WARNING: Fake IE8s! Comparison pictures included!!
Nov 26, 2009 at 5:19 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 1,210

SolidVictory

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Hello everyone, I recently purchased a set of Sennheiser IE8s from an authorized retailer in NYC for the full retail price of $400.

A few weeks later, I saw a pair of Sennheiser IE8s on eBay for around $200. The seller had ~300+ positive feedback and had 100% feedback as well. The pictures that he included all looked like real IE8s when compared to mine.

So I went ahead and purchased them. However, when I got them and listened to them, I immediately knew they were fake. The sound was nothing similar to my IE8s out of the box. And though I know that the IE8s require hours of burn-in, this particular seller said that he had burned in the IEMs for around 20+ hours already. And honestly, they just sounded like trash. Not to mention that the left IEM had significantly lower volume than the right one.

The build quality is shockingly similar to the genuine IE8s. I can say this because when I first held them, I thought they were as real as the IE8s I purchased from my local authorized dealer. Very hard to tell they are fakes unless you have real IE8s by your side for comparison. But the giveaways are:

1) The fake IE8s have two thicker lines surrounding the S in the Sennheiser logo. The genuine Sennheisers have two very thin lines surrounding the S.

2) The R/L signs on the real IE8s are angled to fit the contour of the body. The fakes don't have this angled contour, and they are more or less straight "printed" on the body.

3) The genuine IE8s have this red type of wire/chip or something near the input into the driver (since you can see it through the transparent wiring). The fake IE8s lacked this red chip or whatever it is. This wire/chip is visible on the inside of the jack on BOTH drivers, though it is more easily noticed on the right driver.

4) The fake IE8s have this weird discoloration on the left and right sides of the "S" in the Sennheiser logo (on the IEMs themselves). There is some faint green splotching/discoloration on either side of the "S" within the logo (not outside the logo). The discoloration is barely noticeable, but can be seen when held up to a good light source. This discoloration is nonexistent on the genuine IE8s. The Sennheiser logo is flush along a black/dark grayish color with no discoloration on the genuine IE8s.

5) The fake IE8s seem to be a tad bit bigger than the real IE8s. The curvature on the body itself is also less accentuated than genuine IE8s. The fake IE8 body seems more "boxy" while the real IE8s seem more "organic" in their curvature.

And of course the sound. The bass was muffled, over-pronounced. No soundstage whatever. Horrible treble. They were not genuine Sennheisers.

In addition, the packaging on the genuine IE8s have this pronounced texture on the outside where you can feel the headphones (I forgot what this is called, it's basically like raised so you can "feel" the imprint on the front). The fake IE8 packaging barely has this pronunciation of the texture. Also, the fake IE8 packaging is significantly lighter/faded than the real IE8 packaging. However, the fake box also has the hologram sticker just as the real box does; both stickers are indistinguishable from one another.

So I've decided to include some pictures for you all for comparison. I've tried to make them as detailed as possible.












EDIT: I have added an extra picture showing that the real IE8 box has the barcode starting AFTER the "R" in the word Sennheiser whereas the fake box has the barcode starting when the "R" begins in the word Sennheiser.**

**This does NOT apply to all cases. Your packaging might have the barcode starting at "R" and still can be genuine. This is just to put it out there, since my fake box had this minor detail.

Other factors should be considered beside the barcode.



Also, please note that the person who I purchased the IEMs from did not know they were fake, since he bought them on eBay "New/Sealed" himself. It wasn't until I notified him with substantial evidence that he realized that they were fake. I was able to get my money back, but others might not be so lucky.

[size=medium]What's scary is that a lot of the eBay listings will use REAL IE8 PICTURES but send you FAKE IE8s.[/size]

Watch out for this. I suggest everyone to just buy IE8s from an authorized dealer either from the internet or locally. If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

Hopefully my pictures will help!!

[size=xx-small][size=x-small] [/size][/size]










 
Nov 26, 2009 at 5:46 AM Post #3 of 1,210
Wow. Thanks for the pics.
smily_headphones1.gif
 
Nov 26, 2009 at 5:54 AM Post #4 of 1,210
Nice detective work there.

It is interesting how good of a copy fakes can be.

The printing and manufacturing "cheapness" are really the only traits that stick out. It's not something you might see with an online ad. For things like this, you might first ask for a couple real photos of the product and packaging. The packaging can be a big give away with the faded, blurry, and discolored look. The copies are never quite as good as the original and do stick out if you're paying close attention.

On the fake, the coloring of the main box and the finish of the carrying case are the strikingly dissimilar traits. You can't really ever fake manufacturing quality. By the time you get it right, you might have too much money invested to make a profit.
tongue.gif
 
Nov 26, 2009 at 6:52 AM Post #6 of 1,210
My IE8 looks like your real one except for the L and R, which are straight like on the fake. Do I know mine are real? I sure hope so as Sennheiser sent them to replace my old ones with a broken nozzle.

And this explains why some people will think the IE8 sounds horrible!
 
Nov 26, 2009 at 7:15 AM Post #7 of 1,210
The IE8 itself looks shockingly genuine.. O_O
if you don't label which one is which, I don't think I can really tell them apart from just looking at the pictures..
 
Nov 26, 2009 at 7:31 AM Post #8 of 1,210
I wonder if it is possible for an 'authorised dealer' to stock fake IE8's?

I'm not sure how exactly the authorised dealers are supplied so I'm wondering whether their suppliers have to be acknoweldged by Sennheiser themselves as a genuine supplier or if these authorized shop dealers just go ahead and pick any supplier.

If the latter is the case, couldn't it be possible that an authorised dealer chooses a fake supplier and then mistakenly sells fake products from their authorised dealership?

I wonder if anyone here can shed some light on this.

-edit-

Oh and thanks for posting this comparison SolidVictory
 
Nov 26, 2009 at 7:48 AM Post #10 of 1,210
Quote:

Originally Posted by HiFi-Freak /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I wonder if it is possible for an 'authorised dealer' to stock fake IE8's?

I'm not sure how exactly the authorised dealers are supplied so I'm wondering whether their suppliers have to be acknoweldged by Sennheiser themselves as a genuine supplier or if these authorized shop dealers just go ahead and pick any supplier.

If the latter is the case, couldn't it be possible that an authorised dealer chooses a fake supplier and then mistakenly sells fake products from their authorised dealership?

I wonder if anyone here can shed some light on this.

-edit-

Oh and thanks for posting this comparison SolidVictory




My thoughts too. I bought mine from play.com for £180 although they do appear to be genuine (red colouring in the right phone).
 
Nov 26, 2009 at 7:59 AM Post #13 of 1,210
Thanks for posting this up and putting all the effort into the pictures, SolidVictory.

To be honest, you had scared me a bit in the other fake IE8 thread about the red chip and angled lettering, as I didn't see a red chip at the left plug and wasn't completely sure about how the letters were angled. The pictures and further explanation put me at ease though.

I'm sure this will be very helpful for future buyers of Sennheiser IE8s
 

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