[krayzie]

My mother just came back from HK and bought me a pair of 888LP in gold color (told her to buy MP argh anywayz)... The funny thing is the thing is not made in Japan, but Phillipines??? I think it's fake but if it is then it's kinda overboard... even the speaker drivers look the same but in a different color, instead of dark brown it is silver... Anyhow, I'll try to get a hold of a dcam in the next few days and upload some pics...

The cord seperation part reads Phillipines too instead of Japan... I have yet listened to it since I took it apart right away...

More posts later!

 

[bong]

hey krayzie, long time no see!

anyways, hmm... that is funny. all of my E888s (i have three of them) are made in Japan. maybe despite the rumours of being out of production, the new ones are being made in the Philippines?

but how do they sound compared to your old E888s? and what happened to your old pair of 888MPs?

 

[krayzie]

I told my mother so clearly to buy 888MPs... cuz I tried to put 484 casings onto my old 888MPs but failed...

Damn I just listened to them, those things actually have decent bass, but the vocals are clearly not as brought forward... but maybe this is the new breed of 888s, even the drivers are exactly the same in design (from a view inside), just that it's not brown but silverish chrome... sounds like crap if you ask me... The sound is too coarse, hard to explain... doesn't even have those brightness... I don't know, could be my head... they sound okay off my HiFi but not off the DD9... after just 5 mins of New Order I had to use my old Aiwa V99s again to "clean my ear"!!!

Oh well, it was bought in a big electronics retail chain in HK... sigh!

If this is indeed fake, this is overkill... all the rubber flexible material is the same, even the cord feel... inside it's all the same... but the rubber rings are installed pretty badly (not the right angle)... I fixed that already myself (since I took it apart) The carrying case is also the same, just without the word Japan on it...

 

[ch1nkster]

Never buy anything from China because it's all fake! My dad bought some Sony earphones there for me on his business trip a while ago and they were fake. You can get tons of fake stuff from there. When my mom went to china and HK, she bought some nice clothes there for really cheap (even though they have really minute defects) so that's all you should buy if you're in china.

 

[bong]

hey krayzie... maybe they need to be burned-in? i remember every E888s i have sounds very brittle just out of the box. and maybe New Order (still love "Retro"

) would be a little too bassy for the E888s to be burned in... i dunno.

using your V99s to "clean your ears..." heh!

hmm ch1nkster, i think it depends on where you buy stuff in HK. i hear places in Mong Kok are reputable, and Krayzie said his mother bought it from a well known chain (I'm guessing Fortress), and they should have real items.

but like Krayzie said, if it is fake, the bootleggers went to great lengths for accuracy! even all the rubber flexible material, WOW.

 

[krayzie]

Oh it's not Fortress (the orange logo store if I remember from my childhood days)... some store called Tai Lum, supposely a audio electronics retail chain she said...

No, I've had 4 pairs of real 888s and when they were new they sound nothing like this...

 

[bong]

yup... Fortress is the orange logo store.

oh well, let us know how the E888s turn out anyway krayzie. i'm quite curious...

 

[dvw]

Not to worry. If it is fake it would say made in Japan. sony has been out sourcing. Philipine has been making a lot of stuff including chips in your CD player

 

[krayzie]

Okay 2 hrs of burned in at moderate volume off my mini Hi-Fi (Journey Greatest Hits CD)... The vocals are starting to gain presence, funny thing is there's absolutely no high end shrill associated with 888s I've had for many years, and there's a bit of bass too as opposed to none whatsoever...

I've had a pair of Japan made gold color ones before and they had bass too, just that these Philippines sound more balanced yet less dull... So maybe Sony has cured the 888 in some respects, but they did sound quite nasty in the beginning... Even tho they sound quite good now, the sad thing is that the soundstage is still the same... I still wish it's Japan made tho (it's a psychological thing).... I start to think these are not fake, but just a new wave of outsourced 888s...

 

[PodMan]

it may or may not be fake but as dvw mentioned, the phillipines label does not mean anything. Starting last year, sony has been outsourcing its D66 eggo line from japan to the phillipines. I've owned one from each and they are basically the same in quality except the phillipines version has a rubbery texture on its extension cord. So it could very well, that sony earbuds are made in phillipines as well. Although I remember my ex70 earbuds being made in korea.

its weird that they don't sound alike though.

 

[d3ft]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the MPs and LPs were produced in different locations. Perhaps this is the reason.

 

[D-EJ915]

I've never heard of the "MP" badge before, please inform me of what it is...I've heard of...SL, SP, LP,...yeah...don't remember any others.

 

[bong]

SL: short cord with extension
SP: short cord without extension
LP: long cord
MP: micro-plug used for older Sony portable wired remote control. can't remember if the MP phones included an extension

 

[D-EJ915]

The D11W has the MicroPlug and comes with an extension, I believe the D55 and D77 did also, they had a MicroPlug attachment for the cable into the Headphones. (removeable)

 

[krayzie]

The 888MP does not come with an extension cable...

Now if anyone has one please sell them to me lol!