[Hackez]

I just pulled the trigger and ordered the IE8I's off amazon.co.uk and I'm now getting worried about this fake business. Does anyone know if there is a danger that my IEMs will be fake using Amazon UK?
 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-IE-8i-High-fidelity-Ear-Canal/dp/B003WV391Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1317341223&sr=1-1
 
That is the one I have gone for. If someone can confirm to me that it is a safe place to buy from just for my peace of mind, I will be hugely grateful.
 
If not then I will have to cancel and find somewhere that is known to supply genuine products.
 
Cheers.

I have never received a counterfeit item from Amazon. As long as you ordered directly through Amazon and not through a Marketplace Seller I believe you'll be fine.

 

[GWagon]

Quote:

I have never received a counterfeit item from Amazon. As long as you ordered directly through Amazon and not through a Marketplace Seller I believe you'll be fine.

It's just looking through the pics, which the customers have posted, they do have the red chip and thin lines around the S, but the barcode is before the R and the R on the right earphone isn't as slanted as the one in the OP. I guess the only way to know if they are genuine is to listen to them. Even then you'll have the thought at the back of your mind that they may just be "very good fakes".
 
It's really putting me off purchasing what seems to be a top notch product and that's a shame.

 

[aleki]

Quote:

It's just looking through the pics, which the customers have posted, they do have the red chip and thin lines around the S, but the barcode is before the R and the R on the right earphone isn't as slanted as the one in the OP. I guess the only way to know if they are genuine is to listen to them. Even then you'll have the thought at the back of your mind that they may just be "very good fakes".
 
It's really putting me off purchasing what seems to be a top notch product and that's a shame.

 
I have received replacements from sennheiser on two accounts, and handeled three different pairs of IE8's; lets just say their packaging isnt 100% consistent. the sound however...
 

 

[burtomr]

Quote:

It's really putting me off purchasing what seems to be a top notch product and that's a shame.

Dude, the answer is simple: Just make sure you buy them from an authorized Sennheiser Dealer as listed on the Sennheiser website:  http://www.sennheiserusa.com/serviceandsupport_dealer-locator
 
(I bought several 'eBay' versions....no good....returned 'em...bought the real thing for a little more $$ >>>>"Fake or Not" problem solved = WIN!)

 

[DefQon]

Quote:

It's just looking through the pics, which the customers have posted, they do have the red chip and thin lines around the S, but the barcode is before the R and the R on the right earphone isn't as slanted as the one in the OP. I guess the only way to know if they are genuine is to listen to them. 

It's not a red chip inside, it is just one of the channel wires from the earpieces to the splitter section and to the jack. I've auditioned more then 6 IE8's (Retail and from mates setup's) and them all being genuine some of them had the red wire revealing some not so much. THE only way to determine if you have fakes or not, is to buy from a credible source such as a GENUINE Sennheiser dealer. If you read the comments towards the bottom of that Amazon link, one of the customers received a fake pair initially but then was issued a refund which they bought a genuine pair elsewhere. Amazon is just a market place, once you click add to cart, your buying off third party sellers/individual's which are not connected to Amazon, sometimes they are if they are a big retailer/stock manufacturer. 
 
Do note and I have mentioned this already quite a few times on this thread and the IE7 Appreciation Thread, that these do sound "crap and bloated" out of the box, these heavily rely on burn-in time for them to sound best, as of most dynamic drivers do.
 

 

[Zalithian]

Yeah I mean if you live in the US, you can easily get IE8's for under $300 from an authorized dealer. If you want them for sure legit with warranty just buy from one of those... razor dog deals, J&R, other authorized places with price match.

 

[stevemilw]

Hello
 
Sorry for posting on an old forum. But i have come across some of these headphones on ebay, and the seller has sent me some pictures of them.
Was hoping you could help me identify if they are fake or not!
Looking at them, they do have the red wire inside, but the logo on the back of the headphone itself seems more to match the fake. Also the logo on the back of the box seems more 'rounded' at the edges than the genuine ones.
 
Please help! I need to get back to the seller asap, ive already made an offer which i can withdraw otherwise.
 
http://www.2shared.com/file/yQCSp-KJ/Senn_ie8_pics.html
 
Please download and give me your opinion! If it is a fake, then i will report to ebay!
 

 

[sjondenon]

it's hard to check if they are real or not because of the bad photo quality. And if the ones on the pics are real, the question remains if he didn't pic this pictures from the internet..

 

[stevemilw]

im pretty sure he didnt, i asked him if he could take some for me.
Your right, it is hard to tell. SOme things say its genuine, and some not genuine. Can anyone else help me here?
Thanks

 

[stevemilw]

It does have a holographic sticker on the back, do the fakes have these too? The packaging looks somewhat genuine.
 

 

[aleki]

the shrink-wrap job looks awful.. that said, sennheiser doesnt shrink-wrap the IE8's...

 

[lee730]

All I can tell you is generally its best to buy from an Authorized dealer. My very first pair I bought was not from an authorized dealer but he acquired them from an authorized dealer and he had no use for them. So I got a deal and paid $265 for them. When it came for warranty support Sennheiser wouldn't honor the warranty so I had to fall back on square trade, thank God for that. My new pair is from an authorized Sennheiser Dealer on eBay. Just take the safe road and haggle down an authorized dealer on the price. I've seen people haggle them down to $250+ which is well worth it for a new pair of IE8s. Or you could buy a refurbished pair with warranty support from DAKmart.com for about 240.00 I think. Take the safe road and stop trying to be too cheap, if its too good to be true it usually is. If anything did he purchase these from an authorized dealer? If he did and he can provide you with the original receipt then I see no reason not to buy them. But if that's not the case then look elsewhere. Do not spend a lot of money for an item with no warranty support. Believe me you'd be POD if your item broke and no support.
Quote:

Hello
 
Sorry for posting on an old forum. But i have come across some of these headphones on eBay, and the seller has sent me some pictures of them.
Was hoping you could help me identify if they are fake or not!
Looking at them, they do have the red wire inside, but the logo on the back of the headphone itself seems more to match the fake. Also the logo on the back of the box seems more 'rounded' at the edges than the genuine ones.
 
Please help! I need to get back to the seller asap, Ive already made an offer which i can withdraw otherwise.
 
http://www.2shared.com/file/yQCSp-KJ/Senn_ie8_pics.html
 
Please download and give me your opinion! If it is a fake, then i will report to eBay!
 

 

 

[DefQon]

Quote:

All I can tell you is generally its best to buy from an Authorized dealer. My very first pair I bought was not from an authorized dealer but he acquired them from an authorized dealer and he had no use for them. So I got a deal and paid $265 for them. When it came for warranty support Sennheiser wouldn't honor the warranty so I had to fall back on square trade, thank God for that. My new pair is from an authorized Sennheiser Dealer on eBay. Just take the safe road and haggle down an authorized dealer on the price. I've seen people haggle them down to $250+ which is well worth it for a new pair of IE8s. Or you could buy a refurbished pair with warranty support from DAKmart.com for about 240.00 I think. Take the safe road and stop trying to be too cheap, if its too good to be true it usually is. If anything did he purchase these from an authorized dealer? If he did and he can provide you with the original receipt then I see no reason not to buy them. But if that's not the case then look elsewhere. Do not spend a lot of money for an item with no warranty support. Believe me you'd be POD if your item broke and no support.
 

 
I can't second this enough, I mean why waste time and save an extra $50 or so, when you can just grab a GENUINE one off Senn reseller off Amazon or somewhere else cheap on the internet? 99% of the ones on eBay, including the ones that do cost $400 are mostly fakes. The 1% that are not fakes are usually 2nd hand ones sellers put up on auction.
 
 
 

 

[yais29]

Haha, that is actually really impressive. Got to be careful on eBay now!
 
Do they contain the same sockets for the detachable cable?

 

[benthian89]

Hi, can anyone answer me?
 
If the right phone has the 'red chip/wire'
and the box has the serial number sticker below the barcode.
 
+ all the features that can be seen in the real IE8 shown in the pictures in the 1st post.

does that mean that my IE8 is confirm genuine?