Creative Aurvana Live!

[Fungi]

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=ja_en&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geocities.jp%2Fmister_terch%2FCREATIVEAurvanaLive.html

This was one of the first "main" reviews of the AURVN-LV. Here's his other reviews. Third column is how much he likes the sound, out of 5.

http://www.geocities.jp/mister_terch/MemoMain.html

Then this other guy goes and gives it another 4/5.

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=ja_en&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geocities.jp%2Fryumatsuba%2Fhp-aurvn-lv.html

Even given listener bias, I think it's pretty clear this is a nice contender in the $100ish closed category, at least worth a good listen. None of the etailers I can find have it readily in stock, where the only reliable source seems to be direct from Creative, at full MSRP. Is this a FOTM waiting to happen, or am I overreacting?

[slwiser]

I was surprise at the grade that it got on He&Bi. Four stars which is in good company. http://www.geocities.jp/ryumatsuba/

and here http://www.geocities.jp/mister_terch/CREATIVEAurvanaLive.html

At that price point this may be a winner for them.

[Fungi]

I guess Creative was holding back on the Aurvana Lives, because a bunch of etailers just got them in stock. All around $120 shipped.

Anyway, the packaging is real nice and I'm about 5 minutes in to listening, but I think a good several hours of burning in is necessary before I say anything. Really comfortable and light, pretty good isolation as well.

[Dusty Chalk]

They certainly look the part.

[aerius]

Bio cellulose drivers...hmmm...I wonder how long it'll be until people start pulling out the drivers and putting them in wooden housings to make a poor man's R10?

[Smeggy]

bio cellulose? wow! paper!

[Dusty Chalk]

You say clamato, I say clamahto.

[Smeggy]

I love bullshit, so much flavor, such great texture, it tastes like...

marketing people!

Mmmmm, tasty.

[Mortalcoil]

A new Ultrasone ?

[Mortalcoil]

the shape of the cups remind me of koss phones

I was thinking .... throw some Mongolian Goat leather on the pads, include a case and a Neutrik cable.

[Smeggy]

Maybe it's just me, I think they look like cack. Having said that most of my phones look like cack too but they sound good so you never know. Anyway, I've promised myself that my next set will be ball-bustingly expensive.

[Fungi]

The shiny cups are definitely tacky, I wouldn't want to walk around in these.

The good news is, the nasty Triport-esque bass is gone now. I think I get why people love the Denons so much; these are really well rounded, although a bit on the thick side. But I guess everything's going to sound thick compared to the K501 and MS-2.

[philodox]

After the creative camera I used to own it will take a lot to convince me to go anywhere near one of thier products. Bleh...

[gtp]

The shiny cups are definitely tacky, I wouldn't want to walk around in these.

I saw these at Fry's and they are tacky!

The good news is, the nasty Triport-esque bass is gone now. I think I get why people love the Denons so much; these are really well rounded, although a bit on the thick side. But I guess everything's going to sound thick compared to the K501 and MS-2.

So are these the same as Denon D1000? The Creatives seem to use Foster's "biocellulose" drivers, while the Denons advertise "microfiber". Suspicious that they both have the same impedance and sensitivity.

[Fungi]

I saw these at Fry's and they are tacky!

So are these the same as Denon D1000? The Creatives seem to use Foster's "biocellulose" drivers, while the Denons advertise "microfiber". Suspicious that they both have the same impedance and sensitivity.

One of the reviews I linked says that the sound is similar to the Denons, but the D1000 has a little less bass.

[Fungi]

The Aurvana Live! is a well-balanced headphone, not overemphasizing anything and doing very well for a closed can. I'd say it has a slight V-shaped frequency curve. Vocals sound pretty good and if you can handle MS-2 highs, then these should be no problem at all (peak in the highs). At this price range, I don't think it's very likely that anything won't have that "closed" sound, and the Aurvana Live! is no exception. Can't say I have much experience with closed headphones but I'd say these are staying with me. They don't seem slow or lacking in detail, and soundstage is fairly good for a closed headphone.

[Fungi]

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=206584592

[padam]

I would like to bump this thread because I could finally compare a stock Aurvana Live! to my recabled one (I chose D5000 cable) and I have to say, even I notice the difference.

The most important thing is the bass, which has tightened up nicely and lets it sound more balanced. And also the highs are not sibilant anymore. Because of these things it is not fatiguing to listen to. I used them straight out of the Sansa Clip using lossless files, I guess the difference would be bigger from a decent source and headphone amp. But the cables are still at the customs so maybe later on can try this with the GLite (but only if the other one won't be recabled by then;)).

The ESW10JPNs are still way more exciting to listen to(no contest, really), but these are more comfortable and on par with them in terms of isolation/leakage and costs much less. And that's partly down to the volume level which doesn't need to be turned up as high as it used to be.

To sum up, I think they are quite nice for the money as a 'starter' closed headphone and it is worth to recable them because it is a surprisingly easy job to do and it gives noticeable improvements to the sound.