Creative Aurvana Review

[iDespair 0]

First impressions of the Aurvana is that it reminds me of the UE super.fi. However, it is designed to be plugged directly into your ears (like the Etys) instead of over-the-ear (like shures/westones). They only supply silicon rubber tips with it, and from the looks of the pipe, there will not be a foam tip or flange tip in the works. Instead of using a standard straight pipe like other canalphones, it's mushroom shaped design to hold the tip in place. Also, the tips do not really 'hold' on tightly to the canal pipe, I came quite close to having the tip stick in my ear after gaining a good seal and pulling the earphone out too abruptly. The silicon rubber tips are quite uncomfortable, harder than the soft tips that shure gives with the E4s and softer than the hard tips supplied with the E2s. Closest I'd say, they are like the ones supplied with the EX71. Not very impressive.

 

The seal is not that bad, they supplied two sets of each size, meaning 6 pairs in total. Isolation is average, nothing compared to Etys, Shures or Westones. Closer again to the EX71. Microphonics is horrible. Very very bad. I'd say even worse than the original ER4. With the phones in your ear, do not move, do not breath... I think the problem is the thick cable, someone on the design department probably thought, "ah, a thick cable is very audiophile, so we must have one". I'm not exaggerating when I say even my breathing on the cable induced heavy rasping in the ear. Totally distracting from the music.

 

Going to sound. Soundstage was not existant, even for a pair of in-ears. Everything came from a single point, the only way I got left and right channels was to use a channel identification track. Otherwise, most everything came practically in mono. Playing the first track of the Stax CD (the one with the guitar in the back right, the woman whispering in your left and the door on your right). It was obvious that the earphones could not produce depth. The guitarist was seated firmly on the right (not right back) and the times when the german guy was moving left and right, front and back sounded very much like coming from a mini-compo placed on my head.

 

In terms of tonality, the midrange and treble was muddy. It reminded me a little of the Shure E2, but worse. I think even the MX500 had a better midrange. The bass was loud though, it lacked a real 'omph' but it was there thumping away in the foreground. Again, I liken the sound to the EX71, very close. Definitely better, but very close Not 150 dollars better than the EX71 though. Most of the time, I could not enjoy listening to the Aurvana, the microphones were simply too distracting. Especially when I listen to them in a quite place. On an MRT/Bus, it doesn't seem that bad, but it was awful in the office. Vocals were quite in-your-face, exciting at first, but very tiring after a while.

 

If the soundstage was bad, the instrument separation and placement was even worse. Having the vocals sit right in the middle is a good thing. Having everything else try to squeeze into the same space as the singer is not a good thing. Listening to stuff like the Cowboy Junkies' Trinity Sessions or Portishead live in NYC, I could not get the sense of space that the recordings had. Classical was even worse, better off listening to 92.4. It was not that bad on zero7 or lamb, but then again that genre is a whole different ball game.

 

Overall, It think it's over priced, if this cost $50SGD, it would be reasonable and I'd probably buy it as my first in-ear. In fact, if it cost less than 100SGD, I'd recommend friends to buy it simply to get a step up towards real IEM heaven. But at $200ish, I'm happy with my E2, ER6 and UM1 thank you very much.

[neutralzz 0]

hmm.. anywhere to audition?

[aegisofrime 0]

Stereo Electronics will have it. You can see Aron's post about it in the announcements I think.

[DiGdUb 0]

did you try to wear them with the cables over the ear? or is the design in such a way the cable are not suitable to be looped over the ear? cables over ears will eliminate microphonics. do the sleeves of the er6i or e2c or the ex71 fit on the aurvana?

[Zephyron 0]

Naw, the Aurvana uses the 'mushroom lock fit' of normal semi-canals. The safest and closest bet of any other IEMs that's fit the Aurvana's would be the UE series tips.

[ahdui 0]

so is there any comparison with other around SG$100 IEMs? like CK7? shure e2?

[Stereo_Electronics 0]

Interesting review you have there, can't wait to audition them this evening when my stocks arrive.

 

In regards to the tips "softness", actually both E4C ultra soft tips and E2C tips feel almost the same, except that its smaller (more cone shaped)at the tip of the E4C sleeve and slightly larger on the E2C, otherwise both share the same external diameter.

 

And might be infomative if you add in the source you were using. Good effort though.

[heady 0]

And adding to Stereo's comments, how long were the phones burned in. It makes a difference.

[master 0]

I will try to borrow one to try out...

[Stereo_Electronics 0]

"Stereo, we got a problem....."

 

- Stocks for the Aurvana delayed till next week because Creative wants to reserve for the pc show.

[iDespair 0]

The set was burnt in for slightly over 100 hours using Stereophile's special 'burn-in' noise from the Stereophile Test CD3. Though, technically, since they are armature drivers, they should not require any burning in, unlike normal dymanic drivers.

Source was an ipod playing all tracks on Wav ripped from the original CD using EAC and a Sony Discman.

I compared them against the E2, UM1 and ER6, which I also own.

The E2 tips are not the ultra-soft ones, but the harder ones. I know the E4 comes with both tips.

 

[edited] They are designed to be worn directly like the Etys. I tried them over the ear but it would not sit properly. The tips do sit at an angle to the main body, but the angle is not enough for over the ear seating. Also, one point to note is that its difficult to differentiate the left/right sides. Unlike Shures or Westones where you can automatically feel which side is for which ear, for the Aurvana's, you actually have to look for the L/R lettering on the body.

 

Talking about looping over the ear, I just realised that it's definitely not meant to be looped over the ear. I had a friend take a photo of it and I discovered that they designed it such that you can see the 'zen' wordings on both sides when you plug the earphones into your ear. The profile is quite obtrusive actually.

 

Edited June 1, 2006 by iDespair

[theory_87 0]

Naw, the Aurvana uses the 'mushroom lock fit' of normal semi-canals. The safest and closest bet of any other IEMs that's fit the Aurvana's would be the UE series tips.

i oso think so... but the noozle lk smaller den UE noozle...

[RonTheMan 0]

Apparently, Creative thinks their latest offering to be good, as they have competing products side by side at the PC show for you to pit them against with. But from the review by iDespair, Creative's first attempt at a pro IEM appears to fall flat on their face.

[Zephyron 0]

Point is, Shure's E2 and E3 are very flawed IEMs.

E2's just bass only (before mod) and its very sloppy to boot, I never heard the E3 before but I gathered that its lacking in bass compared to ER6i (Bad thing) and its highs rolloff really early, and it has a pushy midrange to boot.

 

I think this is the reason why they don't dare to put it side by side with UM1, ER6i and I'll even say the HJE70 (Which I found to be quite fun, with the exception of a more recessed midrange compared to CK7) and the CK7 as well.

 

Evian, if you're reading this, befoe we meet at Stereo and then go down to the PC Show tomorrow, ready your UM2 :evil grin:

[biggulp 0]

Apparently, Creative thinks their latest offering to be good, as they have competing products side by side at the PC show for you to pit them against with. But from the review by iDespair, Creative's first attempt at a pro IEM appears to fall flat on their face.

what products did they put side by side then?

Edited June 2, 2006 by biggulp