Confirmation of fake Monster Turbines
Jan 25, 2011 at 7:07 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 17
ElcomeSoft

ElcomeSoft

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Just to fill you in, I bought these Monster Turbines cheap off eBay sold as new for £35 ($45-50) and expected them to be fake. As far as I can tell, they are fakes and show a couple of telltale signs but I would just like some confirmation on my assumptions.
 
Looking at the box itself, it looks quite impressive but as soon as you start getting into it you can notice the subtle nuances that mean that they are not the real deal.
 
What strikes me as 'not right':
 
  • 'Hear more.' on the side of the black box seems to suggest that you should have the black leather pouch with red stitching and 'Monster Turbine' metal tag, which these have, but there should be another 'pop open' style pouch to go with them.
  • The black box is rather scuffed, is of inferior construction to my expectations and the magnetic section does not appear to be as I expected either. (Having owned several high-end Logitech mouse products, I know what a high quality box with magnetic closing mechanism feels like. I expected similar here)
  • The package comes with a small clip. All official unboxings I have witnessed have never had a clip.
  • The pouch itself looks like an older style pouch (black pouch, black stitching and quite deep) but with the red stitching and the new metal badge added
  • Bottom of the box is white
 
I removed the stock tips and applied my current pair of Comply T-400 tips to give them a test out. Quite frankly I was blown away with how good they sounded. The best IEM's I've owned were a pair of V-Moda Vibes which I purchased upon recommendation from these very forums in something like 2007 and I wasn't overly impressed with them. These 'fake' Turbines sound better, far and above what I've heard before and they seemed to be happy when powered by my HTC HD2 phone with FLAC and 320kbps MP3. I am by no means an audiophile and having never sampled earphones of a substantial quailty before could simply be as good as the Brainwavz ProAlpha's that I have arriving soon (They finally left Hong Kong on the 23rd yay!)
 
Had I not known about Head-Fi and scoured YouTube for multiple videos of unboxings, I would never have guessed that these were probable fakes and would have just accepted a scuffed box as an issue that can occur during production.
 
My only camera is my HTC HD2 so please excuse the poor lighting, poor quality and the fact I use Photobucket.
 
Pictures here.
 
Any further pictures available upon request
 
Jan 25, 2011 at 9:09 AM Post #4 of 17
My legit one does have a clip. Monster have different packing version some of the standard MT even have the L-plug. But I think the original have a all black box and not the white color base like pix #1.
 
Jan 25, 2011 at 9:51 AM Post #5 of 17
 
those are probably fake but the easiest way to usually tell with Turbines or Miles Davis is that the grill/filter on the driver does not stick out on fakes. the grill on the authentics(i have some regular Turbines) point outwards from the driver.
 
Jan 25, 2011 at 10:40 AM Post #6 of 17
I'm not completely sure what you mean. I think I have the jist of it but wouldn't say for sure for or against without a visual aid. Could you supply a picture?
 
I'll take a picture of the Turbines I got this morning once I've had dinner and prised off these Comply tips. I've had these tips for a week and I love them but they're hell if you want to take them off without causing damage.
 
Quote:
koopa989 said:
 
those are probably fake but the easiest way to usually tell with Turbines or Miles Davis is that the grill/filter on the driver does not stick out on fakes. the grill on the authentics(i have some regular Turbines) point outwards from the driver.
Click to expand...



 
Jan 25, 2011 at 11:55 AM Post #7 of 17
 
i stole these pics from a different thread, they are the Gold Turbines but its the same difference.
 
http://assets.head-fi.org/c/c9/c99cd05d_267301360Real
 
http://assets.head-fi.org/7/7e/7edf3854_Fakes
 
 
 
 
bah...the links are screwed nevermind...
 
 
edit:2 link to different thread...
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/521485/are-these-monster-turbine-pro-gold-edition-real-or-fake
 
Jan 25, 2011 at 11:58 AM Post #8 of 17
I had fake turbines too. They were definitely fake, all the fake characteristics were on them. :)
But wow, they sounded better than my real tours...
 
Jan 25, 2011 at 1:30 PM Post #9 of 17
Thanks Koopa989... The 'real' ones with the filter rather poking out like that looks unusual to me but I have provided a couple of pictures for reference.
 
It's a little past 6pm here and pitch black outside. Artificial light does not make for a happy phone camera so please bear with the substandard quality.
 
Face on
 
Slight angle
 
Jan 25, 2011 at 4:22 PM Post #11 of 17
those are 100% fake.
 
 
i tried to take a pic of my Turbines to show the difference but the camera on my phone is too crappy to take one that close.
 
the grills on the tips of your Turbines look dull and are slightly inside the housing. on my pair, and whats typical of authentic Monster's, the grill is shiny like the rest of the metal on the housing and bulges out slightly from the tip.
 
Jan 25, 2011 at 6:19 PM Post #12 of 17
Lot of sellers on eBay like to talk lot of stories (or legends?:)) about 3rd party earphones. One of them told me that his friend works on Monster Manufacture in China. For example they should make 1000 ones of Turbines, but they make 1200, and take 1000 best made in all. This great 1000 goes to the USA. Other 200 points goes for selling on eBay without warranity and with little remarks, cause they made on a fast hand.
So when "100% satisfaction"(c) - 100%satisfaction?:)
 
Jan 25, 2011 at 11:00 PM Post #13 of 17
^What is true is that for some they actually take the driver of the original ones and stick them in fake shells. I remember a guy on the chinese forums said he got a MDT and it sounded exactly the same as his real ones.
 
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