Today I received another set of Ebay Hong Kong EP-630 headset. And I went to buy a real set of EP-630 in a normal retail shop to have a reference.
Here are the results:
1) The wire material is almost the same, both are made out of rubberized wires. The real EP-630 had Y shape wires, the fake ones have J shaped wires.
2) The plugs are the same, both gold plated and look the same to.
3) The earplugs look almost the same, there is a small groove on the metal ring, and they are in a different position on the fake ones.
4) The point where the wires join (or split) there is a small plastic block, on the fake ones the block is bigger.
5) most important, the sound. The sound quality is much different. The fake ones sounds like the 5 USD headsets from Uxcell. Not extremely good, not extremely bad, let's say a 5/10. However, the EP-630 have got the reputation the be one of the best budget headsets. Well, to me the sound is not overwelming, even disappointing. It is very sharp, almost painfull on my ears. The bass is not so loud, no matter what EQ setting I use. When I compare the REAL EP-630 with the SkullCandy Smokin' Buds, the Skullcandy's are the winners, and they are 10 Euro cheaper, plus they have volume control on the wire and a storage box included. The sound of the SkullCandy headset is much warmer and still they produce all the high and mid tones in combination with deep bass.
Fake EP-630 5/10 (guaranteed 100% fake)
Real EP-630 7/10 (guarenteed 100% original)
SkullCandy Smokin' buds 9/10
Finally, I also bought a fake set of Creative EP-480 from iHoliday on Ebay. The price is the same as the EP-630, and they sound much better than the fake EP-630. As a budget priced headset (forget the brand name on it), it is a good deal, better than the EP-630
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