Every time that you buy a new MP3 player or some other similar device, you usually get a “free” set of bundled headphones. The bad news is that these are usually anything but stellar, leaving you to invest in a set of premium earphones on your own. One of the newer offerings in this realm of premium headphones is the Creative Aurvana In-Ear2. This set follows up on the original Aurvana In-Ear headphones, which actually won a few awards in the past. Let’s fast forward to the future and see if this new revision holds true to its heritage.
Features and Specifications
In terms of aesthetics, there’s not very much that’s going to separate the Aurvana In-Ear2 from many of its contemporaries on store shelves. The driver design, from the outside, looks just like many other premium earphones. As do the soft silicon ear pieces that seems prevalent in many competitive offerings like the ones from Ultimate Ears and even new comer Arctic Sound. The difference is in the details.
For starters, you get a gold-plated plug, metal driver bodies, and “more refined acoustic tuning” which we’ll hopefully be able to distinguish in our listening tests. The exposed acoustic grille on the other side of the driver body is quite unique, but the silicone ear tips are pretty much par for the course as mentioned earlier.
For raw specifications, you can expect Balanced Armature drivers, 15Hz to 16kHz frequency response, 42 ohms of impedance, 110dB/mW sensitivity (at 1kHz), 1.2m oxygen-free copper cable, and a net weight of 11 grams. All specifications that resonate with other front runners in the earphone game. The question is how does Creative Labs execute this list of specifications and most importantly how pleasing is the sound when you pay the $99.99US MSRP asking price.
What’s in the Box?
When you open up the packaging for most headphones that you buy in most stores, you don’t get much else aside from the headphones themselves. However, the premium earphone market is a little different and Creative has adjusted accordingly.
The Aurvana In-Ear2 comes with a great carrying case (which I’ll discuss further in just a moment), an airplane adapter for use on commercial aircraft, six sets of eartips (two pairs of each size: S, M, L), supporting documentation, and a cleaning tool for that waxy build up (eww?).
Bearing in mind that these are earphones and not a headset (with a mic), it’s understandable that a 2.5mm adapter was not provided for certain smartphones. It’s nice having all those extra eartips though as fit is just as important as sound.
Audio Technology at Play
Coupled with the audio enhancing technology of the Creative Zen X-Fi Style portable media player, the Creative Aurvana In-Ear2 is said to provide quite the optimal audio experience. The Precise Balance Armature driver with the acoustic grille design is supposed to allow for a “more detailed sonic presentation” and “punchy” bass. The AuraSeal in-ear design provides up to 95% noise isolation. There is no active noise cancellation, but I found the seal to be quite good in blocking out exterior sounds.
Of course, this isolation also gives the headphones the “crunchy foods” effect where your chewing is amplified through the ear canal. A compromise of this type of design if you will when it comes to snacking and relaxing to your music. A better choice of non-crunchy foods makes this a non-issue of course.
Bundled Carrying Case Design
The little things are what make a world of difference and I was quite pleased with the design of the included travel case. It’s not perfect, to be sure, but I like how there is a plastic mold in the center designed specifically to fit the drivers. The core wraps around this center section easily and the whole thing closes up with a simple placing of the Velcro strap. I would have much preferred a zippered enclosure like the one found included with the Future Sonics Atrio Series (but at $199US we’d expect some extras).
However, as the current design is still “open” along three edges we would have preferred a bit more security for all the little pieces that come with these earphones.
Audio Performance with Different Music
Ultimately, this is the category that matters the most when it comes to premium earphones. To put it through its paces, I tried listening to a variety of music both on my Apple iPod and through my Dell laptop. When put through the iPod, I found the Creative Aurvana In-Ear2 didn’t sound very loud when compared to some other headphones. The audio performance with pop and rock songs, which focus mostly on the midrange, sounded just fine though. While we often make the mistake of associating louder with better sounding, it’s the detail that counts in the mid-range.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said about hip hop and some other genres where heavy bass is more important. Despite claims of “punchy” bass, I found the Aurvana In-Ear2 to be anything but impressive. This points to a set of drivers that simply does not mate well with devices that don’t put out as much signal as needed. Since the majority of devices that would be used with these headphones will be of the portable variety, this greatly decreases the number of devices that the Aurvana’s will sound good with.
Trying the same songs through the headphone jack on my PC, the volume was better, but the bass was still lacking. I also experienced some distortion at the higher end of the pitch scale. This is indicative of a lack of range or a sufficient amount of time for driver break-in, despite playing them without ears in them for a good day before initial listening tests. This piece of information however, is not in the manual.
The Creative Aurvana In-Ear2 is definitely a step up from the el cheapo $10 headphones you find in the clearance bin, but they’re not up to snuff with other $100 earphones in the premium market. I thought the headsets from Arctic Cooling may have even been better despite a slightly lower price point.
Closing Thoughts
You don’t have to break the bank in order to get your hands on a decent set of earphones. You could get a better experience with $300 headphones, but the average non-audiophile can get away with something in the $100 sweet spot. Some headphones even sound good in the slightly lower category as we’ve found with products like the Arctic Sound and the Radius Atomic Bass. Both of which double as headsets for your cellphone or PC as well.
And that’s where the Creative Labs Aurvana In-Ear2’s seem to fall. However, when I’m dropping a cool hundred on something like this, I expect to get better performance than what the Aurvana In-Ear2 was able to provide. They’re not bad, but they’re not $100 good either. They also aren’t friendly with lower powered portable players like iPods. They clearly have a bias towards Creative’s own offerings or other less ubiquitous media players like the Microsoft ZUNE or the Archos players which seem to push more signal through the earphone jack.
The Creative Aurvana In-Ear2 premium earphones have an MSRP of $99.99US and are available now through major retailers like Amazon.
Pros
- Simple and classy design with compact drivers
- Cool travel case with slots for earphones
- Good noise isolation
- Loads of included rubber eartips
Cons
- Less than impressive bass response
- Somewhat “quieter” than other earphones
- Distortion at higher volumes
- Requires higher power sources to shine (which limits its range of devices to be paired with)
Overall Rating: 7.0/10.0
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