Creative Aurvana Platinum
Jan 27, 2014 at 10:59 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 21

xanlamin

Headphoneus Supremus
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Jan 27, 2014 at 3:17 PM Post #2 of 21
ORDERED !  I have been waiting for these forever! Hope they are as good as I am hoping. Amazon says I should have them by Friday even with prime shipping?? Anyway I will give my impressions when I get them.
 
Feb 1, 2014 at 8:57 AM Post #4 of 21
I want to know too if they have Fostex drivers.

Can someone please take pictures of the driver with the ear pads removed.
Pics from the inside of the cups would be very helpful too... just if someone dares to open them
 
Feb 12, 2014 at 5:19 AM Post #6 of 21
Has anyone gotten these yet?
 
I have been looking at these ever since they were announced last year and they recently became available here in Sweden, but I would very much like to read a review before spending 300$+ on these!
 
Feb 12, 2014 at 5:29 AM Post #7 of 21
  Has anyone gotten these yet?
 
I have been looking at these ever since they were announced last year and they recently became available here in Sweden, but I would very much like to read a review before spending 300$+ on these!

I'd wait a while or look elsewhere. Not all Creative headphones with a hefty price tag are bound to be good. The original CAL!'s that were praised (and a little overrated IMO but fairly priced at $50) used Fostex 40 mm drivers that were also seen in the Denon D1000 and Fostex own smaller headphones. These use 50 mm drivers, so it's really a question mark whether these will sound good or not. For $300+ I personally would look elsewhere at perhaps some Denons (D600 perhaps), UE, NAD's and so on. You can get the original CAL! as toys if you're curious on the CAL! sound. They're on webhallen for a decent price.
 
PS. You can import headphones to Sweden from the States, even though it's a little more expensive. Also, you can order from Amazon UK, also with better prices than Swedish prices.
 
Feb 12, 2014 at 2:24 PM Post #8 of 21
 For $300+ I personally would look elsewhere at perhaps some Denons (D600 perhaps), UE, NAD's and so on.

 
Pushing people away from headphones that you, or anybody else for that matter, have zero experience with seems odd. Why don't we wait for a trusted review before projecting opinions? Also, none of the headphones you listed have wireless/bluetooth or NC ability, which is probably a huge draw to the people looking at these cans.
 
Feb 12, 2014 at 3:25 PM Post #9 of 21
I did indeed get these a week or two ago. I haven't had a ton of time with them. I am not an audiophile in any sense of the word. With that said I really like the design of the headphones. The memory foam pads are super comfortable and the seal better than any other phones I have. I truly like the sound of them, yet I am on the fence about keeping them. I am not sure they are worth the nearly $300 I paid for them. I think my Koss TBSE sound nearly the same hooked up to my Sony MW600 Bluetooth receiver. The Platinum's are definitely very nice, the seem to be well built they look and feel high end to me at least. I can say that I don't hear any benefit from the aptX built into the Platinum's compared to the MW600 which doesn't feature aptX. I am pairing both with my Droid DNA which does have aptX. I assume there is no setting or anything I have to change to ensure the aptX is being used between the two.
The noise cancelling feature on the Platinum seems to work fine. You can easily hear the difference when turning on/off with no music playing. As for with music I couldn't hear any difference between on and off. I can't compare that feature to anything else as I have never owned NC phones before. I also didn't use the NFC feature I am sure it works fine but I can easily and quickly use my phone to pair the phones.
When it comes to sound quality, I don't think I am someone qualified to compare on phone to another. I will say that they sound nearly identical to my Koss TSBE, the only other pair of phone I have and use regularly are the Panasonic HTF600. I mostly use them when I am gaming so I can still hear outside noise like the doorbell or something. I also prefer the openness they provide, I guess that is the wide soundstage due to being open back phones?
I also used the Platinum's on a phone call that came in while I was listening to them. After talking to my buddy for about 20 minutes I asked if I sounded weird or anything and he couldn't tell I was using the phones rather than just the phone as normal. Although the MW600 can do the same thing with the TSBE. So for me I think I am going to stick with the MW600 and have the freedom to pair any phones with it I want. I truly couldn't hear a difference between it and the Platinum's I even used it to power the Platinum's to see what benefit aptX provides and it wasn't there to my ears.
Anyway I can say that if you find $300 to be reasonable then the Platinum's are very nice all around. I do like them better than the Beats Wireless Studio, although I tried those out at the Apple Store a couple weeks prior to receiving the Platinum's so its tough to say for sure.
 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iusg54elnev1xp3/IMAG0299.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qq2ly8tnp79zpv9/IMAG0300.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ezybpuusb3779lp/IMAG0301.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fpwyzon2fjorcjf/IMAG0305.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ps0uc5bzvt5x2ky/IMAG0306.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/320gb7xy9pv8zty/IMAG0308.jpg
 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9s6n3c31ic98yr0/IMAG0309.jpg
 
Feb 12, 2014 at 3:46 PM Post #10 of 21
   
Pushing people away from headphones that you, or anybody else for that matter, have zero experience with seems odd. Why don't we wait for a trusted review before projecting opinions? Also, none of the headphones you listed have wireless/bluetooth or NC ability, which is probably a huge draw to the people looking at these cans.

It isn't odd at all, since I'm not claiming that they're good or bad. There is reason to be skeptic about them though, since Creative is a hit and miss kind of "headphone company". Furthermore, I'm guessing that if someone is asking for reviews, he might not want to be the earliest of adopters.
 
Feb 17, 2014 at 7:26 PM Post #11 of 21
Scott,
how did these sound wired vs wireless
 
and you said you couldn't tell the difference between them and the TBSE ,what kind of music do you listen too?
and for $70 on amazon right now you've peaked my interest on them and getting a bluetooth adapter
thanks for your input
 
Feb 17, 2014 at 11:51 PM Post #12 of 21
I couldn't hear a difference between wired or wireless. I don't have any fancy DAC or Amp to power headphones though I just used the onboard audio on my pc. The board is an Asrock Z77 Extreme4-m and it has Realtek ALC898 for sound.
I listen to a wide variety of music, it just depends on what I'm in the mood for. When I was attempting to compare these headphones I used Dark Side of the Moon and Norah Jones since that is the only FLAC I have on my computer. I only have that cause I wanted to see if I could hear the difference between FLAC and 320kbit MP3's, which I couldn't.
I will say that the Platinum is way more comfortable than the TBSE, The TSBE aren't uncomfortable since I added some foam under the earpads to give my ears clearance to not touch the inside.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7xnoq4gwuksf1gu/IMAG0311.jpg
I ended up ordering the Creative Live Gold to see how it stacks up against the Platinum. I am hoping the Gold is as good and I will keep that if it is since its $100 cheaper. I am picking them up from UPS tomorrow morning so I will let you know what I think of them tomorrow if I have time.
 
Mar 6, 2014 at 12:45 PM Post #14 of 21
So here is a brief non  technical review of the Gold series
 
I listen to mostly Rock
all listening was done on either Zune HD or Razr Hd  no amps Dac etc .mp3 at 320 or streaming from google
 
there all plastic but seem to be built well ,the headphone cable is 2mm and 3mm ends  ,I was worried at first when i plugged the cable into the headphone it didn't seem to click or lock but does so now
the Clamping force is there they will not fall off your head ,but isn't uncomfortable .I had them on for a solid 3 hrs without taking them off
The ear pads can get warm but not hot
the NFC/bluetooth synced with no problem to my phone
The headphones can be used with or without power turned on(internal amp)
the first couple hours they sound boomy but that has since gone after playing them for 5+hours
 
On the wireless side of them ,playing with the noise canceling on they seem to be heavier on the bass but not unpleasant ,without  they sound good too almost neutral with a ever so slight boost in mid and bass,either way I find I like the sound 
when switching from on to off there is a dip in the sound but it adjusts back within 2-3 seconds
 
I didn't find to be much of a difference in the way they sound wireless or wired which is great
 
you can also use the Noise canceling with them wired which is nice to have that option
 
I listened to Pink Floyd,Five Finger Death Punch, Amos Lee, SRV, Candlebox, and not one time did I feel that they distorted or went beyond there limit
 
They will be keepers for me
hope this helps some if they where curious about them as I was
 
Mar 8, 2014 at 9:42 AM Post #15 of 21
Hello cw68,
 
i am also interested on those headphones, but before I would like to know a bit more.
One thing I haven't found out is how long does the battery last when using the ANC in wired mode and in combination with Bluetooth.
I am concern that the battery will last too little and they don't even have the option of change the battery.
 
I contacted Creative to ask for this and other issues, but they did not have or wanted to publish this measurements.
In case you have some time and chance to test for that issue would you mind to post an estimated value, please?
 
Thank you in advance.
 
Cheers,
 

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