Imagine my horror when I realised that I received earphones for review! The reason for this is I absolutely hate anything sitting inside my ear, but a man has to do what a man has to do. Hesitantly I inserted each earphone into its corresponding auditory opening and amazingly all my fears of discomfort and pain evaporated.
Next job was to whip out my Apple iPhone 3GS and hear the all important sound quality and so started my love affair with the Creative Aurvana In-Ear2 Earphones.
No doubt you will own some kind of portable media player or gaming machine, that on occasion you will stick in your pocket and take out whenever boredom sets in. If you wish to avoid those moments where people in close proximity give you the evil eye for your noisy disruption, you can always slip on a pair of earphones or headphones.
Within the box you will find plenty of gubbins along with your purchase. First of all your sleek metal encased set of earphones and a sturdy travel case for your earphones to sit within a moulded space all nice and snug, with an area to wrap your cable around. Two sets of silicone eartips (the part that wraps around the earphone to improve comfort) in three different sizes, so you can match the correct eartip to the shape of your inner ear. This is very important as I will explain in a moment. An airplane adapter for those unscrupulous airlines that usually require you to purchase their own headphones to fit their seat’s unique audio port design and even a cleaning tool to remove any wax nasties.
The advantage of earphones over headphones is quite simple, particularly with the Creative Aurvana In-Ear2 set. Selecting the correct size eartip for the shape of your own ear is crucial from the three Creative supply. This results in a good tight fit, however when I say ‘tight’ there is no need to flinch. It provides a surprisingly comfortable experience with less chance of them popping out as you stroll and that is not the only benefit.
With this design, you are actually eliminating much of the ambient noise that surrounds you such as the constant whine of engines. Creative claims that up to 95% of this annoyance can be isolated, leaving just a minimal amount leaking inwards. It is quite a bold claim, especially as there is no actual technologies included that cancels out the noise, however harking back to the design again, they do act a little like ear plugs blocking out ambient disruption while still allowing your favourite tunes to remain within your ear.
With this emphasis on noise isolation, it is important to make sure that your earphones are sitting correctly within your ear. Once you achieve this not only are you limiting outside interference, but also giving yourself the best sound experience. There is certainly a sweet spot and you will soon notice the difference when you get it right. Earphones due to their smaller size doesn’t exactly allow a lot of room for speakers, yet the Creative earphones manages to offer much in a such a small package.
I am sure there are many people who believe that to achieve a deep bass sound you require a humongous speaker, yet in such a tiny and lightweight size, the bass is not only detectable, but actually recognisable. What I mean by this is not only are you feeling the vibration or rumble of something impressive hiding away within the sound, but you can actually hear much of the tonal differences.
Where they really excel though is with the clarity of cymbals and other similar sounds. A common trick with music especially with anything that features a fairly fast percussion rhythm is to switch speakers at fairly quick rates. On a cheap set of earphones, these can become a little mixed within all the other competing sounds and this doesn’t help with portable mp3 players playing back an already compressed music file reducing much of the range, however here the extra cash really pays off as you can hear every little detail and you don’t even require any musical knowledge to appreciate the satisfaction involved. Even enjoying a favourite piece of music which you may have listened to a thousand times before, it can be only now you first experience the subtle reverb, echo and tonal ranges. The overall balance is simply wonderful.
Technical Specifications
Drivers: Balanced Armature
Frequency Response: 15Hz ~ 16kHz
Impedance: 42 ohms
Sensitivity (1kHz): 110dB/mW
Connectivity: 3.5mm gold-plated plug
Cable length: 1.2m Oxygen-Free Copper
Product weight: 11g
Conclusion
I am really impressed with the Creative Aurvana In-Ear2 Earphones, sitting in my ear without any irritation yet offering superb sound quality from the bass through to the treble no matter what media you throw at them. At under the one hundred pounds mark they are certainly not the cheapest around, however if you are craving a great build quality and a superb listening experience for your music, podcasts or gaming, you will relish the result, the collection of extras and the superb satisfaction you will feel from day one and beyond.
[xrr rating=4.5/5]
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James is a Freelance Journalist, Copywriter, Author, Blogger & Podcaster specialising in gaming, gadgets and technology, both retro and modern.
Ever since he experienced the first controllable pixel movement on the television screen, he has been entranced by the possibilities and rewarding entertainment value generated from these metal and plastic boxes of delight. Writing hundreds of articles, including commentary and reviews on various gaming platforms, whilst also interviewing well-known industry figures for popular online publications.
Creator of the ScummVM Music Enhancement Project and host of the Game & Gadget Podcast.
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Imagine my horror when I realised that I received earphones for review! The reason for this is I absolutely hate anything sitting inside my ear, but a man has to do what a man has to do. Hesitantly I inserted each earphone into its corresponding auditory opening and amazingly all my fears of discomfort and pain evaporated.
Within the box you will find plenty of gubbins along with your purchase. First of all your sleek metal encased set of earphones and a sturdy travel case for your earphones to sit within a moulded space all nice and snug, with an area to wrap your cable around. Two sets of silicone eartips (the part that wraps around the earphone to improve comfort) in three different sizes, so you can match the correct eartip to the shape of your inner ear. This is very important as I will explain in a moment. An airplane adapter for those unscrupulous airlines that usually require you to purchase their own headphones to fit their seat’s unique audio port design and even a cleaning tool to remove any wax nasties. 
With this design, you are actually eliminating much of the ambient noise that surrounds you such as the constant whine of engines. Creative claims that up to 95% of this annoyance can be isolated, leaving just a minimal amount leaking inwards. It is quite a bold claim, especially as there is no actual technologies included that cancels out the noise, however harking back to the design again, they do act a little like ear plugs blocking out ambient disruption while still allowing your favourite tunes to remain within your ear.
I am really impressed with the Creative Aurvana In-Ear2 Earphones, sitting in my ear without any irritation yet offering superb sound quality from the bass through to the treble no matter what media you throw at them. At under the one hundred pounds mark they are certainly not the cheapest around, however if you are craving a great build quality and a superb listening experience for your music, podcasts or gaming, you will relish the result, the collection of extras and the superb satisfaction you will feel from day one and beyond.
