[mbstella]

Dear Forum,

these days I spent time on Aliexpress looking for IEMs, and I found lots of Sennheiser earbuds, often for fraction of the official price.

What can be said about these products? If I read "100% original", can I trust that they are really the ones manufactured by Sennheiser? And if they are copied, what kind of quality should I expect? What's your experience?

Thank you.

 

[DenverW]

They are most likely knock offs, of which there are many.

Ebay and other sites are also full of sennheiser iem knock offs. Unless you're buying from an authorized retailer or from a trusted member of this community assume them to be fake.

 

[mbstella]

Thank you. What about the sound of these fake products? Are they usually similar/different to the original? Or is it something uncertain, every time?

(p.s. I will always prefer the authorized channels, of course! )

 

[grumpy213]

Aliexpress models are usually a random DD driver shoved into a knockoff housing.

The tuning of which has varied, I have see on reddit that it varies from an attempt to tune it similarly to Sennheiser, and other times people have measured some random frequency response curve resembling what was termed as "SE Asia preferences".

I wouldn't waste your time with these in any case.

 

[DenverW]

With the quality iems that are currently available in the sub 200 and 100 (and even $30) range there is really no reason to buy a knock off product. Not only will it not be of the quality of it's name sake, but you can find iems at the same price point that sound better anyway.

Why buy a fake product tuned by someone trying to scam you when a legit iem at the same price point will sound better tuned anyway?

 

[GREQ]

The only earbuds worth looking at on Aliexpress as the old style 'flathead' earbuds using the Sennheiser MX500 housing.
These are the original MX500's

There are hundreds of 'clones' of these, some of them as cheap as $3-4, like those from 'Vido' or KBEAR or NICEHCK, and they sound fantastic for the price (comparable audio quality to the Koss PortaPro).
So you shouldn't discount or ignore every cheap knock-off on ali.

 

[baskingshark]

Dear Forum,

these days I spent time on aAliexpress looking for IEMs, and I found lots of Sennheiser earbuds, often for fraction of the official price.

What can be said about these products? If I read "100% original", can I trust that they are really the ones manufactured by Sennheiser? And if they are copied, what kind of quality should I expect? What's your experience?

Thank you.

During my noob years, i bought a DIY Sennheiser IE80S from Aliexpress.

It looked exactly the same as the original, but the sound was bad.

Sound signature:
BASS Mids Treble

Sounded like an underwater submarine LOL.

Best save your money for something original, no point wasting time and resources with these fake crap.

 

[tomb]

The only earbuds worth looking at on Aliexpress as the old style 'flathead' earbuds using the Sennheiser MX500 housing.
These are the original MX500's


There are hundreds of 'clones' of these, some of them as cheap as $3-4, like those from 'Vido' or KBEAR or NICEHCK, and they sound fantastic for the price (comparable audio quality to the Koss PortaPro).
So you shouldn't discount or ignore every cheap knock-off on ali.

The old MX400s and MX500s were some of the very best earbuds made. It's a shame that Sennheiser quit making them.

I share the skepticism of the others, though. $3-$4 is certainly worth the experience, but there are literally thousands of different earbuds out there that use the same housings. It doesn't mean they sound as good. I bought several of the last ones I heard about using these housings that were supposed to bring back the Sennheiser MX400/500 magic - the Monk earbuds. They weren't really the same.

 

[mbstella]

Thank you for sharing your ideas.

During my noob years, i bought a DIY Sennheiser IE80S from Aliexpress.

Yes, I was interested in the IE80S, too.
I have found them (genuine, not Ali) for 170€ (in the BT version). This seems a fairy price. I remember when they came out, some years ago: now their price is more accessible, even though lots of e-shops still have them one sale for 300€ and more.

 

[glinty766]

Buying from Aliexpress is a double edge sword. You never know what you might get. It is advisable to buy from an authorized retail seller or someone on the forum looking to sell theirs.

 

[GREQ]

The old MX400s and MX500s were some of the very best earbuds made. It's a shame that Sennheiser quit making them.

I share the skepticism of the others, though. $3-$4 is certainly worth the experience, but there are literally thousands of different earbuds out there that use the same housings. It doesn't mean they sound as good. I bought several of the last ones I heard about using these housings that were supposed to bring back the Sennheiser MX400/500 magic - the Monk earbuds. They weren't really the same.

Sadly I only heard the MX300 which was horrible.

I have read that the Monk is generally disappointing compared to the likes of the Vido, but of course take that with a pinch of salt. The main concern was a distinct lack of bass.

 

[mbstella]

Buying from Aliexpress is a double edge sword. You never know what you might get. It is advisable to buy from an authorized retail seller or someone on the forum looking to sell theirs.

Can this be said also for the Chinese brands? I mean, if I buy an Iriver, or a Shadling, or a HiBy DAP from Aliexpress, or even an A&K, I assume that they will be genuine... or won't?

 

[grumpy213]

Can this be said also for the Chinese brands? I mean, if I buy an Iriver, or a Shadling, or a HiBy DAP from Aliexpress, or even an A&K, I assume that they will be genuine... or won't?

They will likely be legitimate but you would want to look at items that have a history of items sold, reviews etc. I know Hiby have an office Aliexpress storefront.

But exercise caution with new listings from new stores that don't have any history of purchases as these may not even ship a counterfeit item, they might not ship anything at all!

FYI iRiver and A&K are the same company and is based in South Korea iirc

 

[mbstella]

I was interested in the iRiver ICM10, that could be right for my present needs (lightweight, compact, essential, oled). But I can't see any dedicated thread nor review on Head-Fi... Do you know if it supports gapless playback?

If I buy from Europe, Aliexpress seems to be the only chance. Do you know any other e-shop selling this little DAP?

 

[dunring]

I bought a used Sennheiser momentum ear buds on ebay last year and they were fakes I returned. Having heard real ones, they sounded 70 percent as good. Also the box looked like it was laser printed from a scanned image, that was the other giveaway.
The way replicas are made is on third shift of a factory that makes real ones. First and second shift they're subject to random inspections from factory reps, so 3rd shift they put cheap drivers in real cases and run them off. It's the same for handbags, they just don't use the limited hologram tags or do hand finishing like the ones they make during the day.

Sennheiser QR codes on fakes will verify so don't trust them. People will unwittingly sell them on eBay or Mercari because they sound so disappointing.