Hello,

I purchased a pair of these headphones from an amazon.co.uk market place seller who had 100% feedback rating from 75 customers, hence the reason I proceeded with my order. I received the headphones and thought they felt great and sounded wonderful, but there are a few things niggling me because there is a lot of talk about these headphones being faked! I looked this up and there are a few similarities and a few differences between my headphones and a set of 'fake' ones. For examples see the pictures below...

The box language is in French and English, no apparent spelling mistakes. It has a stick on bar code (as it should) but seems slightly faded. Im thinking the seller could have imported french models. One thing I noticed on the box that I was told on another site shouldn't be is that it says they are made in China, and should say made in Philippines.

Once I opened the box I found the headphones in a polythene bag, with a pearly white carrying case with the sony tab, two manuals, one about hearing damage and how to use and another about safe disposal.

The headphones themselves feel sturdy and well built, the ear pads are thick and comfortable on your head and the sound quality from what I can tell is good. The Sony logo on each ear cup is raised as it should be and the cord is matte black/grey and easily extends. But there is no CE mark or 'Philippines' mark stamped either side of the headband and the jacks have black breaks between the connectors instead of the traditional sony green.

I am really worried that these are fake headphones as I am only 17, and still in full time education so don't have a chance to earn much money, and to spend £50 on some headphones for them to turn out to be cheap counterfit items would really ruin my day!
Hope anyone might be able to shed some more light on the situation!

Many Thanks,
John.

P.S. Sorry for all the photos.

[Broosta]

I can't tell you if its a fake but it looks like a bloody good one if it is!
And there is a Sony factory in China so they could have been made there.
What do they sound like?

Maybe try posting same post on www.Head-fi.org they know stuff!

Thats the thing I was impressed with the sound, but was just worried that the quality of the internals, soldering and circuitry, might not be up to standard. Im going to take them to my local Sony Centre to see whether they can tell me whether there legit or not.

Thanks for the tip I will try there as well.

John.

[ciandrews]

I think they may be fake ones

funnily enough, my missus bought me a pair for Christmas, and she got them from Amazon - I sent her the link to them to swerve here away from getting them off eBay etc.

So I had to go and check!

The bands on my Jack Connectors are indeed green, and on the inside of the headband I have "CE" stamped on one, and "China on the other

And just for reference, I have a set of completely broken Mk1's that are about 7 years old (snapped headband swivel joint, common problem!) and they have the green bands, although my headbands say "CE" and "MADE IN JAPAN" on them!

My box is identical though, with the half english, half french box. My Barcode sticker says "POS UTILISATEUR" not "POUR UTILISATEUR"

Maybe you should have got them direct from Amazon than via marketplace, I know you would have paid a little more, but at least you would have been assured they are genuine!

I dunno, looking at the pictures, they don't look quite right. The cushions on your cans look like the ones on my old v700's, the ones I have in my hand right now are super silky smooth!

If you aren't happy with them, send them back!

Firstly, no CE mark is a major no, no especially for a big concern like Sony.

Second, the green bands are somewhat a trademark on Sony plugs.

Thirdly Pour Utilisateur means For User , Pos Utilisateur means nothing.

By all means go to your Sony dealer and get them checked out. If they do turn out to be fake then I am sorry.

Fourthly, and most importantly, DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM CHINA even if they do offer some of the most amazing deals. Unfortunately it pays to be patient, take a little more time to save your cash. If you are intent on buying from dealers on e-bay then take a look at e-bay deutschland (and ignore anything from Hong Kong/China).

If you don't keep them and your looking for something else, try AKG K416P's. Made in China but designed in Austria

[ciandrews]

Originally Posted by gareththomas01

Thirdly Pour Utilisateur means For User , Pos Utilisateur means nothing.

POS - Point Of Sale? Would make sense as it is on the barcode sticker?

To be honest mate, I really don't think so. My partner is French and she doesn't seem to think it means anything. It's possible it is a sticker to try and bluff the French.

The AKG's I mentioned above were bought in France a couple of months ago and there was no similar stickers on these ( I am checking the box now ). OK, they are not Sony but you would think that a similar (sticker) system exists for most if not all brands. I looked at quite a few sets of headphone, casque d'ecouter in French, and don't remember seeing anything like this.

Gareth

P.S. The AKG's cost me the equivalent of forty pounds and I use them with my iPod and laptop.

Also, I can't stress enough the importance of the CE mark. It is vital that this is on products nowadays.

If you really are in doubt, which you obviously are (and so would I) after spending your months pocket, try contacting e-bay and the seller for a refund. I am not sure how difficult this is.

Good luck and let me know
Gareth