[DefQon]

Are there fake IE-80s too?  

Yes

 

[burtomr]

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Hey guys!
 
There are couple of luring offer on ebay for ie8 and 80s. They are priced between 30-100 dollars, actually these offers are open for bidding. All of them are from China.

 
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OMG, there is no way a normal person can ID a fake unless they have the real one on hand.  Thanks for posting this thread man.

 
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Are there fake IE-80s too?  

 
All IE80's from Chinese eBay sellers are fake. The only exception would be a Chinese Sennheiser Dealer which I doubt even exist.
 
Not only do you get a fake but you'll have no warranty because they cannot give you a receipt since they are not Authorized Sennheiser Dealers.
 
Sennheiser will only honor their 2 year warranty if they are purchased from an Authorized Dealer, period.

 

[thatBeatsguy]

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Sennheiser will only honor their 2 year warranty if they are purchased from an Authorized Dealer, period.

   That they will...however, it would only be useful if you live near one of their dealers or their actual HQ. Sending one in would have you pay for cutoms, tax, shipping, etc, etc. that I don't even think their warranty is even worth it. Just my two cents.

 

[makavelie]

burtomr: That is what I was afraid of. I sent a message to one of the sellers to give me an explonation to this price, and he just said: OEM. But he uses packed pictures for promotion. Cool huh?
 
Anyway there is a guy here in Hungary who deals with different headphones. He said he got ie8s right now, and I can test it before buying, so I can't be wrong. Though it costs only 160$, and he said it's from abroad without garantee. My last headphone was a cx400 II. There should be a huge difference between that and an ie8 in sound quality right?

 

[burtomr]

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   That they will...however, it would only be useful if you live near one of their dealers or their actual HQ. Sending one in would have you pay for cutoms, tax, shipping, etc, etc. that I don't even think their warranty is even worth it. Just my two cents.

 
It's not that you will need the warranty, you probably will not. The issue is if they are Real and Genuine. The only way to be positive is to get them from an Authorized Dealer....otherwise you are gambling and you will probably loose. Personally I don't like to perpetually wonder if my IEM's are fake or not. 
 
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burtomr: That is what I was afraid of. I sent a message to one of the sellers to give me an explonation to this price, and he just said: OEM. But he uses packed pictures for promotion. Cool huh?
 
Anyway there is a guy here in Hungary who deals with different headphones. He said he got ie8s right now, and I can test it before buying, so I can't be wrong. Though it costs only 160$, and he said it's from abroad without garantee. My last headphone was a cx400 II. There should be a huge difference between that and an ie8 in sound quality right?

 
The biggest issue regarding who/where you buy new IE8's (or 80's) from is the warranty. You will not have one unless you buy them from a Sennheiser Authorized Dealer. You can ask Sennheiser via phone or email who is or isn't 'on the list'. http://en-de.sennheiser.com/service-support/contact/
 
Your other choice is to buy used from someone who has the original purchase receipt from an Authorized Dealer, although depending on their age, they may be out-of-warranty, but at least you will know they are real.
 
I have no experience with the CX400, you might read this:
http://www.head-fi.org/products/sennheiser-cx-400-ii-stereo-ear-canal-headphones-black

 

[makavelie]

thanks for the infos!

 

[makavelie]

I just looked trough the buyer's rating on this:
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-Sennheiser-IE8i-HiFi-Earphones-headphones-/161098300170?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item258234fb0a
 
 
Everyone left a positive evaluation. Maybe they are really OEMs? There was a guy who bought it for like 40$. Can't believe that Sennheiser has such a profit on each and every quality product.

 

[DefQon]

They are fakes. 90% of IE8/80's on ebay are fake. Even ones priced at $250-300 ones. 

 

[makavelie]

So what about all those positive responses then? They don't have a sophisticated hearing and they believe that replicas are real or they are paid off?

 

[DefQon]

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So what about all those positive responses then? They don't have a sophisticated hearing and they believe that replicas are real or they are paid off?

Those buyers don't have experience whatsoever. Even worse they have not compared it to the real thing. I mean apply some common sense here, IE8's being sold retail and genuinely used units for around $180-300, doesn't $40-100 sound fishy to you?

 

[ShooterMacG]

I have fakes, pretty sure of it, bought them second-hand for 100 euro (before I saw this thread). The dutch section on the back has 1 sentence missing, other than that there is absolutely no cosmetic way to tell them apart, kind of rendering this thread obsolete, there is literally no physical differences anymore.
 
I own a few pairs of IEMs: Denon AH-C300,  JVC HA-FXT90 and a few cheaper models, but I keep going back to the IE8 fakes, they have the best sound stage of the lot, good clarity and separation. The build quality is amazing, the bass adjustment works, the cable is brilliant and detaches fine.
 
The only way for me to be able to tell them apart would be the sound. I do not have access to another pair of IE8s, so there is no way I can tell, these fakes have even changed their sound signature since I've owned them, seemed a bit harsh when I got them first, but now I love the sound.
So really, I personally think its the best 100 euro I've spent on IEMs, It really is nuts that a quality pair of IEMs can be bought for 100 euro.

 

[makavelie]

So you say you got fake ones for sure but they also got very fine sound quality and bass adjustment options?

 

[ShooterMacG]

Yes.
 

 

[burtomr]

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I just looked trough the buyer's rating on this:
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-Sennheiser-IE8i-HiFi-Earphones-headphones-/161098300170?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item258234fb0a
 
Everyone left a positive evaluation. Maybe they are really OEMs? There was a guy who bought it for like 40$. Can't believe that Sennheiser has such a profit on each and every quality product.

 
Everyone? Not quite...you missed this one: "[size=small]It's NOT GENUINE SENNHEISER !!!"[/size]
 
Look, nobody is saying that fake crap from China doesn't work. It will work, but it won't be a legitimate Sennheiser product and it won't have a warranty. If you are OK with never knowing if it's as-good-as-the-real-deal then go for it. Personally, I want to know 100% that I am spending my life listening to the real thing.

 

[makavelie]

Totally logical reasoning. It's just that, in my case 400< $ would be too much for a pair of earphones. I use it for running, cycling, climbing bring it with me when I go camping so after a time it will be damaged or lost. I won't spend half of my salary on a product like this.  I owned a CX400 II before, if this will make better sound than that, it will be okay for me. (I was very pleased with cx 400 also, but I left it, and now I am looking for something more serious, as I could imagine a better bass then cx 400 II had)
 
Where did you find this: "[size=small]It's NOT GENUINE SENNHEISER !!!"[/size]
 
 
[size=small]One more thing. If I would be such a [/size]perfectionist, nothing would be good for me except the last one on this list:
 
http://www.whathifi.com/news/best-in-ear-headphones-to-buy-in-2013