B9Scrambler
Headphoneus Supremus
Finally get to post in this thread after following it for the last few months! Woohoo!
After thoroughly reading through from page 1, looking at images of real vs. fake EPH 100s, reading sound impressions, etc. I decided to take a dive a grab a pair that I fully expected to be fake from a seller on AliExpress. I figured that if they were at least as good as my guilty pleasure KZ Micro Ring, the 30 bucks would be well spent.
When they finally arrived, I knew right off that they weren't a legit pair. The packaging and accessories are a splitting image of those in this real vs. fake comparo (fyi, it's in Russian), soggy, useless tips and all (had a pair tear apart the first time removing them, lol);
http://konovalof.ru/yamaha-eph-100-original-vs-fake/
The earphone housings themselves, well they were actually a splitting image of the legit pair shown in those pictures. The craftmanship is excellent with the visible ridges being exceptionally clean cut and slender. This came as a bit of a surprise as I was expecting them to have wide ridges and look clearly like a counterfeit pair.
Since the included tips were not really usable, I swapped them out for the pair of mediums that came with my JVC HA-FRD60. I also tried them out with the stock medium tips that came with the KZ Micro Ring. To my surprise, this pair of EPH-100 sounds pretty darn good. They're not warm sounding, nor particularly competent in the low end, but they do pump out some amazing detail. The one feature of a legit pair of EPH-100 that I was intrigued with was their fantastic stereo imaging. Luckily this is fully intact with these replicas. For rock, jazz, and other genres that rely on live instruments and powerful vocals, these are beautiful. King Crimson's Red album sounds amazing for example. I wish they had more bass, however what is there is quick and accurate with zero bleed into the mids. The Micro Ring tips boost treble and mids due to a wider bore which sits closer to the driver. The JVC tips have a smaller bore which rests a couple mms from the driver and make the iem slightly warmer sounding, with a much appreciated however mild boost to both mid- and sub-bass. The JVC tips sound better, but the KZ tips are more comfortable and are easier to get a good seal with.
I have to say that this ended up being a pretty successful buy. For those that want a pair of EPH-100 but do not want to spend a lot, you could definitely do worse than to pick these up. They compare well with my favorite iems, such as the Dunu Titan 1, Sony AS800AP, and are (imo) better than any of the KZ offerings. The Micro Ring is pretty close though.
I bought them from this store: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-EPH-100-Wired-3-5MM-Hi-fi-stereo-Earphones-Professional-ear-metal-noise-fone-de/32336688030.html
I did end up chatting with the seller about why I felt these were not legitimate. He was actually pretty nice to speak with prior to them arriving, as I had some issues with shipping. Since I quite liked the seller and the product, I wasn't going to open a dispute as they were easily worth the price, however I still wanted to hear what he had to say about the legitimacy of the product being sold. This was his explanation (which was very similar to one someone else posted earlier in the thread):
"This headset is produced in its original oem factory, but the package is from our factory.
Unable to get the genuine packaging, so we used an alternative packaging.
Because of alleged smuggling, so in packaging, we have dealt with the logo (the logos and L/R marking were not printed with the utmost of care), hope you can understand.
To see you like our product, very grateful."
Would I buy these again? Yup. Do I still want to try out a legitimate pair of EPH-100? Sure do. Overall a success I say.
After thoroughly reading through from page 1, looking at images of real vs. fake EPH 100s, reading sound impressions, etc. I decided to take a dive a grab a pair that I fully expected to be fake from a seller on AliExpress. I figured that if they were at least as good as my guilty pleasure KZ Micro Ring, the 30 bucks would be well spent.
When they finally arrived, I knew right off that they weren't a legit pair. The packaging and accessories are a splitting image of those in this real vs. fake comparo (fyi, it's in Russian), soggy, useless tips and all (had a pair tear apart the first time removing them, lol);
http://konovalof.ru/yamaha-eph-100-original-vs-fake/
The earphone housings themselves, well they were actually a splitting image of the legit pair shown in those pictures. The craftmanship is excellent with the visible ridges being exceptionally clean cut and slender. This came as a bit of a surprise as I was expecting them to have wide ridges and look clearly like a counterfeit pair.
Since the included tips were not really usable, I swapped them out for the pair of mediums that came with my JVC HA-FRD60. I also tried them out with the stock medium tips that came with the KZ Micro Ring. To my surprise, this pair of EPH-100 sounds pretty darn good. They're not warm sounding, nor particularly competent in the low end, but they do pump out some amazing detail. The one feature of a legit pair of EPH-100 that I was intrigued with was their fantastic stereo imaging. Luckily this is fully intact with these replicas. For rock, jazz, and other genres that rely on live instruments and powerful vocals, these are beautiful. King Crimson's Red album sounds amazing for example. I wish they had more bass, however what is there is quick and accurate with zero bleed into the mids. The Micro Ring tips boost treble and mids due to a wider bore which sits closer to the driver. The JVC tips have a smaller bore which rests a couple mms from the driver and make the iem slightly warmer sounding, with a much appreciated however mild boost to both mid- and sub-bass. The JVC tips sound better, but the KZ tips are more comfortable and are easier to get a good seal with.
I have to say that this ended up being a pretty successful buy. For those that want a pair of EPH-100 but do not want to spend a lot, you could definitely do worse than to pick these up. They compare well with my favorite iems, such as the Dunu Titan 1, Sony AS800AP, and are (imo) better than any of the KZ offerings. The Micro Ring is pretty close though.
I bought them from this store: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-EPH-100-Wired-3-5MM-Hi-fi-stereo-Earphones-Professional-ear-metal-noise-fone-de/32336688030.html
I did end up chatting with the seller about why I felt these were not legitimate. He was actually pretty nice to speak with prior to them arriving, as I had some issues with shipping. Since I quite liked the seller and the product, I wasn't going to open a dispute as they were easily worth the price, however I still wanted to hear what he had to say about the legitimacy of the product being sold. This was his explanation (which was very similar to one someone else posted earlier in the thread):
"This headset is produced in its original oem factory, but the package is from our factory.
Unable to get the genuine packaging, so we used an alternative packaging.
Because of alleged smuggling, so in packaging, we have dealt with the logo (the logos and L/R marking were not printed with the utmost of care), hope you can understand.
To see you like our product, very grateful."
Would I buy these again? Yup. Do I still want to try out a legitimate pair of EPH-100? Sure do. Overall a success I say.
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