Creative Aurvana Live! Headphones

These headphones sound impressive straight from the box. The main thing that struck me when I first used these headphones was the clarity of the sound - everything sounds crystal clear and very punchy - bass, treble and mids are handled well and there is excellent separation (no muddiness to be found here). I've listened to all genres of music through them, and everything sounds very good - the bass can feel slightly underwhelming at times but generally is very good.The build quality is extremely poor though - the construction and plastics used are so cheap and nasty it pains me - why cheap out on the construction like this? The hinge joints all look and feel like they would break if even small force was applied to them. The cheap wiring also doesn't fill me with any confidence. These headphones only come with a 12 month warranty which IMO is nowhere near long enough to make this a good investment - given the poor quality of materials used I am sure these headphones will break for many people. It's a real shame as these headphones sound great. These seriously look and feel like a £10 pair of headphones not £60 headphones. Given how much Creative charge for these why have they spent nothing on putting them together? I would certainly never use these outside of the house as they would probably fall apart. The wiring doesn't look like it could handle much force and judging by other comments, it can't. I have an old pair of Sennheisser PX100s which I have been using for years now - they only cost me £11 delivered and are much better built and sound fantastic. The PX100s also have a kevlar reinforced cable and have withstood considerable abuse - they are indestructible - you can practically use the cable on those as rope. Build quality wise, the Sennheissers are in a different league to these and they were meant to be entry level budget headphones. A pair of headphones should be capable of being man-handled especially when they are marketed at portable use.Anyway, the most important thing I guess with headphones is the sound quality and these CAL headphones sound great. They are also very comfortable to wear - The pads are nice and soft and fit around the ear.I bought a pair of Philips Downtown Headphones recently before buying these and the sound on those was absolutely awful (and I do mean awful). These CAL headphones are definitely great sounding headphones (everyone always goes on about the Denon drivers in these, and I have to say they certainly do not disappoint). The clarity of sound (especially in the lower range) is better than my PX100s and those are fantastic sounding headphones. I would say the best thing about these CAL headphones is the sound separation - you will really notice how things seem to sound extremely clear, distinct and crisp with these headphones.In conclusion, these are great sounding headphones but the build quality is bargain basement. If you like to chuck your headphones around (like most people do), maybe look at other headphones as these will probably break. They are also bulky and badly designed for travelling as they don't fold at all. These are however good for very careful home/PC use.Build Quality: 1/5Design and appearance: 3/5Comfort: 5/5Sound: 4/5OVERALL: 3/5UPDATE: After burning in these headphones for several months now, the sound has definitely got even better. I'm loving the sound on these headphones and the bass has also really improved - it's definitely a lot richer and deeper than it was before and no longer feels lacking at all. The overall sound is excellent - you don't need to mess with EQ when you use these headphones. The highs are also absolutely crystal clear.HAVE UPDATED THE REVIEW SCORE TO 4/5 BASED ON THE SOUND QUALITYUPDATE: I recently purchased another pair of these and found they are NOWHERE NEAR as good as the first pair I owned. There is a massive difference in sound quality - both are definitely genuine. The newer ones sound terrible in the treble - shockingly bad - and have less bass. Burning them in has made no difference - it would appear these headphones are NOT all built to the same standards by Creative.

I'm what you can call an audiophile, I've owned almost all "top-tier" IEMs since the SM3 to the UM3X, to Sony EX1000, to... everything in the between as well as very good headphones. I must say that these are one of the best headphones I've heard right next to the DENON HP700/D2000's. The treble is one of the best I've heard, cymbals are incredibly realistic with perfect extension and decay. Resolution is excelent, if you're a "treble-head", you'll immediately fall in love by the CALs. Highs even outperform the DENON HP700 in realism, which is quite an achievement. Mids are forward, lush and sweet, male vocals are crystal clear with very good definition. Micro-detail is very good on these, almost as good as the DENONs. The low end is the grip. It's not as textured and detailed as the HP700 (not even close). If you're a bass-head these are not for you, unless you amp them with a Digizoid ZO2, but count with some distortion at high volumes and you won't feel the drivers shaking as with bass-head headphones. Overall they're great value for money. 4 stars due to the not spectacular bass (at all), but incredibly good treble and mids. Instrument separation is above average and soundstage is good for a closed can. Anyways I just have 50 hours burn-in on them, I'll let you know if they improve within the next 100 hours or so.I would say that these are excelent budget headphones for jazz due to the extremely defined and accurate treble, but not for Trance, Metal, etc, due to the uncontroled/slow/weak bass. For those genres have a look at the DENON HP500 (same drivers as the HP700, just smaller soundstage) and they cost the same as the Creatives. The HP500/700 have one of the best bass quality I've heard. Definition/texture is simply stunning (not to mention the micro-detail - they are detail monsters).

... not in stock form.But, before I go any further, dont let that put you off. - The Creative Aurvana Live is a very, very good sealed headphone, in itself not easy to achieve, at a more than competitive price. That is of course if you like the sound signature. Some dont, many more do. - The more amazing aspect of this product is that with a little bit of effort and elbow grease it can be elevated to the lofty heights of the few genuinely good, sealed (well, more later) headphones at almost any price. - Dont believe me? Read on;It is difficult to design and engineer good closed back headphones. Many have tried, many have failed. The better ones usually cost a fair amount of money (Denon's ADxxxx series to name one).Its all about compromise and whilst Creative (Foster/Fostex) have done a very decent job with the Aurvana's (in essence Denons now discontinued 1001 model with slight cup modification and arguably better than its successor, the 1100 if various reviews are to be believed) within the constraints of such a low cost product, certain aspects can certainly be improved upon. - The most important basic, a quality driver unit is there and this is where this headphone arguably scores over much of the competition. Where costs clearly have been shaved however are the headband design and the cup/hinge material, not surprisingly.Whilst the headband does not affect soundquality or comfort (its very good), the cup and driver mounting plate design have inherent traits that both colour and slow down the speed the driver is undoubtedly capable of. Both are less substantial than Denons AD-H2000, also a Fostex/Foster design with similar, albeith 50mm driver and retailing at over £200 and the companies 5000 and 7000 series models, costing up to 700 dollars. - The 2000 is a Headphone that is frequently recommended and used by professionals for mixing purposes due to its very good high frequency response and deep bass whilst not completely disregarding the all important mids. -Its not perfect either in un-modified (or even modified) form, it still has that 'warm' balance and a bloom to the bass and noise cancelling as close to nil (better after modding however) but it is much better in its broad performance than the retail Creative Aurvana, naturally, given the price difference.The good news is that with relatively little effort it is possible to elevate the Aurvana's to almost unmodified Denon D2000 overall performance, whilst in one or two areas even improving up on it ... impressive for a 60 dollar Headphone. (I use both)The cup housing and driver mounting plate are thin, undamped plastic. This has two effects; It reduces impulse response of the driver, audible in a slowing of transient response (think drums, plucked strings and similar) because the driver plate vibrates in tune with the diaphram and it creates standing waves due to the undamped closed back nature which manifest themselves by a lack of clear separation of instruments (think a lack of imaging/muddling) and some colouration of instruments, in the case of the Aurvana usually bass instruments though it carries over to the mids which are slightly pushed into the background because of this.Now, google Aurvana Live modifications and you see all sorts of wonderful suggestions, from expensive re-cabling to applying tons of dynamat (an overly expensive and heavy damping material). - Luckily, none of this is needed, as a matter of fact it will make things worse if you do so.PLEASE NOTE, THE FOLLWING WILL INVALIDATE ANY REMAINING MANUFACTURERS WARRANTY! However, the pay off is an outstanding sounding headphone for the money :-)MATERIAL REQUIRED; Medical wadding (available at most pharmacies or supermarkets) some packing tape, soft open cell foam (for example used to protect laptop batteries in transit), 12 round, small (5-10mm) self adhesive rubber or felt mat stickers a small crosshead screwdriver and a drill (optional).Take off the pleather earpads and remove the two screws which fix the driver/plate to the cups. Prise the two apart being careful not to damage the thin and relatively fragile wiring. Form some of the wadding into 'sausages' of about 1cm and layer it around the periphery of the cup until a full circle is formed. Do not obstract the screw holes. - Now cut of some of the open cell foam into a circle to fit into the remaining space of the cup (DEPENDING ON THE THICKNESS OF THE OPEN CELL FOAM, MAKE SURE IT IS THICK ENOUGH TO TOUCH BOTH THE REAR OF THE CUP AND THE MAGNET OF THE DRIVER WHEN CLOSED BUT NOT SO MUCH THAT CLOSING IS DIFFICULT, THIS WILL AID TO REDUCE DRIVER PLATE VIBRATION, more so later.Now look at the driver side of the headphone; Around the immediate area of the magnet is some white tape which provides some seal for the driver mounting plate ducts. They also have been calculated to provide back pressure to the diaphram. On this first ring around the magnet, you'll see two very small holes, leave them alone. Now move outwards and you see another ring with white tape, again providing seal for ducts. Again, you'll see two small holes in that seal, there to provide a vent for more bass. CLOSE BOTH HOLES WITH TAPE, MAKING SURE THEY ARE SEALED. - Re-assemble the cup to the driver plate with the two screws. -Before attaching the ear pads, apply 6 of the self adhesive rubber stickers (or felt pads) around the circumference (near the outside) of the driver plate. This will further help reducing plate vibration without adding much weight. - Attach ear pads.Voila, you've completed the important bits and now have a more tight sounding, more revealing headphone. Bass bloom will be reduced whilst mids have better separation and more impact. The will, subjectively have slightly moved forward. - Gratulations.If you want to go the whole hog and make a now good headphone even better (and I recommend you do if you feel confident), drill a pattern of small 2mm holes into the cups, forming either a star or square pattern of around 6 square centimeters in an even manner. I recommend you mark the pattern first to aid even spaces. The plastic is soft and you will have no problems with a good, new drill bit. - Once done, re-insert the wadding/foam and assemble. You will find that Soundstage width and depth has improved whilst bass sounds more unforced and natural. This carries over to the mids which should now seemlessly blend with both lower and higher frequencies.There you go, easy peasy and with it ... audio bliss. Of course, all of this is subjective and we all like different sound signatures. - I like mine relatively neutral with good de-lineated bass (no woollyness and/or bloom), mids that are in proportion ie. not to recessed and yet not in my face and extended, shimmering and glistening highs when so called for. I especially value fast transcient response and 'good rythm' ie. drumkits sounding like drumkits and not like somebody is hitting a wet piece of cardboard. - If you are a bass head and mostly listen to dub-step and the like ie. want earth shattering, intestine moving bass above all else, you are unlikely to enjoy the results of my advise. If on the other hand you want to hear recordings in all their glory (or not) ... go ahead. These mods (or even my modded Denon D2000) will never attain Stax electrostatics kinds of speed and neutrality (or indeed bass quality) but it will make a good pair of 60 dollar phones into an outstanding one. All in my (and my audio friends) opinions of course.There is much talk about rewiring headphones with 'better' leads. Whilst some of mine have been re-wired it is usually because of the good partnering qualities with certain amplification which I have gotten used to. - It is far a to complex and technical issue to start here or even give broad recommendations. The electric interaction between driver, cable and amplifier is complex and varies wildly from user to user and personally, I would not bother until you feel more confident in being able to analyze what exactly it is you'd like to change in the sound signature. - It is much more benefitial (and easier) to mod as described above. Re-cabling, whilst in certain circumstances beneficial, is putting the dot on the i.Happy modding and enjoy a great pair of headphones!