Creative EP-630 Earphones on Ebay?

reefskinner · #1 (**permalink**) 18th Feb 2007, 10:41 am

I am in the market for some new Earphones and was looking at these: 2 Sets Creative EP-630 inear Earphones for ZEN EP630.

Does anyone have a comment on them?

Thanks in advance.............

Hotboxx · #2 (**permalink**) 18th Feb 2007, 11:54 am

I bought a set of those a few weeks ago from iHoliday. Delivery time was fast and the price was o.k.
THE question is: are they real?? To be honnest, I don't know, I don't have a reference model.
All I can say is that the sound quality is very good, the build quality is also very good, and even if they are fake, you will have a good headset for a bargain price. Don't be fooled by the brand name, just look at what you will have for your money and you will be a satisfied buyer.

reefskinner · #3 (**permalink**) 18th Feb 2007, 12:14 pm

Hotboxx, That is the kind of info I was looking for. I actually own a Creative Zen Vision M. The Earphones that came with it sound good for a basic Earphone. I think they are the 480's. The problem is they don't fit my ear very well. I was hoping the EP-630 would fit a little better.
I think I will give them a try, Thanks.

Shawn

Que · #4 (**permalink**) 18th Feb 2007, 12:33 pm

I think they are fake, they cost €30 a piece here, 2 for $14 incl. shipping? I had a pair some time ago (the original ones), did not sound very good, till someone told me to let it plays 48 hours to let the sounddrivers settle and loosen up (factory "stiffness"). And they did sound way richer after that. So new ones should sound a bit of dim, flat. If you say they sound excellent right out of the box, I have my doubts about them being original ones. Gave mine to my brother, couldn't stand the total isolation of the outside world.

lattesurf · #5 (**permalink**) 18th Feb 2007, 12:45 pm

Definitely fakes! They cost retail SGD$49.90 (approx USD$32) per pair.

But then again, sometimes the quality of fake earphones are quite good. Quite comparable to the genuine stuff. At $14 for 2pairs, i'll say Buy Them!

michiganjfrog · #6 (**permalink**) 19th Feb 2007, 11:41 am

I did a lot of research recently on silicone type earbuds, including the EP630's, as I was looking to get some. I also considered buying from that seller, iholiday, because of how cheap they were and his ad touting genuine creatives, and even how to tell the fakes! Well guess what? His are as fake as Pamela Andersons boobs, I guarantee that, and he pissed me off with the sheer NERVE he has to tout them as genuine. If youll notice, the "how to tell if theyre fake" part of his leads you to iPod earbuds, which isnt even what is being sold!!

I also asked myself if they are worth it at $7 a piece. And I thought "how good could they be at $7 apiece?". I guess it depends on who you ask. Maybe it also depends on how you get your ep630s from? Hotboxx told me his were great, but I read many testimonials from buyers of these fake ep630s saying they sound like pure crap. A common complaint is a "hollow" sound and there`s one seller on eBay who actually SAYS in his ad that he is selling fake ep630s and they sound like a 1920s radio!

Naturally, that didnt inspire me to even waste $14US on the fakes, but I found another seller on ebay selling "i-Voda" brand phones which look exactly like the ep630s. They are made by OVC, which makes many knockoff earbuds, some of which nevertheless, have gotten very good revews. One buyer of the iVoda's I queried said they were very good, better than his Sennheiser cx300 (which are known to be a bit better than the Creatives). Theyre pretty cheap so I decided that would be less risk than buying fake ep630s.

Hotboxx · #7 (**permalink**) 19th Feb 2007, 12:10 pm

I had a look at the i-Voda headset on Ebay. At first sight they look like a "rebranded" version of the fake Creative EP-630 headset. The only difference I can see is the shape of the 3.5mm plug. But on a picture it is hard to see.

reefskinner · #8 (**permalink**) 19th Feb 2007, 5:03 pm

Well, I think I will give them a try. If they are to bad, I will just give them to my daughter. They have to be better than the crappy units that came with her Full Metal Platinum 1.8.

michiganjfrog · #9 (**permalink**) 20th Feb 2007, 7:45 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hotboxx";p=&quot

I had a look at the i-Voda headset on Ebay. At first sight they look like a "rebranded" version of the fake Creative EP-630 headset. The only difference I can see is the shape of the 3.5mm plug. But on a picture it is hard to see.

Yes, I know they look just like the EP630's, which is why I was interested in them. The difference is, they dont attempt to "fake" anything, because at least they dont claim to be ep630s! The feedback I was getting on the fake ep630's was inconsistent, and did not inspire me with confidence. The feedback on the i-voda's, although harder to find, was more consistent and gave me the impression that buying them would be a bit less of a risk than fake ep630's. Particularly after I researched the company that makes them (OVC) and found that they make many different quality earbuds, have a pretty good factory setup, are known for quality knockoffs of at least -some- well known brands (including creative, obviously). This company makes products for well known brands, and made the buds for V-Moda's "Vibes" product, wich is a very well rated $100US earbud model. So $16 for their fake ep630's is to me, not that much of a gamble.

Hotboxx · #10 (**permalink**) 27th Feb 2007, 11:50 am

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