TheCloud
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seriously hope mine arent fake now =/ just ordered them >.<
WARNING: Fake IE8s! Comparison pictures included!!
- Thread starter SolidVictory
- Start date
clasam
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Quote:
Razordogdeals2008 is selling them again...
Has anyone had any problems with this seller? OR just good transactions?
narps
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So I just got IE8's from amazon.co.uk for 150 pounds ($235) from a seller with almost exclusively positive ratings. But I honestly cannot tell if they are authentic and it's driving my insane. My initial reaction from listening to them straight out of the box was that they sounded great, but my only other standard of comparison is a pair of $70 Sony MDR-V6's.
I was suspicious for two main reasons:
1. I don't see any red chip/wire in the right IEM. After doing a lot of squinting, I was able to make out a red spec or something on the wire (barely visible in the photos) that I did not see on the left, but it is not nearly as large/visible as in the pictures. However, an earlier poster wrote that actually not all real IE8s have the red chip (can anyone confirm this?).
2. Furthermore, I was concerned by the magnet on the box. I saw that a poster earlier mentioned that on the fakes, the magnet is not very shiny and has blotches on it and looks cheap in general, which seems like the magnet on mine.
~~~~~
In regards to sound quality, the best headphones I have had are Sony MDR-V6's, so it is hard for me to make a judgement. But I do know I would definitely rather listen to these than the Sonys. They certainly do not sound like trash, and initially I thought they sounded really really great. Of course, once I suspected they might be fakes they didn't sound so good. However, if these are fakes I will be really surprised that the quality was so good.
http://img42.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=img4282oi.jpg
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/1327/img4282o.jpg
http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/2536/img4251y.jpg
http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/8504/img4252.jpg
http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/2214/img4253g.jpg
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/4577/img4254p.jpg
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/8199/img4255s.jpg
http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/1739/img4256k.jpg
http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/852/img4259.jpg
http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/7900/img4261y.jpg
http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/9819/img4262m.jpg
http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/6152/img4263.jpg
http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/2945/img4264k.jpg
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/8135/img4268ld.jpg
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/3038/img4269dt.jpg
http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/7215/img4270q.jpg
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/8448/img4271a.jpg
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/6859/img4272f.jpg
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/662/img4273s.jpg
http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/9473/img4274.jpg
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/7491/img4275wh.jpg
http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/6506/img4276y.jpg
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/57/img4278j.jpg
http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/157/img4280aa.jpg
http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/2627/img4281j.jpg
I was suspicious for two main reasons:
1. I don't see any red chip/wire in the right IEM. After doing a lot of squinting, I was able to make out a red spec or something on the wire (barely visible in the photos) that I did not see on the left, but it is not nearly as large/visible as in the pictures. However, an earlier poster wrote that actually not all real IE8s have the red chip (can anyone confirm this?).
2. Furthermore, I was concerned by the magnet on the box. I saw that a poster earlier mentioned that on the fakes, the magnet is not very shiny and has blotches on it and looks cheap in general, which seems like the magnet on mine.
~~~~~
In regards to sound quality, the best headphones I have had are Sony MDR-V6's, so it is hard for me to make a judgement. But I do know I would definitely rather listen to these than the Sonys. They certainly do not sound like trash, and initially I thought they sounded really really great. Of course, once I suspected they might be fakes they didn't sound so good. However, if these are fakes I will be really surprised that the quality was so good.
http://img42.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=img4282oi.jpg
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/1327/img4282o.jpg
http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/2536/img4251y.jpg
http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/8504/img4252.jpg
http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/2214/img4253g.jpg
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/4577/img4254p.jpg
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/8199/img4255s.jpg
http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/1739/img4256k.jpg
http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/852/img4259.jpg
http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/7900/img4261y.jpg
http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/9819/img4262m.jpg
http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/6152/img4263.jpg
http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/2945/img4264k.jpg
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/8135/img4268ld.jpg
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/3038/img4269dt.jpg
http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/7215/img4270q.jpg
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/8448/img4271a.jpg
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/6859/img4272f.jpg
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/662/img4273s.jpg
http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/9473/img4274.jpg
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/7491/img4275wh.jpg
http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/6506/img4276y.jpg
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/57/img4278j.jpg
http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/157/img4280aa.jpg
http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/2627/img4281j.jpg
narps
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Quote:
For some reason I'm not able to edit my post but here is a link to the gallery that works:
http://img42.imageshack.us/g/img4282oi.jpg/
Another thing I noticed was that the barcode starts at the 'R' in Sennheiser, not after it, but I forgot to take a picture of that.
bjb
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I am in the same boat as you. I cannot find any red in my cable, but I don't think that necessarily makes them fake. I have read about others that have purchased from authorized dealers that do not have any red wire near the ear pieces in their cable. I do see a red wire near the plug on my cable, but that is it. The problem is that all the speculation adds to the confusion. There certainly will be manufacturing differences between each set, especially since they are manufactured in a Chinese plant.
I did a lot of comparisons between my headphones and the fakes posted on three websites selling all fake headphones (originally listed on fakeheadphones.com), as well as the pictures on soundearphones.com. My headphones and your headphones more closely resemble the pictures on soundearphones.com than any of the fakes I have seen pictures for. If our headphones are fake, then there is a company making higher quality headphones than any of the definite fakes out there both in terms of appearance and sound.
In regard to sound, I think mine share a lot of the same qualities that people describe in the reviews. Read some of the reviews and try to listen for what they are describing, and hopefully that will help you determine.
BTW, is your bass tuning knob flush with the casing, or is it slightly recessed? Sometimes it can be difficult to tell in the pictures because of shadows, color shifts from lighting, etc.
Quote:
Quote:
I did a lot of comparisons between my headphones and the fakes posted on three websites selling all fake headphones (originally listed on fakeheadphones.com), as well as the pictures on soundearphones.com. My headphones and your headphones more closely resemble the pictures on soundearphones.com than any of the fakes I have seen pictures for. If our headphones are fake, then there is a company making higher quality headphones than any of the definite fakes out there both in terms of appearance and sound.
In regard to sound, I think mine share a lot of the same qualities that people describe in the reviews. Read some of the reviews and try to listen for what they are describing, and hopefully that will help you determine.
BTW, is your bass tuning knob flush with the casing, or is it slightly recessed? Sometimes it can be difficult to tell in the pictures because of shadows, color shifts from lighting, etc.
Quote:
Quote:
BoN3
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thanks a lot for the info's but i cannot help but have a few questions.
for starters i bought my pair from an authorised importer(savana comtech) in Romania which is enlisted on www.sennheiser.com
a picture of the back of the bigger case would have been usefull cause there one can see a small square which proves they are original the same sort as you may fiind on original cd covers
the side which explains the bass knob and the adapters is a little different on mine as the weird shaped ones are under silicone not foam which they clearly are not.
my point is that sennheiser does not have complete control over the packaging services and a slightly different case should not scare anyone....
also in some pictures it is hard to see the differences as one case has more light in the background.
for starters i bought my pair from an authorised importer(savana comtech) in Romania which is enlisted on www.sennheiser.com
a picture of the back of the bigger case would have been usefull cause there one can see a small square which proves they are original the same sort as you may fiind on original cd covers
the side which explains the bass knob and the adapters is a little different on mine as the weird shaped ones are under silicone not foam which they clearly are not.
my point is that sennheiser does not have complete control over the packaging services and a slightly different case should not scare anyone....
also in some pictures it is hard to see the differences as one case has more light in the background.
narps
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Quote:
bjb, I've decided that mine are more likely fakes than not, although I'm still not 100% sure. Because:
1. In all the reviews I've read on the IE8s everyone says they have really boomy bass. I'm pretty sure this is not true of mine (although I have really nothing to compare to). I listened to one of my friend's Bose earbuds/IEMs, whatever they are, and they had much more prominent bass than mine. And those are only $100 and overpriced at that. Mine certainly do not have zero bass, as some of the reviews of the fakes said, which confused me.
2. No one mentioned this yet, but from looking at fake/real boxes, it appears that the lid of the fakes is smaller than that of the reals. I.e., on the fakes there appears to be a larger gap between the bottom edge of the lid where the "open here" text is and the bottom lip of the box. This is true of mine.
3. My "OPEN HERE" text seems to be more thin and dark (like the fakes) than bold and bright (like the reals).
4. Another thing was that I was able to open the box w/o scissors. It did have the plastic band that you supposedly need to cut, but I was able to pull the plastic band out without cutting it (but maybe you can do this with the real ones too).
5. Now that I'm over the placebo effect and am able to listen to them objectively, I don't think they sound as good as my Sony MDR-V6s (although they certainly do not sound like trash).
6. They were only $239 from an unauthorized dealer =P. I'm mad at myself for not reading this thread before I bought them.
I told the seller that I think they are fakes, and am getting a refund. In a day or two I'm going to order IE8s from an authorized dealer, so hopefully once I get those I'll know for sure if the pair I have now were fakes. It sounds like we have exactly the same headphones, so if you don't mind waiting a week I should be able to tell you for sure. But yeah I agree that if these are fakes, the fakes are getting much better both physically and in terms of SQ.
narps
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Quote:
bjb, I've decided that mine are more likely fakes than not, although I'm still not 100% sure. Because:
1. In all the reviews I've read on the IE8s everyone says they have really boomy bass. I'm pretty sure this is not true of mine (although I have really nothing to compare to). I listened to one of my friend's Bose earbuds/IEMs, whatever they are, and they had much more prominent bass than mine. And those are only $100 and overpriced at that. Mine certainly do not have zero bass, as some of the reviews of the fakes said, which confused me.
2. No one mentioned this yet, but from looking at fake/real boxes, it appears that the lid of the fakes is smaller than that of the reals. I.e., on the fakes there appears to be a larger gap between the bottom edge of the lid where the "open here" text is and the bottom lip of the box. This is true of mine.
3. My "OPEN HERE" text seems to be more thin and dark (like the fakes) than bold and bright (like the reals).
4. Another thing was that I was able to open the box w/o scissors. It did have the plastic band that you supposedly need to cut, but I was able to pull the plastic band out without cutting it (but maybe you can do this with the real ones too).
5. Now that I'm over the placebo effect and am able to listen to them objectively, I don't think they sound as good as my Sony MDR-V6s (although they certainly do not sound like trash).
6. They were only $239 from an unauthorized dealer =P. I'm mad at myself for not reading this thread before I bought them.
I told the seller that I think they are fakes, and am getting a refund. In a day or two I'm going to order IE8s from an authorized dealer, so hopefully once I get those I'll know for sure if the pair I have now were fakes. It sounds like we have exactly the same headphones, so if you don't mind waiting a week I should be able to tell you for sure. But yeah I agree that if these are fakes, the fakes are getting much better both physically and in terms of SQ.
narps
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bjb, I've decided that mine are more likely fakes than not, although I'm still not 100% sure. Because:
1. In all the reviews I've read on the IE8s everyone says they have really boomy bass. I'm pretty sure this is not true of mine (although I have really nothing to compare to). I listened to one of my friend's Bose earbuds/IEMs, whatever they are, and they had much more prominent bass than mine. And those are only $100 and overpriced at that. Mine certainly do not have zero bass, as some of the reviews of the fakes said, which confused me.
2. No one mentioned this yet, but from looking at fake/real boxes, it appears that the lid of the fakes is smaller than that of the reals. I.e., on the fakes there appears to be a larger gap between the bottom edge of the lid where the "open here" text is and the bottom lip of the box. This is true of mine.
3. My "OPEN HERE" text seems to be more thin and dark (like the fakes) than bold and bright (like the reals).
4. Another thing was that I was able to open the box w/o scissors. It did have the plastic band that you supposedly need to cut, but I was able to pull the plastic band out without cutting it (but maybe you can do this with the real ones too).
5. Now that I'm over the placebo effect and am able to listen to them objectively, I don't think they sound as good as my Sony MDR-V6s (although they certainly do not sound like trash).
6. They were only $239 from an unauthorized dealer =P. I'm mad at myself for not reading this thread before I bought them.
I told the seller that I think they are fakes, and am getting a refund. In a day or two I'm going to order IE8s from an authorized dealer, so hopefully once I get those I'll know for sure if the pair I have now were fakes. It sounds like we have exactly the same headphones, so if you don't mind waiting a week I should be able to tell you for sure. But yeah I agree that if these are fakes, the fakes are getting much better both physically and in terms of SQ.
Oh also the bass knobs do seem to be slightly recessed.
1. In all the reviews I've read on the IE8s everyone says they have really boomy bass. I'm pretty sure this is not true of mine (although I have really nothing to compare to). I listened to one of my friend's Bose earbuds/IEMs, whatever they are, and they had much more prominent bass than mine. And those are only $100 and overpriced at that. Mine certainly do not have zero bass, as some of the reviews of the fakes said, which confused me.
2. No one mentioned this yet, but from looking at fake/real boxes, it appears that the lid of the fakes is smaller than that of the reals. I.e., on the fakes there appears to be a larger gap between the bottom edge of the lid where the "open here" text is and the bottom lip of the box. This is true of mine.
3. My "OPEN HERE" text seems to be more thin and dark (like the fakes) than bold and bright (like the reals).
4. Another thing was that I was able to open the box w/o scissors. It did have the plastic band that you supposedly need to cut, but I was able to pull the plastic band out without cutting it (but maybe you can do this with the real ones too).
5. Now that I'm over the placebo effect and am able to listen to them objectively, I don't think they sound as good as my Sony MDR-V6s (although they certainly do not sound like trash).
6. They were only $239 from an unauthorized dealer =P. I'm mad at myself for not reading this thread before I bought them.
I told the seller that I think they are fakes, and am getting a refund. In a day or two I'm going to order IE8s from an authorized dealer, so hopefully once I get those I'll know for sure if the pair I have now were fakes. It sounds like we have exactly the same headphones, so if you don't mind waiting a week I should be able to tell you for sure. But yeah I agree that if these are fakes, the fakes are getting much better both physically and in terms of SQ.
Oh also the bass knobs do seem to be slightly recessed.
narps
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Quote:
bjb, I've decided that mine are more likely fakes than not, although I'm still not 100% sure. Because:
1. In all the reviews I've read on the IE8s everyone says they have really boomy bass. I'm pretty sure this is not true of mine (although I have really nothing to compare to). I listened to one of my friend's Bose earbuds/IEMs, whatever they are, and they had much more prominent bass than mine. And those are only $100 and overpriced at that. Mine certainly do not have zero bass, as some of the reviews of the fakes said, which confused me.
2. No one mentioned this yet, but from looking at fake/real boxes, it appears that the lid of the fakes is smaller than that of the reals. I.e., on the fakes there appears to be a larger gap between the bottom edge of the lid where the "open here" text is and the bottom lip of the box. This is true of mine.
3. My "OPEN HERE" text seems to be more thin and dark (like the fakes) than bold and bright (like the reals).
4. Another thing was that I was able to open the box w/o scissors. It did have the plastic band that you supposedly need to cut, but I was able to pull the plastic band out without cutting it (but maybe you can do this with the real ones too).
5. Now that I'm over the placebo effect and am able to listen to them objectively, I don't think they sound as good as my Sony MDR-V6s (although they certainly do not sound like trash).
6. They were only $239 from an unauthorized dealer =P. I'm mad at myself for not reading this thread before I bought them.
I told the seller that I think they are fakes, and am getting a refund. In a day or two I'm going to order IE8s from an authorized dealer, so hopefully once I get those I'll know for sure if the pair I have now were fakes. It sounds like we have exactly the same headphones, so if you don't mind waiting a week I should be able to tell you for sure. But yeah I agree that if these are fakes, the fakes are getting much better both physically and in terms of SQ.
Oh and my bass knobs seem to be slightly recessed.
bjb
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Thanks, I would really appreciate a comparison. My headphones are not bass monsters, but the bass is deep with good impact and somewhat thick. I was expecting more based on some of the reviews, but it seems in line with a professional review that I read. The part that concerns me the most is sometimes I think they sound really good, and other times not so much. They do seem sensitive to the seal and placement, at least with my ears. Sometimes I get good bass, but the treble is harsh and sibilant. At times I can make that go away by pushing them in a tad further, and other times I can't fix it regardless of what I do.
BTW, the bass adjustment on mine is flush with the outside of the body. That concerns me, because the pictures on Sennheiser's website makes it look like it is slightly recessed.
Mine were sealed, but the plastic band was connected with tape. I am curious if the pair you get from an authorized reseller is sealed like that, or if it is truely one piece of plastic connected all the way around without tape.
BTW, the bass adjustment on mine is flush with the outside of the body. That concerns me, because the pictures on Sennheiser's website makes it look like it is slightly recessed.
Mine were sealed, but the plastic band was connected with tape. I am curious if the pair you get from an authorized reseller is sealed like that, or if it is truely one piece of plastic connected all the way around without tape.
narps
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I just ordered from razordogdeals, so I'm hoping I get them by Saturday (for $279, I was the only bidder). And mine were recessed, but only incredibly slightly. It's almost impossible to tell that they are recessed with the naked eye, it really was just apparent for me when I took zoomed in pictures of them. Otherwise they look like they are flush. And the sound quality concerns you are describing sound exactly like mine, so I still think we have the same headphones. I'll make sure to post a comparison once I get them.
fidele-caput
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Quote:
narps, I compared mine closely with your pictures and I believe they're fakes mate. I'm afraid it's gonna be easy for them to refine their fakes if I describe the differences here, so I'll PM you if you want. But you'll soon find out yourself anyway as they're quite obvious.
BTW I got mine from soundearphones.com recently.
narps, I compared mine closely with your pictures and I believe they're fakes mate. I'm afraid it's gonna be easy for them to refine their fakes if I describe the differences here, so I'll PM you if you want. But you'll soon find out yourself anyway as they're quite obvious.
BTW I got mine from soundearphones.com recently.
bjb
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Mine had the hologram on the back like you describe, and the text in the hologram changed colors like it is suppose to. I still think mine were fake. I don't think the bass knob on mine even worked, and if it did it was too subtle for me to tell. Fidele's explanation of some additional differences coupled with the pictures on page 40 confirmed it for me.
Part of the problem is that they look close enough to the real thing that you want to believe that they are real whether they are or not. The people that say to "listen to them" doesn't help much. Wanting to believe they are real caused me to convince myself that I was hearing things that I really wasn't. People on this forum end up selling $400 headphones all the time because they are not happy with them, so what makes people think that listening to them should be the clear and deciding factor for people? It is one factor among many that need to be used to determine whether they are fake or real. After all, I could just as easily get a genuine pair and still not like the sound.
Quote:
Part of the problem is that they look close enough to the real thing that you want to believe that they are real whether they are or not. The people that say to "listen to them" doesn't help much. Wanting to believe they are real caused me to convince myself that I was hearing things that I really wasn't. People on this forum end up selling $400 headphones all the time because they are not happy with them, so what makes people think that listening to them should be the clear and deciding factor for people? It is one factor among many that need to be used to determine whether they are fake or real. After all, I could just as easily get a genuine pair and still not like the sound.
Quote:
seven1849
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Can anyone tell the difference?
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