but LH Labs has certainly disappointed me. I don't expect I'll ever receive the Pulse that I paid for. If I ever do, it will be so obsolete that I will have bought another DAC for half the price that works twice as well.

 

Live and learn...

[MikeJazz]

I'm certainly no millionaire but LH Labs has certainly disappointed me. I don't expect I'll ever receive the Pulse that I paid for. If I ever do, it will be so obsolete that I will have bought another DAC for half the price that works twice as well.

 

Live and learn...

 

I was quite happy when I discovered that my Pulse was on it's way on the first batches, only to discover a few days later that I had to be returned because of a known issue. Not even went to customs....

[jhwalker]

I'm certainly no millionaire but LH Labs has certainly disappointed me. I don't expect I'll ever receive the Pulse that I paid for. If I ever do, it will be so obsolete that I will have bought another DAC for half the price that works twice as well.

 

Live and learn...

 

Depending on what you ordered, I'd think you should have already received - I have and am enjoying both of mine (xFi and Infinity variants).

[leomitch]

Ok, so Light Harmonic made millions in crowdfunding a new breed of DACs and hi fi products.

Too bad they're unbelievably unable to keep up with their promise and their customer support is abismal.

 

I pre ordered a red Geek Out 450mw almost a year ago now.

That's fine, I knew I had to wait.

Then, the first batches started to roll out and being shipped, so I waited for my turn... which still has to come.

 

Meanwhile, I read of more and more pissed off people on their own forum. Defective products, defective firmware, defective drivers.

Youth problems, I answered myself, keeping faith in the company.

 

Too bad that when I started asking where my product was, their customer support started promising something they couldn't deliver.

 

First, they proposed to send a silver unit right away.

I accepted, but nothing happened.

I wrote again, they told me I had to wait and my unit was to be "at my home" within the second week of Juiy. I should have received a tracking number any minute.

 

No tracking number has hit my box ever since, so I kept writing.

They simply stopped answering.

 

I asked for a full refund. I'm still waiting for their answer.

 

I think this is VERY disappointing behaviour from a company that made millions on consumers trust.

 

Have any of you had any similar experience with LH?

 

Thanks.

 

On the contrary, I had an excellent experience with them. I ended up ordering their Pulse X Infinity DAC in October, 2014 and received it on June the 9th of this year.

To say I am pleased with this marvel of audio engineering would be an understatement. It surpasses my Benchmark 1 USB in most areas and that is saying something. The Benchmark is no slouch, but the Infinity presents music indescribably pure and well focused. The bass is extended with no artificially tuned bump; the mids are glorious...Norah Jones and Mark Murphy never sounded so good to these ears. The highs are without grain or glassy edges, even on CD's from the first batches which were sometimes intolerably sharp and hard.

Light Harmonic Lab had its tribulations what with supply shortages and a shipping strike at a crucial time. They did over-extend themselves for awhile by trying to develop too many creations at one time...a big mistake which now seems to have been handled. They also had some design problems which led to models being sent back, but once they got their QC in order those errors have dwindled as far as I can see.

However LHL and Larry Ho don't need me as an apologist for them. I would let my Infinity speak that for them. It is a wonderful DAC and at the risk of sounding trite, I feel like I have a whole new music library.

BTW, I am almost brand new here as far as posting is concerned. I look forward to making your acquaintance in the near future,

Best to all here

Leo

[leomitch]

Sorry, I forgot to mention I use my Infinity with headphones only so far. I have to reassemble my stereo system and hook up my beloved Dynaudio speakers, but at the edge of being 80, I don't move so anymore! But I will get to that soon about the time my new Nighthawk headphones arrive in mid-July just before my birthday on the 30th. I can't believe 62 year have gone by since I bought my first stereo unit from Sears for $99. It was like a little suitcase with a turntable and speaker in one half while the second speaker resided in the lid with its 3 meter cable for separation! A big difference from my Infinity DAC and Shure 1840 headphones.

I do go on and on!

 

Cheers

Leo

[bmoura]

I've received the Geek Out 1000 and the Geek Pulse from LH Labs. Took awhile from order to shipment but no problems here. In fact, just ordered the new Geek Out V2 as a result.

[Sam Lord]

LH ate my small contribution without offering a product other than their very expensive USB cable. I wanted to buy their Infinity DAC but they said too late, no cheap DACs for you. So yes I feel disgusted and ripped off. I rejected emails from "Gavin Fish" because they were spam, not business correspondence. He is not LH Labs and I didn't contribute to him, I contributed to LH Labs for their ostensibly laudable campaign. So I'm not blameless but feel quite dirty after this episode. I don't believe I'm dealing with any bad people, just a business which has made some poor choices like I have. More than anything I hope they begin making *reliable* products. That seems to be starting and I wish them well--nobody has success in this business without a lot of bruises.

[MikeJazz]

On the contrary, I had an excellent experience with them. I ended up ordering their Pulse X Infinity DAC in October, 2014 and received it on June the 9th of this year.

To say I am pleased with this marvel of audio engineering would be an understatement. It surpasses my Benchmark 1 USB in most areas and that is saying something. The Benchmark is no slouch, but the Infinity presents music indescribably pure and well focused. The bass is extended with no artificially tuned bump; the mids are glorious...Norah Jones and Mark Murphy never sounded so good to these ears. The highs are without grain or glassy edges, even on CD's from the first batches which were sometimes intolerably sharp and hard.

 

Leo, I feel tempted to use the misfortune of the return in my favor and upgrade to Infinity. But I suspect most of the sound characteristic you describe are also in a Pulse Xfi...

I am tempted to make it even more special.

 

Glad to hear from you and would like to know how it performs on a full system.

Thanks!

[leomitch]

Leo, I feel tempted to use the misfortune of the return in my favor and upgrade to Infinity. But I suspect most of the sound characteristic you describe are also in a Pulse Xfi...

I am tempted to make it even more special.

 

Glad to hear from you and would like to know how it performs on a full system.

Thanks!

 

Good to hear from you Mike!

I am certain the xfi will be very close to the Infinity in doing what DAC's do. I paid more for the Infinity so that I could have what appeared to be the very best. These old ears could never even hear the difference. Just collecting the best toys! ;-)

I will keep you posted when I get my full system up and running.

Cheers mate

Leo

[leomitch]

LH ate my small contribution without offering a product other than their very expensive USB cable. I wanted to buy their Infinity DAC but they said too late, no cheap DACs for you. So yes I feel disgusted and ripped off. I rejected emails from "Gavin Fish" because they were spam, not business correspondence. He is not LH Labs and I didn't contribute to him, I contributed to LH Labs for their ostensibly laudable campaign. So I'm not blameless but feel quite dirty after this episode. I don't believe I'm dealing with any bad people, just a business which has made some poor choices like I have. More than anything I hope they begin making *reliable* products. That seems to be starting and I wish them well--nobody has success in this business without a lot of bruises.

 

No need to feel dirty or disgusted Sam! As you said, LHL just made some poor choices at the beginning, plus it is hard to do your R and D right in front of your investors gaze. When you buy from some retailer like Burston for example, you do not see the errors they made early on...all you see is what they want you to see, the finished product with 99% of the bugs worked out. LHL didn't have that luxury nor does anyone who crowd funds. Everything is laid to bare, both the good and the not so good.

They are making some good products now as they mature in their unique task and my Infinity and those of others is proof of their improvement. Not everything is hunky dory yet, but it is improving day by day.

Relax Sam! You seem torn as to how to feel. Ferocious anger with them and yourself. will only hurt you and do very little to improve the situation. As you so wisely opined above...nobody has success in this business without a lot of bruises.

 

Warm regards mate

Leo

[Sam Lord]

Thank you Leo, that was a very fine reply. I'll support LH when they return the money (the princely sum of $59) they owe me, but won't fuss any more about it here.

[edo]

fast forward to 2020...It hasn't been ALL bad. 

I picked up a Pulse X Infinity Special Edition for a little more than I paid for my basic Geek Pulse back at the beginning of the whole thing/

Wow, what a fantastic DAC is all I have to say.

[Blake]

43 minutes ago, edo said:

fast forward to 2020...It hasn't been ALL bad. 

I picked up a Pulse X Infinity Special Edition for a little more than I paid for my basic Geek Pulse back at the beginning of the whole thing/

Wow, what a fantastic DAC is all I have to say.

 

You are fortunate your unit is still working.  Many of us with the Pulse now have inoperable bricks.  My Pulse DAC spontaneously failed after running fine for several years.  My Pulse LPS also recently bit the dust.  The "company" (in air quotes) no longer provides any support or help whatsoever.  They are hand's down the biggest scam hifi company that ever existed and Larry Ho literally stole millions of dollars from the various project backers without any guilt or remorse.  He is pure evil scum.

 

 

[edo]

20 hours ago, Blake said:

 

You are fortunate your unit is still working.  Many of us with the Pulse now have inoperable bricks.  My Pulse DAC spontaneously failed after running fine for several years.  My Pulse LPS also recently bit the dust.  The "company" (in air quotes) no longer provides any support or help whatsoever.  They are hand's down the biggest scam hifi company that ever existed and Larry Ho literally stole millions of dollars from the various project backers without any guilt or remorse.  He is pure evil scum.

 

 

Thanks for the encouraging words....