Creative Aurvana Review

[evian_vortex 0]

Hmm, Afbug should be there at 4pm earliest, Evian and I can make it there anytime 4pm and after, radioactive28 is going by 6pm, ahdui is going, theory going?

 

Should we consolidate a certain time and invade the place? If need be, I'll place my contact down here

Sorry , zeph ... I hit the shop too late today ... ... because i said the wrong thing and my friend arrive at the wrong time ... ... but , it was a rather plesurable trip there today . Not too bad , although i fear to try out the aurvana , but from all that intense listening you did on all the 3 cans available there ... i only have expression : ...

[Zephyron 0]

Did I look that serious? *lol*

 

Anyway, I was quite shocked, actually stood down there for more than 40min like a statue XP

 

Right now writing my impressions over at head-fi, coming back here soon =)

[evian_vortex 0]

LOL ... yeah ... i saw that fellas face when you told him that he was wearing the UM1 wrongly @ jaben ... CLASSIC MANz ...

[radioactive28 0]

What, people tried to plug the UMs in 'normally'?

[Zephyron 0]

Anywayz...

My impressions of the Aurvana (Source = my iAudio U3 no EQ plus a bootload of tracks I was familiar with. Hogged that particular one Aurvana out of the 3 demo sets available for almost an hour):

-Comfort, Isolation:

There's no denying that the Aurvana is very comfortable to wear, and it doesn't protrude as much as much as I thought it'd be as well (less than both the ER6i and the ER4). Its pretty low profile I'd say. Its isolation is definitely impressive for a single flanged tip IEM, but it comes nowhere close to the claimed 90% noise isolation of Creative's claim... Far from it. A rough estimation by me of up to 60% is more likely though.

 

-The Aurvana's bass is slightly weaker in terms of quantity as compared to the EP630/CX300, but is slightly more better controlled. Its extension is half-reasonable as well, but for its price, I expected better. Its high-bass seems to have a hump though. I'll get onto the instruments later.

 

-The mids feel somewhat masked. I don't know how to describe this but... male vocals sound okay on the thing, but female vocals (was listening to Christina Aguilera's Reflection for this one) seem to suffer, sounding murky and somewhat grainy. The best way to describe the mids is that it reminds me much of the Shure E2c. I'll get on the instruments later.

 

-The highs are... rolled off... Quite badly at that. Not as bad as the E2, but still bad, that's my impression of it.

 

-Onto the other parts other than sound frequency alone, I don't think the channel separation was as bad as what another local reviewer has said, but still, it could have been better. There seems to be quite a bit of left and right channel 'leakage'. How this was done, I have no idea.

 

-In terms of instrumental separation, the Aurvana peforms around close to being half-decent I guess, but you definitely can't listen to orchestrated tracks on it without the music being degraded (Band of Brothers Suite 2, OGG Vorbis format ~200kbps). A lot of intsrumets suffered though, sounding as if they were all mixed together into a messed up brew and then injected directly onto your eardrums.

 

-Soundstage is where the Aurvana really suffers. It feels cramped from an IEM in its price. I'll go as far to say that the E2c (kramer modded) outperforms it in this regard by a little bit, whereas the normal E2 out does the soundstage of the Aurvana by a hair.

 

-The detail and revealingness on the Aurvana isn't exactly very good either. On some tracks e.g Band of Brothers Suite 2, I can pick up the sounds of the musicians flipping their pages or putting aside their drum sticks or violin stick (Sorry, don't know the name, its embarassing x.X). The flipping of pages and some rustling of coats are gone, and the tapping made by the putting aside of those sticks sound more faded, or parhaps muffled.

 

-Instruments of certain types sound nice on the Aurvana, but a lot suffer. Those big Chinese Drums (I know not their name) sound quite nice on the Aurvana, but string instruments like the Violin and Guitar (Bond Born - Victory and Duel, plus some other tracks which I listen to which are slow Chinese classicals, most of the people here won't know I guess) suffer. Guitars sound murky, I can't hear them being plucked despite pushing my player's volume to dangerously loud levels. Also, the body of the note after the guitar strings were plucked... It felt very shaky and monotoned. Violins sound somewhat, faked... Can't think of a better word to describe it, but its just like that. Triangles sound as if they're very VERY distant and faded, and cymbals suffer a worser fate as compared to that of the Audio Technica ATH-CK7 (The CK7 is quite weak on cymbals, whereas on the Aurvana, cymbals feel as if they were largely missing. The existant ones do sound rather muffled as well).

 

Well, that's just my 2 cents of the Aurvana from what I've tried thus far.

[ahdui 0]

so if i were to go up a lvl in getting a new IEM. what shld i head next?

 

Aurvana?

UM1?

HJE70?

 

Currently using CK7. (or shld i stay to this?)

Edited June 3, 2006 by ahdui

[Zephyron 0]

Stick with the CK7. IMO, the Aurvana is barely an upgrade... More like a sidegrade which IMO is worse.

 

HJE70 and UM1 are great phones, but they're also sidegrades from CK7, so it depends on your tastes. If the CK7 suits your tastes in listening however, consider the Shure E4 or the Ety ER4. If you want a change of pace, the UM2 is another great option. Be sure to audition them with your source first however, because that is what that will count most.

Edited June 4, 2006 by Zephyron

[ahdui 0]

thanks but those u mentioned are exceeding my budget, i shall save up for them den lol.

[theory_87 0]

haha... den u can try iM716... but it only abit hard to drive...

[theory_87 0]

What, people tried to plug the UMs in 'normally'?

it pretty common... wen i 1st wen jaben, the staff there r surprize tt i noe how to loop ovwee the ear.. dey told me tt almost all ppl dunno how to wear it...

[afbug 0]

so if i were to go up a lvl in getting a new IEM. what shld i head next?

 

Aurvana?

UM1?

HJE70?

 

Currently using CK7. (or shld i stay to this?)

You can try the UM1. It will revel more details that the CK7 is missing and the bass slam will be greater. Isolation improves too. CK7 is clear but details not as good as ER6i or UM1. Audition them out first.

 

For a bigger jump, go for a ER4, E4 or go dual drivers; UM2/SF5 Pro. The iM716 is a very capable phone at a very attractive price but can be hard to drive and an amp might be required.

[theory_87 0]

haa.. somehow my h10 can drive iM716 better now and i'm enjoying dem more... but still i'll opt for a amp...

[yongchris 0]

Anywayz...

My impressions of the Aurvana (Source = my iAudio U3 no EQ plus a bootload of tracks I was familiar with. Hogged that particular one Aurvana out of the 3 demo sets available for almost an hour):

 

-Comfort, Isolation:

There's no denying that the Aurvana is very comfortable to wear, <snipped>

Well, that's just my 2 cents of the Aurvana from what I've tried thus far.

very nice writeup.

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

[yongchris 0]

This is ONE thing that everyone(including myself) seems to have overlooked though. The Aurvana comes with the most amazing case I've ever seen for an IEM. I think the case is even better than the Shure cases. Hard plastic, with a rubbery/thermoplastic interior that holds the earphones, and a cable management system. The best part of the case IMO, is that it seems that the length and breadth of the case is matched to the cable. If you wind the cable right just, the creative wording on the y-junction will fit perfectly in the front, and the 3.5mm plug will fit perfectly in the back. Non of that squeezing and adjusting like in the Shure cases.

btw, I tried fitting the UMs and E2 into the case, but no joy. dangit! I would've kept the case if that worked

 

The case was the ONLY thing I liked about the Aurvanas. Not that one should buy earphones based on the case, but credit should be due for this case design.

 

[theory_87 0]

emm.. gt any pics?