WARNING: Fake IE8s! Comparison pictures included!!
Dec 4, 2012 at 11:21 PM Post #1,067 of 1,210
You can buy those fakes here for about $35. The description matches everything here. They're in black-market stores everywhere. 
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 Good thing most people buy the fake Beats or owning an IE8 will lose some of its value.

UPDATE: I bought one from a "reputable" seller of these fake IE8s just for kicks.. It's a good thing she doesn't deny them being fake too. All I can say is.. for $35, these are quite scaring me. Box looks fake, the barcode starts at the beginning of R, but it also has the "True Sound" hologram sticker. Comes complete with accessories, superb and very clear sound quality (for $35), also has a hint of Sennheiser house sound and retains a bit of soundstage (I can position instruments being played even from behind). The bass screw works fine, but the cables are not detachable. Bit treblier (is that a word?) than the real IE8 too. Overall, if you resold these at SRP, and the buyer is a regular consumer who is clueless about soundstaging, clarity, etc, these could easily pass as authentic, and give the scammer a healthy profit. Scary. Really. They're getting good. 
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Will I be keeping these? Probably, but I'd just reshell them or something. I'll be recieving an IE80 for Christmas anyway.
 
Jan 16, 2013 at 9:53 AM Post #1,070 of 1,210
Quote:

 
 
I tried out the fake IE8 for $27 (pictures later) and the fakers were able to replicate that red wire:
 
Quote:
PocketSmiley said:



[IE8 PICTURE COMING]
 
Fake Sennheiser IE8 ($27 from aliexpress.com)
 
FAILED at higher volumes, but passed up to near my loudness threshold.
Bass timbre: "TUUD"
Recommended for normal listeners.
 
I recently got my fake IE8 (I bought them knowing they're fake) and I was pleasantly surprised how genuine they look when put to the authenticity test (especially the red wires and the bass dial). Even the sound signature is spot-on. They sound close to my authentic Sennheisers, but not quite at the dangerous volumes I normally listen to. They could've fooled me for sure.

 
These fake marks still helped: barcode starts at the R, not after; the L and R marks not angled as in the original.
 
Feb 19, 2013 at 8:33 PM Post #1,072 of 1,210
4 ways to easily spot fakes:
 
1. Price and packaging, miss spelt words and if it is missing a serial sticker (required for warranty registration), hologram sticker and the side packaging is completely plastic then it's fake. If it's too cheap too good too be true, raise suspicion that it could be fakes.
 
2. Small or no PCB at the Y-Splitter section of the cable. One side of the cable is longer than the other, L and R lettering are not slanted but straight and white looking. Sennheiser logo, if it looks smeared or the S almost touching the outer square than it's an indicator. Also check for spelling mistakes on the inner packaging and warranty/instruction booklets.
 
3. The container box, again with the Logo there are examples at the very start of this thread as to how the logo should be. Also there is a little magnet washer that magnetizes to the inner metal flap on the container box, if the washer on the container box doesn't magnetize it is fake. Also if the bass knob adjuster doesn't make much or any difference when tuned to max or min, then it's a fake because genuine ones the bass will be very boomy and punchy if maxed out. Fake's usually don't make any difference if you adjust the bass knob.
 
4. Most of the times there is a red visible wire (right channel) in the 3.5mm plug that you can see, sometimes you can't. Retails usually have 3 colours you can just manage to see through the brownish clear plastic resin, copper colour is ground, green or blue is left channel and red is right channel, fakes usually just have 1 single colour usually copper, if you have this, again either you have a defective prototype/rma unit from Sennheiser (which is unlikely but possible) or it's a fake.
 
Overall, the first dead giveaway usually is the price but not necessarily the case, the first IE8's I purchased were $150 off ebay from a seller in Netherlands, they turned out to be genuines until I lost them having to buy another pair locally for a little bit more which I recently sold off for cheap.
 
Mar 8, 2013 at 12:53 PM Post #1,073 of 1,210
I bought a pair on Ebay spain for 60£
 
The box and everything is like the "real" on in this thread and seems legit, but I think the audio is abit poor and really bas-heavy.
It got the red-cord on the R side and all, but I can't stop thinking it's a really good fake...  did they improve their fakes?..
 
Mar 8, 2013 at 5:45 PM Post #1,074 of 1,210
Quote:
I bought a pair on Ebay spain for 60£
 
The box and everything is like the "real" on in this thread and seems legit, but I think the audio is abit poor and really bas-heavy.
It got the red-cord on the R side and all, but I can't stop thinking it's a really good fake...  did they improve their fakes?..

I think they must have improved the fakes, as mine sound awful. Very thin and lacking bass. The foam insert is a dead giveaway for fakes - the foam is cut at sharp angles and clean radiuses - the foam on fakes is not cut neatly. There are some pictures I've loaded on this thread, or the IE80 thread.
 
Mar 9, 2013 at 7:58 PM Post #1,075 of 1,210
Quote:
I think they must have improved the fakes, as mine sound awful. Very thin and lacking bass. The foam insert is a dead giveaway for fakes - the foam is cut at sharp angles and clean radiuses - the foam on fakes is not cut neatly. There are some pictures I've loaded on this thread, or the IE80 thread.

I think I got a real pair, aint lacking bass at here.. actually abit to much bass IMHO.
 
Mar 12, 2013 at 4:40 AM Post #1,077 of 1,210
Quote:
just so people know, there are like 4-5 versions/grades from the fake factory. The best of them have great bass and Fidelity. The cheaper versions are total garbage though.

Surprising amount of fidelity, actually. Too bad they don't get to have detachable cables.. 
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 Still fake, though. Mine surprisingly lasted until now. Not bad for a $30 knock-off. Of course, I have a real one too.. 
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Mar 14, 2013 at 12:24 AM Post #1,078 of 1,210
Would someone here be nice enough to confirm if mine are real or not if I sent them to you? 
 
It would be greatly appreciated :)
 
Mar 14, 2013 at 3:52 AM Post #1,079 of 1,210
The easiest way to determine if you have fakes or not is logos, box packaging and most important of all the magnet washer within the IEM box. If it ain't magnetized then its 101% fake.
 
Mar 15, 2013 at 9:40 PM Post #1,080 of 1,210
Quote:
Surprising amount of fidelity, actually. Too bad they don't get to have detachable cables.. 
biggrin.gif
 Still fake, though. Mine surprisingly lasted until now. Not bad for a $30 knock-off. Of course, I have a real one too.. 
etysmile.gif

 
I got detachable cables on mine.  But I know now for sure they are real, tried a real pair and they are almost the same,  my pair sounded better but probably only due to burn-in.
 

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