Creative EP-630 “audiophile” review

NoDad · 26-07-2006, 5:06 PM

The purpose of this review is to give people an idea of how these little earphones compare to medium-top end audiophile headphones. This would have been useful for me before I bought them. You may think it unfair to compare earphones which cost £12.99 with headphones costing £150 but I think it is useful from a reference point of view.

The Creative’s will be compared to the following headphones.

Sennheiser HD250 Linear II (Closed back)
Sennheiser HD580 (Open back)
Beyer Dynamic DT770 (Closed back)

All headphones were tested using a CD player connect via optical link to a JVC surround sound amp set to straight stereo mode (no effects).

Music tracks used for the tests:

George Michael – Older – Spinning The Wheel (this has a 36Hz bass note – lower than the lowest note on a bass guitar [41Hz] when conventionally tuned)

Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic – Any Major Dude Will Tell you (nicely recorded acoustic guitars and a great arrangement)

First of all I cannot stress enough how important it is to get a good fit into each ear canal. For me the medium “bud” fitted my right ear and the small “bud” fitted my left ear. This gives me a spare pair of buds – Bonus. The fit not only affects the bass response but also the quality and imaging of all frequencies below about 500Hz IMO.

Right, having obtained the perfect fit after about 30 minutes of experimenting, it was time to compare the EP-630’s to my other ‘phones. Let me first of all say that the Sennheiser HD250 linear II’s are my favourite ‘phones in terms of overall sound quality. The HD580’s are excellent in terms of openness but not quite as extended on the bass as the 250 II’s. The Beyer DT770’s are the poorest of the three, they seem to have slight colouration (odd minor peaks in the audio spectrum), but I’m being hyper critical here. All three are excellent headphones.

Right straight into George Michael, how would the Creative’s handle that 36Hz bass note? Well….., no problems at all. Nicely defined and on a par with all but the HD250 II’s. The “airy” tom toms at the beginning of this track also sounded surprisingly clean and open. The track has many types of instrument including electric guitar, brass, saxophone, tambourine, female backing vocals, that deep bass and of course George’s great voice to name a few. The Creative’s were very impressive for such a modest price and handled the overall mix without a hitch.

Next Steely Dan. I always use this track to check clarity, sparkle and soundstage aspects. The track starts with two acoustics one panned left, the other right playing essentially the same chords but slightly out of time with each other. This really shows up any weakness in headphones but the Creative’s gave a very convincing performance, conveying real presence and space. The Creatives rocked along with the rest of the track, vocals being clear and well focussed. The soundstage was well defined with plenty of space around each of the instruments.

Conclusion.
There is nothing to compare with these earphones for the measly £13 price tag. For that sort of money they are nothing short of amazing. In absolute terms they do not have the openness and ultimate space around each of the instruments that my £150 Senny’s have but that would be asking too much, wouldn’t it.

You must make sure that the fit is correct for each ear or you will seriously compromise the bass response and just as importantly the low end imagery. Make sure both earphones fit properly and you will really appreciate the astonishing results you can achieve from these little beauties.

I am convinced that these are identical to the Sennheiser CX300’s but at half the price. Save your money buy these.

johnk · 07-08-2006, 1:55 PM

Fully agree, NoDad, best bargain in the budget sector by a long, long way. I bought them for £20 and I still thought they were my bargain of the year. I use them all the time with my Nano.

No, they don't come close to my Etymotic ER4s for absolute clarity. But the Etymotic's cost ten times the price. Are they ten times as good? mmm....

JohnK

NoDad · 07-08-2006, 6:39 PM

Glad you agree Johnk.

Just a couple of observation since I wrote the review.

The background noise of the amplifier is more noticable with the EP-630's than with any of the "conventional" headphones. This is soon masked by even the quietest music, so is not of much concern.

Critical listening also reveals a slight peak in the frequency response at the top of the mid band but this is quite subtle.

Having "lived" with these little beauties for 3 weeks now, I can say that they continue to please and everyone else I have let audition them has been amazed at the quality.

I still maintain that for £13 they are an absolute bargain.

One word of warning, don't expect to eat and drink while you use them, your music will be accompanied by every chew and swallow.

NoDad · 28-08-2006, 7:56 PM

I thought I'd try these in ear 'phones with the dolby surround tests on the dolby site, because they will inject only the left and right signals directly to your ears (unlike over-the-ear type headphones which will also include reflections and "colouration" from your outer ears). The surround sound image is much better for me than using over-the-ear type headphones. If I close my eyes I can really locate the sound in front, front side, to the side and to the rear, with pretty good precision.

Another plus for this type of earphones.

Anyone tried these earphones on a dolby surround sound headphone amplifier?