Here's one exemple of a place selling fake earphones. I'm now running a serious investigation about fake earphones on ebay, currently targetting fake Sony MDR-EX90LP in collaboration with Sony Canada. I'll soon compare one of those high quality fakes with the real earphone coming directly from Sony. I'll update the details later but for now, let it be known there's not only the plastic fakes, there's now a much higher quality fake made of metal out there.

Ebay sellers buy it there for 4.80$ and sell it back to you at a "bargain price" of 50$ ! Of course these sounds like crap. The sound is all muffled, bass are thumpy, highs are cuttoff. These is not the high end audiophile earphone it is supposed to be.

I'm not allowed to put a link but google "han yu electronic mdr-ex90lp" and you will find the info.

There is also some very missleading fake audio technica CK7 from this same Han Yu Electronic provider... I'll also investigate these soon.

Here's a few details to help you identify a fake MDR-EX90LP :

Difference number 1 : Impedance is not the same. Measured using a Fluke 73 multimeter the fake measures about 33 Ohm and the original measure 17 Ohm (this is a DC measurement, hence the small difference with Sony's spec of 16 Ohm at 1KHz). Any cheap multimeter will allow you to do this test, just measure on the connector between the metalic part close to the wire and the tip. If you read above 20 Ohm, for sure you got a fake.

Sound:
The fake plays louder but of course the sound is very bad. The real sony is not full of thumpy muddy bass and the highs are clear. The real MDR-EX90LP sounds way better than the fake. The fake is comparable to a 10$ pair of cheap earphones. The leatherette carry pouch is probably worth more than the speakers.

Smell:
Open the original box and you can smell genuine leather. The fake uses a good faux leather which doesn't smell like the real thing but looks nice nonetheless. The fake pouch is also softer and doesn't feal the same.

Touch:
The wires are rubberish on the fake, almost elastic. The original use quality, supple and non tangly wires. The ear tips are also thiner on the original and a little bit harder to put on the earphone.

Look:
The aluminum is machined on the original. The fake is probably casted into a mould. On the fake, there's tiny lines in the metal only on the side of the cylinder. On the real one, there's tiny lines everywhere, even on top of the cylinders. On the real original plastic case there's a mould marking and a "2". Not on the fake.

On my original, the Sony trademark is black but the print quality is better. I'll try to capture this detail on my macro photos later. There's also a few other visual details I'll show side by side on the pictures like the marking on the connector and the small gray band of plastic from which protrudes the golden metalic part of the connector (thicker on the fake) but for now, I said enough so you will be able to authenticate your pair. The original earphones I got directly from Sony doesn't exactly look like the Sony website picture but it is the real deal for sure.

I informed Sony about this fraud. They are opening an investigation. Of course it will be virtually impossible for them to catch the chinese manufacturer but at least, re-sellers will eventually be punished, especially because they sell it as if it is the real thing.

To get better pictures, go to wolfgangfener.livejournal.com/71103.html (sorry, ebay doesn't allow external links and their maximum picture size is too small to let you see the differences)