With in-ear headphones all the rage now, it didn't surprise us when audio-centric Creative Labs joined the fun with the launch of its own Aurvana in-ear earphones. These AU$130 "anti-iPod black" headphones are extremely lightweight at just 13g and low profile, and they sound quite good. That's if they fit in your ears properly -- some in the CNET offices had earholes that are too small for the Aurvana.
You get two pairs of three different-size silicon earbuds of the rubbery kind. Though we prefer foam tips, they fit quite well, passively blocking ambient noise (by 90 percent, according to Creative) and delivering clean, balanced sound. Indeed, high-end sounds come through crystal clear. The Aurvanas have a frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz and a sensitivity of 115dB and 20dB at noise blocking. Bass is surprisingly solid, and overall performance is good. In fact, they're as good as a pair of AU$180 Shure E2cs, which are bulkier than the Aurvanas. While we prefer the sound of the AU$300 Shure E3cs, the Aurvanas are less than half the price.
It all comes down to comfort and sound, and the Aurvanas rock if you don't mind spending a AU$130 for your headphones. The 1.2m cable doesn't easily get tangled and the earbuds are so light that you can let one hang out of your ear if you need to monitor the outside world. They would match up quite nicely with the recently released Zen Digital Media Player.
The Aurvanas include a Y-junction slider for optimal cable management, and they ship with the mentioned earbuds, an airplane adapter, an ear-gunk cleaning tool, and a travel case.
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