Are these headphones fake? Sony MDR-7506

Ok, so there are legit 7506's from China then too.

OK !!  I now have in my possession the genuine article and what might or might not be a fake pair.
 
Pictures and comments for each.  Just the packaging today.
 
Front of the boxes:
 
http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv46/kevin5brown/Sony%207506/IMG_3257.jpg
 
Real pair on the left.  Suspect on the right.  Note the "framing" of the box around the edges for the real pair (the thicker, wider blue part around the edges).  The "suspect" pair's box is mooshed because the seller only wrapped the "Sony" box in bubble wrap, and then put it in a cushioned bag.  No outer cardboard box.  The real pair was double boxed.
 
The text on the plastic is crisper and better defined for the real pair.  In the picture, the text looks like a different color for each, that's just the lighting.
 
Also, the headphones are reversed in the boxes.  The real pair has the wire from the headband to the earcups facing out.  The suspect pair has that facing to the back of the box.
 
Note that from my comment in a previous post, in this case, both jacks face the same direction.
 
Top and bottom of the box:  Legit pair on top.
 
http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv46/kevin5brown/Sony%207506/IMG_3262.jpg
http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv46/kevin5brown/Sony%207506/IMG_3260.jpg
 
Different, but ...
 
Sides:
 
http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv46/kevin5brown/Sony%207506/IMG_3264.jpg
http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv46/kevin5brown/Sony%207506/IMG_3261.jpg
 
I noticed this right off for the suspect pair.  No bar code.  Also, looking at all the sides and top and bottom pix, the match between the blue cardboard and the plastic is better for the real pair.  There are gaps between the blue cardboard packaging and the plastic outer shell for the suspect pair.
 
Back of the boxes:
 
http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv46/kevin5brown/Sony%207506/IMG_3265.jpg
 
Almost identical.  Both made in Thailand.  One difference that might be hard to see in the pix, again, legit pair on the left (or bottom the way the photo is rotated), both are dated 1994, which surprised me.  For the legit pair, it's "(c) 1994 Sony Corporation" for the suspect pair it's "Sony Corporation (c) 1994" down on the lower right.  To the very lower right, for the legit pair it says 4-951-613-22.  For the suspect pair it's 4-951-613-21.
 
So for right now, I'm still keeping an open mind.  Maybe 2 different revs of packaging explains the differences?  One meant for the U.S., one meant for another country?
 
I'll open them up tomorrow and talk about what I see then. 

No barcode? Definitely fake.

Quote:

mibutenma said:

2007 is the time Sony headphones started being made in Thailand.
 

Click to expand...

When it says Thailand on a piece like that, it means that specific part was manufactured in that country. The box is most reliable.

I can vouch for the thicker blue border and the text on the top flap on the real box. The phone also only fits in one way, with the L on the left and the R on the right due to the ergonomics of the earcups. The reversed phone could be from someone opening the box and putting them back wrong though. I have to admit, I'm not feeling confident about your suspected fake set :S

Quote:

mootookang said:

No barcode? Definitely fake.

Click to expand...

Do all countries require a barcode?
 

 
That's why I'm still keeping an open mind.
 
But obviously, I have my doubts.
 
... I'm actually thinking about what to do next.  I *did* ask the seller if they were legit, and they said that they were.  I could go to them personally, once I've completed everything here and link to it, or just complain to eBay and Paypal. One step at a time though.  I hope to post some more later today.

 OK, no listening just yet, but I am now convinced the "suspect" pair are indeed fake.  Very good fakes, but not the real thing.
 
More observations opening up the packaging:
 
a) OK, so you pull blue box out of the plastic outer shell.  The real ones have a nice plastic film that goes over the top of the blue box inside the outer plastic shell.  The fakes ones don't have that extra film.
 
b) There is that plastic piece in the middle of the package that holds the end of the cord and the adapter jack.  The fakes have a piece of tape to hold the end of the cord in place.  The real ones don't.  The end of the cord and adapter fits nicely enough in there not to need the tape.
 
c) The real ones: the warranty card is heavier paper stock, and slides out when you initially pull out the back support piece of cardboard.  (The one with the blow-up schematic.)  The fakes have the warranty sheet inside the packaging back where the bulk of the cord is, and the pouch.
 
d) The real pouch is thicker leather (?) and has "Sony" embossed on it in white letters.  The fake one has "Sony" imprinted into the "leather", but is just imprinted.  Not white.  Just imprinted into the pouch.
 
e) Someone previously mentioned that a real pair has green rings on the headphone jack and the adapter.  Well, the fake ones do too.  Looking closely though, the real adapter has a deeper gold than the fakes.  Almost like the fakers used a thinner gold to save money.  (I think most jacks are nickel under the gold.)
 
f) The real ones have the cord double bagged in plastic.  A thin long bag for the entire cord, and then the cord is folded up and put into another rectangular bag.  The fakes only have a single larger bag.  Not the long thin bag.
 
The headphones themselves.  This is where it gets kind of scary, because at least just looking at them, if I didn't have a real pair to compare against, it would be very hard to tell that the fakes are fakes.  But here's what I have so far:
 
i) OK, the metal plates where you adjust the cups up and down to fit your head.  There are detents on those plates on each side.  The real ones have those numbers more or less matching up with the detents.  The fakes have the numbers in between the detents.
 
ii) The blue sticker across the bottom of each earcup that says Professional.  The real one is just higher quality.  If I tried to peel it off, it would take some doing.  For the fakes, the ends are already slightly coming off the housings.
 
iii) The real ones clamp my head a little more than the fakes.  To be honest, I have a larger than average noggin and I'm a little surprised the real ones don't clamp more than they do, but there is a difference between the two.
 
iv) The red and blue R & L badges on each side.  If you look close, you can see glue around those for the fakes.  The real ones are perfect.
 
v) The fabric that covers the drivers inside the pads.  The "grain" of the fakes goes up and down.  The real ones goes side to side.
 
Some of these obviously are just "differences", but others are where you can tell the difference between quality manufacturing and ... not.
 
Listening soon !
 
[Added:] For those interested, go back to the link in post 12.  My fake 7506's seem to have been made by the exact same people who made the fake V6's !!

With all the fakes flying around I generally don't buy anything audio related unless the seller is confirmed good.  Like some DAC/Amp makers and resellers.  As for headphones, even legit companies get scammed so... its best buying that in store even if it cost more.  Peace of mind is the best gift ever.
 
Same with components like opamps and stuff I rather buy from digikey than risk ebay.
 
I hate the stigmatism and fear those selling fakes on the open market put into all of us, its really sickening and unfortunate but this world is full of terrible people that make the good guys look suspicious.

I don't have much qualm with things made in china though, both my DAC and Amp are Chinese made without the stereotypical shoddy construction and parts.

Quote:

kevin brown said:

e) Someone previously mentioned that a real pair has green rings on the headphone jack and the adapter.  Well, the fake ones do too.  Looking closely though, the real adapter has a deeper gold than the fakes.  Almost like the fakers used a thinner gold to save money.  (I think most jacks are nickel under the gold.)
...
v) The fabric that covers the drivers inside the pads.  The "grain" of the fakes goes up and down.  The real ones goes side to side.
 

Click to expand...

 
I can verify the plug details. I went by memory and said black on my previous post but have since corrected it for the record. The fabric in the earcups have vertical thread banding on mine Minor detail but nonetheless, well done Holmes!

Some listening tonight.  I have to crank the volume a lot more on the fakes to get a comparable level.  But really, I don't like either one.  But the real ones have more balance across the freq spectrum.  They are both too bright IMO, but the fakes have this abnormal bloated amount of way too much bass.  But it's way down low.  Really weird sounding.  I wouldn't say they sound horrible, but not as good as the real ones.  And the real ones don't have enough bass, and what is there doesn't go down deep enough to counteract their brightness.
 
I used to have 7505's, and I thought those were supposed to be the on-ear version of these, but those sounded completely different.  If the real 7506's have the tilt of not enough bass and too much treble, the 7505's were the opposite: too much bass and not enough treble.
 
But really, the more I listen to the fakes, the more I think bassheads would really like them !! 

Quote:

mootookang said:

Don't know about the 7506, but here's a side by side comparison for M6.
 
http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=319516

Click to expand...

Funny you should mention this. I'm over at AK, too, and I posted in that thread when it was first put up. The fake market is pretty active these days. There was a thread a little while ago on here about some suspected fake M50s. Not sure how that ended up turning out, actually.

Quote:

argyris said:

Funny you should mention this. I'm over at AK, too, and I posted in that thread when it was first put up. The fake market is pretty active these days. There was a thread a little while ago on here about some suspected fake M50s. Not sure how that ended up turning out, actually.

Click to expand...

I generally use AK for desktop setup and headfi for portable.
 
Each have their strength and weaknesses, but it's always nice to get more information.

Agreed. What's fascinating is to see the different perspectives AK and HF have on headphones. Over at AK, the cans forum is one of the least active. People who have been into audio their whole lives (and who have amazing gear) wander in and they're n00bs again. I guess headphones must have really sucked hard in the 1970s such that some people are just getting into them now.
 
/off topic

There is no way headphones will be as good as speakers when the setup reaches up to the price point of 2-3 grand, but when the set up is around $500, it's fairly easy to build a decent portable or semi-portable setup.
 
Head-fi has taught me a lot about software related topics and all the fun mods for the equipments. AK is generally more equipment focus, and more emotional overall.
 
But when the overall favorite phones on AK is v6, it sort of makes you question the credibility of the headphone sub-forum.

Quote:

kevin brown said:

 OK, no listening just yet, but I am now

convinced the "suspect" pair are indeed fake.  Very good fakes, but not the real thing.

 
More observations opening up the packaging:
 
a) OK, so you pull blue box out of the plastic outer shell.  The real ones have a nice plastic film that goes over the top of the blue box inside the outer plastic shell.  The fakes ones don't have that extra film.
 
b) There is that plastic piece in the middle of the package that holds the end of the cord and the adapter jack.  The fakes have a piece of tape to hold the end of the cord in place.  The real ones don't.  The end of the cord and adapter fits nicely enough in there not to need the tape.
 
c) The real ones: the warranty card is heavier paper stock, and slides out when you initially pull out the back support piece of cardboard.  (The one with the blow-up schematic.)  The fakes have the warranty sheet inside the packaging back where the bulk of the cord is, and the pouch.
 
d) The real pouch is thicker leather (?) and has "Sony" embossed on it in white letters.  The fake one has "Sony" imprinted into the "leather", but is just imprinted.  Not white.  Just imprinted into the pouch.
 
e) Someone previously mentioned that a real pair has green rings on the headphone jack and the adapter.  Well, the fake ones do too.  Looking closely though, the real adapter has a deeper gold than the fakes.  Almost like the fakers used a thinner gold to save money.  (I think most jacks are nickel under the gold.)
 
f) The real ones have the cord double bagged in plastic.  A thin long bag for the entire cord, and then the cord is folded up and put into another rectangular bag.  The fakes only have a single larger bag.  Not the long thin bag.
 
The headphones themselves.  This is where it gets kind of scary, because at least just looking at them, if I didn't have a real pair to compare against, it would be very hard to tell that the fakes are fakes.  But here's what I have so far:
 
i) OK, the metal plates where you adjust the cups up and down to fit your head.  There are detents on those plates on each side.  The real ones have those numbers more or less matching up with the detents.  The fakes have the numbers in between the detents.
 
ii) The blue sticker across the bottom of each earcup that says Professional.  The real one is just higher quality.  If I tried to peel it off, it would take some doing.  For the fakes, the ends are already slightly coming off the housings.
 
iii) The real ones clamp my head a little more than the fakes.  To be honest, I have a larger than average noggin and I'm a little surprised the real ones don't clamp more than they do, but there is a difference between the two.
 
iv) The red and blue R & L badges on each side.  If you look close, you can see glue around those for the fakes.  The real ones are perfect.
 
v) The fabric that covers the drivers inside the pads.  The "grain" of the fakes goes up and down.  The real ones goes side to side.
 
Some of these obviously are just "differences", but others are where you can tell the difference between quality manufacturing and ... not.
 
Listening soon !
 
[Added:] For those interested, go back to the link in post 12.  My fake 7506's seem to have been made by the exact same people who made the fake V6's !!

Click to expand...

Okay. So the pair I just received passes on all counts except for the grain on the pads, and maybe the glue bit. If I look at the L/R badges in the right light I can see a darker black surrounding them with about the same thickness of a finger nail. Very fine line, but it's there. Fake or not? And do they not make MDR's in Japan anymore? Or only Thailand now? Thanks for any input. Truly appreciate it.