yongchris

very nice writeup. I agree with almost everything you said. (and I actually said some of the same things in my review)

E4 any day of the week. I got to live with it for a couple of weeks some time last year. Not sure which issue.

Zephyron, I've submitted my review to my editor already. sad to say, it'll only be published in July's issue. The Aurvana's are basically going West But I don't despair in agreeing with much of iDespair's review. Like I said above, I wouldn't use it even if it were given to me. And there is no way I will be spending $200 on them. The UM1 and even the E2 is a wiser choice. The only good thing I forsee about this release by Creative is that more people will be exposed to in-ears. Which will eventually lead to them (hopefully) learning about better brands like Shure, Ety, Westone and UE. I only hope that the poor people won't get suckered into buying them and regreting. At the end of the day, I'm most disappointed in the pricing. $235 is more than 2times the US price. Even iPods are not priced 2x more than the US price (the ratio is about 1:1.8. Considering that there ARE singaporeans who support creative because it's a local brand, I feel that their pricing policy is quite demeaning to their loyal fans. At the end of the day, Creative is a singapore brand, and if anything, they should start with singapore prices, then convert them to US prices, and not the other way around. Even if this release is targeted at the US market (hence the $99USD price), they should not penalise their own by putting such an exorbitant conversion rate.

afbug, if you think that putting their aurvana's next to the E2 and E3 is daring, you should've seen what they did in the press con I attended.... I've never tried the E3s, but I own E2s, and they need burning in and an amp. Having lived with the Aurvana's since last thursday, I'd still pick my E2s if I were on a 200 budget. no wait, scratch that, I'd buy the UM1s instead. btw, I've consigned the Aurvana's to the supply cupboard in the office. Put it in this way, give me free also I don't want.

http://www.instructables.com/ex/i/1686FF3E...7E506/?ALLSTEPS awesomeo.

Finally got a reply from the PR person for Creative. Yupper, the RRP is $235 sing. Scary. To Zephyron, yes, I'm doing a mini-shootout against another IEM that is priced similarly.

apple gets U2 to sign their ipods, Creative has Sim Wong Hoo signing their players. Which 'limited' edition would you rather get?

Two Albums I'm listening to now, both are of a very similar genre. Hello Saferide is from Sweden Camera Obscura is from Scotland

I have done a full hands-on review already. but I can't post it here till it gets published. actually, I don't even know if I'm allowed to talk about my review till it gets printed.

that's not mine.

So you think paying much more for Shure or Ety is not being ripped off? Btw, can you comment on your review set? I'll like to know more about its quality before commenting on its price... I'm saying the conversion from 99USD to 219SGD is strange. It's understandable if an american company sells something more expensively in singapore due to shipping costs and what have you. But if a singaporean company sells its product in its own market at a higher price than an international market, wouldn't you find it strange?

At least you know now that the piece of thing in your ears cost $200+ I'm sorry, but I do NOT know that these cost $200+ because Creative hasn't come back to me with the RRP. I DO know that these cost $99USD. but it's a moot point. The official RRP will be published with the review.

They are currently stuffed in my ear. With my list of reference tracks playing. [edit] oops. forgot to mention its hooked to my ipod playing ALAC.

So either the Creative marcomm ppl were lying to us or their sales department don't communicate with the marketing dept. Either way, the problem is easily settled. I'll send them a mail. btw, it's priced at $99USD, so unless Sim Wong Hoo wants to rip singaporeans off (more/again) $219 is a strange price. Zephyron, These are FAR from in-ear monitors. Even Creative are not calling them as such.

Hi! I apologise if this sounds rude, but even Creative hasn't pegged their local price to these earphones. How'd you get the $219? Is that an official creative price? I was at the press launch today and they said they only have the US pricing at the moment.

btw, I think the design is closer to the UE super.fi 3 than anything Shure has.

I went for the press launch of these today. Called the Aurvana. Got a review set. creative fanboys beware.

So I was down in Adelphi today, walking around before attending a concert at Esplanade when I happened upon this little shop called Jaben on the 4th floor. The stuff displayed at the window were extremely interesting to say the least. Loads of heaphone gear, of course the thing that drew my eye was the Alessandro's on display. Having some free time, I walked in to chat with the owner. Turns out this is the same company that's distributing Dr Amp (which I reviewed in hwm last year) and they are doing Westone and Alessandro on top of the usual brands we see on the shelves. Wilson is the name of the guy running the show, and he was pretty cool to talk to. Very Friendly Guy, and even though he knew I wasn't going to buy anything, he let me listen to most of the stuff on hand. Very un-adelphi-like shop I would say, and I had a good time. I didn't have enough time to listen to the Alessandros, cos I spent all my time on the Westones and an Amp called 'icute' from Firestone. I shall be going back there again soon to check out the rest of his gear. I really want to listen to the alessandros before I decide to buy, been waiting for a chance to try them out for ages. I did not ask prices though cos I said I wasn't going to buy anything. Definitely worth a look if any of you pop down to adelphi anytime soon. Chris PS: I have no association or relation to this shop. And I REALLY need to go to SE at causeway point, but it's sooo far.... *sigh*

bro! that's what I meant when I said "I'll ask around". errr I thought you guys know?

Let me try to ask around.

hifi at home, headfi at work. I don't have a headfi system at home, and I can't have a hifi system at work. Though, I quest for different things from both. For hifi, I value transparency, neutralness and accuracy. I want to hear everything that went on in the studio. But for headfi, I prefer warmth and tonality. So far, I'm content

Check out this article in 6 moons. 6 Moons

Psy-Fi : The Truth is Out There!

no apologies necessary. I would've bought it anyway. When I like a band, I tend to buy all their albums. I do like their rendition of ONE. sound pretty fabulous. btw, your siggy...the fella only paid 3k.

Finally bought it. Have to say, I'm quite disappointed. The laugh intro cool. scared the daylights out of my gf. freaked her out massively. but I hate the rap track. I can't believe it. what horrible rap as well.euck!