Delays On “Fake vs Genuine CX400″ Review Due To Genuine CX400’s??
I bought a pair of ‘Refurbished’ Sennheiser CX400, in the hope that they would be fake, and then I was planing to buy a genuine pair, to make a comparison. I paid £14.99 for the CX400 from a 3rd party amazon seller. Lets see what I got.
4) The thin plastic holding the grill and the color of the grill itself. It’s silver rather than a dull grey.
What’s Missing
Those are my reasons for thinking they’re genuine, although there was one thing missing. Bearing in mind that these are ‘Refurbished’ they didn’t come with the extension cable. However the ‘Sennheiser’ clip is missing, as shown in the image below.
Final Words
Here’s a direct link to the Sennheiser CX400 page on amazon.co.uk. My advice is that you should buy from an authorized dealer. Don’t take this to mean that you can rush out a buy a pair of genuine CX400 from every seller on amazon. I’m not encouraging you to buy from any of the 3rd party sellers on amazon. I bought from them hoping to buy a fake pair, so that I could compare them and bring you the result of my findings. I don’t suggest you spend your hard earned money on buying fake, 2nd rate sounding product. I’ve yet to have a pair of fakes that sound anything like the real thing. And please remember, I’ve still yet to confirm that these CX400 earphones are genuine.
So now I’m off to ebay.co.uk to look for a pair of Fake Sennheiser CX400, so I can get on with a comparison review. There’s usually a good amount of fakes on ebay. The general consensus is that there are a lot of fakes, all you have to do is look for sellers from ‘China‘ or ‘Hong Kong‘.
I wish I would have seen Fake and Real Sennheiser CX400 earphone pictures earlier, because i’ve jsut bought a pair of (hopefully fake) CX400 earphones. Sounds strange that I should hope that they’re fake, but its all for your benifit. You can chew on these new images, although I’d still like to bring you my own findings on Fake CX400’s as well, which I’ll do soon. Click here for more info
Here’s a selection of stories/comments about fake Bose Triport IE earphones. The Surprising thing is in the first account, the serial number checks out to be fine. Scary!
Are your Sennheiser CX300 earphones fake, and you don’t know it?
Yes, they’re here. I finally got a pair of fake and genuine pair of CX300. However, I didn’t do my homework in terms of the packaging. The Sennheiser CX300 “Eco” come in a nice ‘Eco’ friendly cardboard packaging, instead of the standard plastic packaging. Small matter some might think, but I think it’s nice that Sennheiser are offering this option. Down to business!
Easy to spot differences
I’ve set up a Sennheiser Fake vs Genuine Picture page, for you to get a better perspective on the easy to spot differences. Let’s go through them quickly. Click the images below for more …. images.
Easy To Spot Differences
Fakes have a dull finish to the earphones. Sennheiser cx300 eco finish is shiny, almost reflective
Fakes have a shallow, single flat groove. Sennheiser has a deep “V” groove
Fake cable is think, stiff and has a plastic feel about them. Sennheiser cable has a rubbery finish
Fake “L” shape 3.5mm jack is huge. Sennheiser’s “L” shape Jack is a dainty little thing.
Fake metal surround holding the driver has a sharp 45% edge. The Sennheiser driver surround has a smooth rounded edge
There are some more intricate details, but i suggest you look at the ‘Pictures‘ page to see the rest. But they include:
Fake ear bud ‘line’ is nearer to the driver than the genuine CX300’s (see the pictures)
Fake ear buds have a slight sheen on them. Sennheiser’s ear buds have a mat finish (dull looking no sine to them)
Fake driver grill has a slight curvature to them and it’s a darkish hue to the metal. Sennheiser’s driver grill is flat and silver
Fake plastic rim holding the driver grill is quite thick. The genuine CX300’s driver grill is quite thin
Fake cable length is longer, if only by a few centermeters
Sound Quality
This is where it counts. I have seen comments that in some cases the fake don’t sound too bad. In fact some even say that the fakes sound better than the genuine article. Unfortunately this isn’t the case here.
Playing Lost - (D. Ramirez Lost In Rave Mix) via my iMac
The genuine Sennheiser CX300 eco :
The sound is clear
The midrange is quite forward
The highs (treble) is crisp and well defined
The Fakes:
The bass is deep and boomy instead of controlled
The highs are rounded off, very badly (the treble is somewhat muted)
There’s a hollow tint to the sound
The separation of the mids highs is unfocused
They do sound cheap!
Playing Enya - White Is In the Winter Night via my iMac
Genuine CX300:
The bass is very deep
Midrange is good
Fake CX300:
Bass sounds like mud, there’s little definition to it
The sound has a sounds like bathroom/elevator/supermarket ‘pipe music’ effect about it
The fakes don’t come anywhere near in terms of crispness or separation. It gets confused very easily with Enya’s track.
The fake CX300 are worth none of the money I paid for them. They belong in a poundshop somewhere. They come unstuck with complex music easily. If there are fakes that sound better than the real thing, these are them!
Buying guide
When it comes to buying, my advice still stands; Stay away from ebay, and for the time being buy only from authorized Sennheiser dealers. Personally, I’ll only buy directly from amazon! If you do buy from amazon, make sure it is “amazon”, and not one of the many sellers that are also selling the CX300’s. Look for the amazon logo. It’s worth doing this, because the fakes offer pitiful sound quality.
This isn’t a unique design for earphones. Companies like Sennheiser, Creative, AKG and Razor all use this basic shell, so it’s nothing new. But you and I know that fake versions have flooded the market, especially the Sennheiser CX and Creative Ep earphones. The soundwise T4’s use what is now a classic earphone design and stuff it with their own internals, and believe me, they work very well. The best thing is the price for these beauties has just dropped.
These soundwise T4’s are very near the same SQ as my personal favourites, the Ultimate Ears Metro.fi 2’s. Sennheiser CX300 in drag? I doubt it, but the fact still remains
These sound brilliant
They’re the real thing, not some tinny sounding pair of rip off’s
You’d be stupid not to at least email Glenn to find out more: glenn@soundwise.co.uk
And If you live in the UK, you’d be mad to miss out on these, especially at £16.50.
Sound Quality
I’ve just finished Lost (D. Ramirez Lost In Rave Mix) - Roger Sanchez, and to be honest, for £16.50, they more impressive than the well established Mylar’s, Goldring GX200’s and dare I say for overall performance, they’re giving the Shure SE110’s a run for the money, but the Shure are a different cup of tea. They far more fuller than the competition, but the detail is still there. But with the soundwise T4 you get a good solid helping of bass. In fact, with most of the Soundwise range, the emphasis on bass is apparent
Forget about “Branded” fakes, I’ll stick with these thank you. Oh, did I say they sound remarkably like the Ultimate Ears Metro.fi’s?
P.S.
Glenn also deals with Cresyn earphones, and Cresyn are the company behind the most talked about headphones, the Phiaton’s.
Got another pair of JBL 220 earphones, just to find out more, I believe these to be fake. On the upside, this set came with more accessories. One pair of JBL 220’s appear to be fake. Not only that, but the SQ isn’t that good either. Full report.
Different Colored Ear Buds
Grey ear buds Real (1)
Black ear buds Fake (2)
Package
The fakes (2) came with a few accessories, however the standard JBL package doesn’t come with black ear buds. The genuine JBL package also comes with a nice carrying case, not a carrying pouch.
Difference JBL Label
As you can see, the color of the “JBL” “L” labels are different. Real JBL (1) label is slightly darker. Also, fake (2) ear buds were out of shape when I received them, something I’ve never seen before.
Different Color Grills
Fake (2) grills are silver, where as the real grills (1) are black.
Sound Quality
These are like chalk and cheese. The real JBL’s earphones sound very good if I’m honest. Full bodied sound, like something you’d expect from the genuine article. If these are real, then I would invest. Fake (2) sound quality is pitiful so say the least. Tinny, harsh and not worth the (small) amount that the seller is asking. You can buy better sound earphones at Poundland (UK cheapie store).
Advice
Advice is the same, buy from authorized dealer like amazon, pony up the cash and pay for the real thing. The only reason I buy this junk is to stop you getting ripped off, when you think you’re in for a bargain. Good luck!
I’m having second thoughts to whether these are fakes or not. I think that they’ve fallen off the back of a lorry….. ‘alf inched…. They don’t come with the supplied extras: click here for ilounge review.
The only thing you get with the ebay deal, are the earphones themselves, nothing else, but again, I’m not sure they’re fake.
Anyway the JBL Reference 220 earphones package is good, the headband and clip on options makes it even more interesting than your average IEM purchase. And the sound? Well the pair I have are pretty impressive. If I had the full package, I’d be very pleased!
Source for genuine JBL 220 earphones pictures: ilounge.com
Quick Warning, Fake JBL 220 Earphones are on the market, so watch out!
I can’t stop, but just want to say that there are some seriously suspiciously price JBL 220 earphones on ebay at the moment. I bought a pair to see what’s what, and they came in a sealed plastic bag. Yeah right, like they’re genuine in a crumby sealed plastic bag. So buy from amazon and pay full whack.
I remember when there were some Yamaha earphones on ebay, they also came in a crumby sealed bag as well. Money wasted? Not if it stops you getting ripped off! Have a good one, I’ve gotta run.
Source for large comparison images (scroll down): ebay.au
Source for JBL 220 review with images: ilounge.com
So, Do The Fakes Really Sound Better Than The Real Thing?
Well, I really wanted to get started on the SQ (sound quality) test this month, but it’s been one disaster after another. After the purchase of my new house fell through (credit crunch strikes again), the next disaster is that I haven’t received any post in nearly 2 weeks. My wife and I were all ready to move, house packed, friends ready to help move the wardrobes etc, and of course POST REDIRECT service set up.
The only thing is, now the house has fallen through, it’s now obvious that our post is being redirected to the new house, even though we’ve called to cancel the service 3 times. So all the headphones I’ve bought this month are…….. Who knows?
For the time being, we can’t get access to the house, so until I’m confident that the ‘redirection’ service has been cancelled, I’ve put all headphone buying on hold.
Sound Quality Fake vs The Real thing
For the time being that test has been put on hold. Sorry! But I do want to try the Sennheiser CX300, Bose Triport IE (in-ear) and the Sennheiser PX100 headphones first, when I start the SQ test. Obviously you’ll get the results, and great new pictures of the comparison between the fakes and the real thing, so you can distinguish them more easily.
