[Audio-Fi]

So for the hell of it I ordered all kind of cheap bootleg versions of MDR-EX85, CX-300,
V-Moda Vibes, etc. To my my surprise they sound good. I have the original
MDR-EX90 and compared the fake MDR-EX85, to me the fake one has some
sonic similarities to the MDR-EX90. It's good for the money too and they look
almost 100% identical to the original MDR-EX85 the only thing that gave it away
is the cheap wire build. The rest sounded OK for the price but the MDR-EX85
really shined. I don't even know how they manage to craft the shell of it so nicely. But ah well for $20 that sounded way better than JVC Marshmallow it's a good fake investment.

 

[extremecarver]

How do the fake mdr-ex85 hold up in your ears?
How do they sound compared to AKG 324P, Senns CX300 or the equivalent Sonys?

How durable are they, my AKG die after a few days every time because my ears are quite dirty, so I thought about ordering the mdr-ex85 for a test, if they hold up I can still get original ex-90s but if the ex-90's die just as every pair of AKG 324P i get new on warranty I won't bother.

 

[Audio-Fi]

The fake MDR-EX85 is the about 95% identical from the original one. It's probably stolen from the Sony factory in China but it's better than CX-300 but not MDR-EX90. It has more bass than the original one. The only cheap there is the ear wax filter paper. It comes off too easy.

 

[Nagasaki_Kid]

Try the marshmallow kramer mod on the fake cx300. I bought a fake cx300 and marshmallow mod it and it sound kinda good.

 

[extremecarver]

Thanks for the reply. Will search here what the marshmallow kramer mod is about.

 

[PeterDLai]

Haha this thread humors me... buying fake headphones on purpose!

 

[Audio-Fi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterDLai /img/forum/go_quote.gif Haha this thread humors me... buying fake headphones on purpose!

Better than buying a "real" fake headphones

 

[Nagasaki_Kid]

chinese transducers even in cheaper headphone are getting better with time.

Edit: if anyone is interested I bought and kramer moded these http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3292 filter removal only sounds good except for treble roll off

 

[romanalexander]

Interesting. O.o

 

[cin__server]

Funny i found this, i recently did the same thing. i bought a pair of "cx300" from keidomain.com and some really fake shures from there as well. then i purchased some AKG k324p from ebay. (from foryourbuy or something) which are they're cx300 alikes. to my non surprise the two sets from keidomain sucked. but the AKGs were good. they sounded decent that is. lots of bass and ok treble, not bad for $7.00

 

[extremecarver]

@ everyone who bought the maybe fake EX85 / EX082 - what can I use as a replacement for the ear wax paper that I removed to look if there is any foam/etc... behind it (wasn't)? At least these phones by design won't clog up with earwax as my AKG324P or CX300 did during the course of a few days listening too!

The Ex85 after having applied the clingfoil mod sound a bit better than my AKG 530 and there's no comparison with CX300 or AKG 324P that are in a completely different quality class (both build wise as well as soundwise). They are much more difficult to drive though! On my laptop Intel HDA out (that can easily drive most "big" headphones without too great difficulty at low to normal volumes they start clipping in bass at very low volume. Not much better on Terratec Aureon 5.1 MKII. Very good however on Cmoy Opamp (well this could be expected) but as well on Archos 202 XS which surprised me, as this small harddisk player wouldn't drive my AKG 530 good enough to be listenable.

I'ld think they are stolen from factory or maybe 2. choice phones, can't believe the rock bottom cheap price otherwise (5€ phones, 5€ shipping from HK to Europe). Can't really believe someone could make a fake this good and then sell it this cheap. I directly ordered 2 more pairs for replacement in case they break down.

Before the clingfoil mod, they were very analytic and cold sounding. On my Archos I used 6-12 db plus on bass, now minus 3-6db. So not that much bass at all.