Got mine today, also sent from china. Am disappointed as it is clearly stock that is a couple of years old and has the previous, less comfortable headband and not the more recent, redesigned and more comfortable one that drop led me to believe I would be getting by using it in all the pictures on their main page and emails.
After import taxes, I am still saving approx $400 from buying new but if it had been made clear to me from the start that I could pay full rrp from a dealer to get a new pair covered by warranty or save $400 for a 2+ year old model with the old headband and no warranty from Audeze, I clearly would have spent the extra.
This is the first time in many purchases from drop that I feel like I have been taking advantage of.
Yes they didn't explicitly state that the model we receive would be the exact one advertised in the pictures but I didn't expect otherwise from drop who don't usually resort to shady tactics to shift multi-thousand dollar products.
jonnytAnd when having a closer look at the tired-looking leather pads, I now notice a couple of places where the leather is actually ripped where it presses against the wood. Really, really disappointing.
On the bright side, at least they sound good.