[Mooe]

Hi there! Please excuse me if this thread is in the wrong place or if I am breaking any rules, I'm new here.
Recently my Koss PortaPros cable's jacket (I think it is called) had been pulled too much (I presume) and caused the right headphone ear to stop working, but it works if I twist the cable a bit, but that's kind of a big hassle if I want to listen to music properly.
Anyway, I have had 5 PortaPros totally and 4 of them broke the same way (either the right or left ear stopped working), and even though the PortaPros were quite fine to me as portable headphones, I've had enough of the shoddy build quality and am looking for an upgrade with better comfort and sound.

Yesterday I looked up the big review thread and stumbled upon the Creative Aurvana Live! headphones. They look nice, appears to be extremely comfortable, the sound quality is better than the PortaPros, isolation is a bit bad but overall value is the same (or was it better? can't remember).
Anyway, I read a bit more about them and found them a very attractive option and fits my budget just about too ($120. According to the thread the street price should be 100, but me living in Sweden some things are a little bit more expensive)
Anyway, before I make the purchase I would like to know if there are any other headphones with the same value (the sound quality must be same or better), be relatively portable and carry the same pricetag or lower.
 

 

[gduck]

Before you purchase a new pair of headphones, Koss has a lifetime warranty, so just ship all those broken headphones to them and you'll get a back a working pair. Now, as a previous owner of Creative live aurvana! I cannot recommend them enough, they are great sound for their price.  Warm, bassy, sound very fun to listen to pop/rock/electronic music.  It may not be the best at details or instrument seperation but for the price, it sounds very very good. Also, they were my most comfortable headphones i have ever tried, coming from a person who wears glasses and has a long face. One thing to note and as you mentioned, they don't isolate much at all.
 
If prices on this pair is inflated in Sweden, i would look to buy them used, which other headphones are comparable to price over there ?

 

[supersleuth]

Assuming the reports that they are functionally almost identical to the Denon D1001 are correct, they are an excellent buy and you're likely to be very pleased with them. I don't know of a better value for your needs.
 

 

[Mooe]

@gduck I read the warranty a few months ago when my third PortaPro broke and if I remember correctly they don't offer lifetime warranty to certain damages on the headphones, and I think I remember reading that in my case it did not cover the warranty. Also, we haven't got the same kind of selection on headphones here in Sweden, mainly because the import of foreign headphones isn't that good. But to answer your question, I don't know any other headphones that are just as good for the same price unfortunately.

 

 

[Mooe]

Quote:

Assuming the reports that they are functionally almost identical to the Denon D1001 are correct, they are an excellent buy and you're likely to be very pleased with them. I don't know of a better value for your needs.
 

 
But here's the thing: those are not available anywhere in Sweden! If they were, I would have gotten them :/

 

[ostewart]

modded panasonic rp-htx7 is good. And cheaper.

 

[supersleuth]

But what I'm saying is, the CAL is supposed to be pretty much the same thing, and on that assumption I can recommend it.
 

 

[Mooe]

Quote:

modded panasonic rp-htx7 is good. And cheaper.

Haven't ever modded a pair of headphones so I don't know. Sure, they're cheaper and look better but they also look a bit uncomfortable and I don't think that the sound is as good at all.
If I would purchase rp-htx7 I would have to order it from pixmania.com in France so it would take a bit for it to arrive here, but that isn't a problem at all.

 

[Mooe]

Quote:

But what I'm saying is, the CAL is supposed to be pretty much the same thing, and on that assumption I can recommend it.
 

Oh, okay, well thanks for your input

 

[ostewart]

the mod is very easy, and they are super comfy actually. The mod basically brings down the bloated bass and makes them sound more balanced. I like them, and for the price you can't go wrong. If you look on my profile at the threads ive posted in you'll find lots about the rp-htx7.

 

[ostewart]

and also instrument separation is very good on the rp-htx7.

 

[utkusu]

Isolation aside, CAL!s are hard to beat at that price. Extremely comfy and quite fun to listen to. You have already checked joker's thread. At the end of it, there is a spoiler table with isolation does not matter for ranking. Check out where CAL!s are..

 

[Mooe]

Quote:

Isolation aside, CAL!s are hard to beat at that price. Extremely comfy and quite fun to listen to. You have already checked joker's thread. At the end of it, there is a spoiler table with isolation does not matter for ranking. Check out where CAL!s are..

Yeah, saw that one too. I have settled it, I will get a CAL!

 

[gduck]

Mooe, i recently sold my creative aurvana live, to someone who owns the denon 1000/denon 1100/ and denon 2000, he said the creative aurvana and denon 1000 are the same, maybe denon d1000 has slightly bigger soundstage but hard to notice unless u critically compare them. The denon 1100 however, are very very bassy and not as comfortable, they were supposed to be the successor to denon 1000 but his impressions leads me to believe otherwise.
I only ask how much the creative is over at sweden because if the markup is crazy high, you might as well get some other headphones. A great deal of their appeal is the quality to price ratio, so if someone is selling them at 250 $, well, their really not worth it then. Whatever the case, they are denon 1000 clone and should be always cheaper than the denon.
 
 

 

[Tacoboy]

Creative Labs still list the CALs on there website and for a good price, hopefully they ship to Sweden