Considering myself an audiophile but at the same time a pauper, i could seldom find a great sounding machine in my budget. I tried my hand on Sony Mini Hi Fi component (MHC G20), Sony Cassette Walkman (FX 195....LOL i saved for it for nearly 1.5 years), a Sony Disc man (dont remember the model number 
) and lately the Sony Ericsson Walkman Phone W950......man i am so loyal to Sony :cool2:
Ok i missed few silly deals as well...i once bought an MP4 player from eBay with 1.8" screen in 1000 bucks...but the sound quality was a little better than radio reception. I dont even remember now when i last used it...
By far, i always thought that the SONY was the leader in the sound machines, of course the sound machines in budget.
As a stalwart to the sony empire, i seldom cared to deviate from the Buy Sony, Be Sony way........until i came across these devil's children......the EP ear buds.
I bought EP 630 first and spent a good 15 days with it until i found a good buyer for it and sold it at a profit....i own a EP 635 right now (same thing with a different look).
Haven't spent a lot of time with it but still, let me try to put my experience in words here, for the benefit of other friends.
[BREAK=The looks, the construction]
The Packing:
The packing of the earphones is rock solid, as expected by CREATIVE brand. The ear plugs and perfectly snugged along with the alternate sized ear buds.
The Overall Look:
The EP 630s feature a classy black matte look. Little globules topped with spongy rubbery buds, encircled in aluminium ring.....the design although sounds silly but is pretty sturdy.
The CREATIVE logo on each ear bud adds to the X-Factor.
The EP 635 has a similar construction for the buds but in white and the cabling is different.
The Rubbers:
These tiny silicon buds will glue perfectly to the aural canals and make you feel isolated from the outer world. Yes the noise cancellation these buds provide is exceptional. I am not sure if the figures speak the truth but I have read somewhere that these buds are capable of sound isolation of up to 45dB.
The Cable:
The cable in EP 630 is long ...pretty long......but looks so fragile and is pretty flexible. I use the phone with utmost care....lol i am always afraid i am gonna break it into two pieces.....
I think creative could have added more strength to this "seemingly not so important" component.
The 635 offers a neckband which is pretty solid and come in handy when you are on the move. The phone cable remains very much fixed on your shoulders and even if by chance you pull the music player, you won’t find the plugs coming out of your ears.
The cable is, thus, comparatively smaller. The plugs are designed for the people on the move, who don’t want to go into their pockets to change tracks or do some other tweaking by pushing the controls on the player; the cable just touches the waist.
Then how would you keep the player in your pocket? You wont be able to do that with that small cable :O…..exactly what CREATIVE intended to do.
You are not supposed to do that actually. The neckband features a strong lock for your player in which you can simply hang your player, just like locket. (see the picture)
For small music players like STONE, MUVO, SHUFFLE it’s a good idea…..may not be that good for bigger ones.
I am using it with my W950 whose connecter is already a meter long, so I opted for the smaller length and thus 635.
The Connecter:
I would have preferred the angled 3.5mm connector. The EP 630/635s offer straight connector. I feel that the angled ones offer better life since straight ones are more prone to being damaged at the junction.
Other Thoughts:
The 635s, being in white, are more prone to get dirty and get off colored. I am still not able to find out a way to wash the dirt off the neckband, which is more like a linen wrapped over a cable.
[BREAK=The “power†figures]
Here is the list of specifications I could collect from the CREATIVE website.
Fea Driver Units: 9mm Neodymium magnet transducer
Frequency Response: 6Hz ~ 23kHz
Impedance: 16ohms
Sensivity: 106dB
Cord Length: 1.2m (Oxygen-Free Copper Cable)
Input Plug: 3.5mm stereo gold-plated miniplug
Net Weight: 9g (without packaging) for EP 630, a little more for 635
The driver unit is big enough to fully justify the human audible range and it does that, whole heartedly.
The frequency response in the specs seems to be not so true but still if they write it there, there must be some reason.
I would comment that the sensitivity figure is pretty cogent. The phones are pretty sensitive in picking up everything to the minutest details.
[BREAK=The TESTING/Comparison Equipment]
I have the following things at my end to which I compared the sound out of these plugs:
PC: Audigy Sound Card with Creative Inspire 5200 speakers (Yes they are great for the price I paid for them)
PMP: Sony Ericsson W950i walkman phone with a SONY Ericsson HPM 82 set for sound comparison.
Sound Machine: SONY MHC G20….my old time friend, my little Hi Fi system.
Car Stereo: JVC unit with Auzo mains and Subwoofer.
(Being not a professional I think I have pretty much good number of equipments for comparison
)
[BREAK=The Findings]
Ok I admit that since the plugs (my current 635s) are little young …..man they are just out of the box, they haven’t still matured enough to their full potential.
I am still in the process of burning them (Thanks to BURNINWAVE.COM for the great burn in set up).
So what I say might not be the best they have shown me yet.
I would classify my findings on the following parameters:
Frequency Response:
I would say I was pretty impressed in this section. The earphones are indeed capable of displaying the whole audible frequency range. There is a lot of bass and “crystality†(in CREATIVEs terminology). For an average listener on stock headphones/earphones, these phones are a dramatic boost.
BASS:
The bass is pretty dynamic and feels more live. I could feel that the bass was much more clear and less muffled than my SE earphones. Although I still feel that SE phones ad more punch, but who cares when the definition in sound is missing. The creative ones offer a much clearer a deep bass. I still think that the bass will get better as the diaphragm burns in more.
AKON says “I wanna love you†and I am already saying that I love these.
HIGHS:
The highs are what I would rate as the real differentiators over the SE earphones. The highs are now so crisp and I don’t find that I miss even a single …..slightest frequency in the higher band.
But not everything is positive. I would say that phones don’t sound the best, they highs do get crackling after some point, as you go on increasing the volume. I am now never using the “HIGH TREBLE†settings on my phone (or other equipment).
However there is lot of subjectivity here. I think you can always control the sound to your taste.
MIDS:
The mids are what I would say seriously lacking, as compared to the other two. The vocals sometimes tend to be pressed down by the overwhelming bass and crispy highs.
Again there is a lot of tweaking that can obviate such argument.
The male vocals suffer seriously, female ones seem fine, though.
The sensitivity:
I would rate these earphones as the best I have ever encountered. I can very confidently rate them over the BOSE TRIPODS (Yes I have heard them …for a considerable amount of time and I didn’t find them any better than the ones I own, for 5 times the price I paid.)
The lows are definitely better than the SE ones and I could segregate the three parts of the Bass easily, with these plugs. The below 60Hz, the about 100Hz and the above 160Hz are perfectly distinctive with these phones. Its really a great feeling to hear new things you never heard before, in the same tracks.
Sound Staging:
Ok I wont recommend them greatly in this area. The stereophonic ambience is, although, better than the SE ones but still not good enough to separate the musical instruments.
The vocals feel like coming out from the center of the brain and the same goes for the lows. The highs seem to be placed a meters distance apart but still are incapable of producing the live environment.
The Power:
Whatever be the amount of sound depth, the kick is still missing. I cant just imagine an earphone to second the power of sound shown by my car stereo…..not just phones, but my PC system as well as the Mini Hi Fi component. Perhaps that may be due to the closed environment of the car, still if I expect that kind of sound from even an above average earphone, I will be expecting more. Creative EP ones don’t differ here as well.
The kick in the bass is missing. The groove is kinda fine still there is a perceptible amount of difference, I cant possibly put into words here.
Overall I would rate the equipments as following: Car Stereo>PC >EP 635>SE W950
Usage Scenarios:
I have used the phones as hands free equipment, for PC gaming, for music. Getting over to each one by one now :
This piece is great as hands free equipment because of the noise isolation. You wont miss some serious talk on the phone…..never
Ok not a great piece of earplugs for gaming; primarily because of lack of sound field reproduction capability. Even EAX isn’t much helpful in gaming with these phones.
Next is the USP of these phones, the music. These phones score dramatically high in this area as per me. These phones feature above average music reproduction quality. For the price these phones are available for, they offer a killing value.
[BREAK=The Conclusion]
The price to performance ratio offered by these earphones deserves accolades. Creative has done a great job. The strange thing is that the phones are cheaper in INDIA than in the US. Adding to it the fact that we are seeing a number of GOs being organized by various fellow members, we guys can get these even cheaper……this equipment is bound to top the list of MUST BUYs.
I am still testing the equipment and will update after I am finished achieving the target of 200 burn in hours.
BTW for the info of anybody who is deep into sound machines and specifically the personal sound devices, do visit Burn-in wave files: white noise, pink noise, frequency sweep, channel mix. I am sure the information will be helpful for all who buys a new earphone/headphone.
I think I can close my comments by giving rating these plugs at a 4 star rating on a scale of 5 for the sound, a commendable 5 out of 5 for the price to performance ratio, 3.5 for ergonomics (the wire and the connector are still lousy) and 4 out of 5 fro usability.
That sums it up to an average of more than 4 on all scales. The EP 630/635s command a worthy place in an ON BUDGET audiophile's dictionary......a definite DEAL.
Let me know what you guys have to add to this little piece of review.
PS: I owe the picture added to "TheClank, Amit Aggarwal, Delhi". I wish i had my cybershot here so that i could add more snapshots of the image.
Sorry for any typos, i hurried scribbling this note before sleeping.
) and lately the Sony Ericsson Walkman Phone W950......man i am so loyal to Sony :cool2: Ok i missed few silly deals as well...i once bought an MP4 player from eBay with 1.8" screen in 1000 bucks...but the sound quality was a little better than radio reception. I dont even remember now when i last used it...
By far, i always thought that the SONY was the leader in the sound machines, of course the sound machines in budget.
As a stalwart to the sony empire, i seldom cared to deviate from the Buy Sony, Be Sony way........until i came across these devil's children......the EP ear buds.
I bought EP 630 first and spent a good 15 days with it until i found a good buyer for it and sold it at a profit....i own a EP 635 right now (same thing with a different look).
Haven't spent a lot of time with it but still, let me try to put my experience in words here, for the benefit of other friends.
[BREAK=The looks, the construction]
The Packing:
The packing of the earphones is rock solid, as expected by CREATIVE brand. The ear plugs and perfectly snugged along with the alternate sized ear buds.
The Overall Look:
The EP 630s feature a classy black matte look. Little globules topped with spongy rubbery buds, encircled in aluminium ring.....the design although sounds silly but is pretty sturdy.
The CREATIVE logo on each ear bud adds to the X-Factor.
The EP 635 has a similar construction for the buds but in white and the cabling is different.
The Rubbers:
These tiny silicon buds will glue perfectly to the aural canals and make you feel isolated from the outer world. Yes the noise cancellation these buds provide is exceptional. I am not sure if the figures speak the truth but I have read somewhere that these buds are capable of sound isolation of up to 45dB.
The Cable:
The cable in EP 630 is long ...pretty long......but looks so fragile and is pretty flexible. I use the phone with utmost care....lol i am always afraid i am gonna break it into two pieces.....
I think creative could have added more strength to this "seemingly not so important" component.
The 635 offers a neckband which is pretty solid and come in handy when you are on the move. The phone cable remains very much fixed on your shoulders and even if by chance you pull the music player, you won’t find the plugs coming out of your ears.
The cable is, thus, comparatively smaller. The plugs are designed for the people on the move, who don’t want to go into their pockets to change tracks or do some other tweaking by pushing the controls on the player; the cable just touches the waist.
Then how would you keep the player in your pocket? You wont be able to do that with that small cable :O…..exactly what CREATIVE intended to do.
You are not supposed to do that actually. The neckband features a strong lock for your player in which you can simply hang your player, just like locket. (see the picture)
For small music players like STONE, MUVO, SHUFFLE it’s a good idea…..may not be that good for bigger ones.
I am using it with my W950 whose connecter is already a meter long, so I opted for the smaller length and thus 635.
The Connecter:
I would have preferred the angled 3.5mm connector. The EP 630/635s offer straight connector. I feel that the angled ones offer better life since straight ones are more prone to being damaged at the junction.
Other Thoughts:
The 635s, being in white, are more prone to get dirty and get off colored. I am still not able to find out a way to wash the dirt off the neckband, which is more like a linen wrapped over a cable.
[BREAK=The “power†figures]
Here is the list of specifications I could collect from the CREATIVE website.
Fea Driver Units: 9mm Neodymium magnet transducer
Frequency Response: 6Hz ~ 23kHz
Impedance: 16ohms
Sensivity: 106dB
Cord Length: 1.2m (Oxygen-Free Copper Cable)
Input Plug: 3.5mm stereo gold-plated miniplug
Net Weight: 9g (without packaging) for EP 630, a little more for 635
The driver unit is big enough to fully justify the human audible range and it does that, whole heartedly.
The frequency response in the specs seems to be not so true but still if they write it there, there must be some reason.
I would comment that the sensitivity figure is pretty cogent. The phones are pretty sensitive in picking up everything to the minutest details.
[BREAK=The TESTING/Comparison Equipment]
I have the following things at my end to which I compared the sound out of these plugs:
PC: Audigy Sound Card with Creative Inspire 5200 speakers (Yes they are great for the price I paid for them)
PMP: Sony Ericsson W950i walkman phone with a SONY Ericsson HPM 82 set for sound comparison.
Sound Machine: SONY MHC G20….my old time friend, my little Hi Fi system.
Car Stereo: JVC unit with Auzo mains and Subwoofer.
(Being not a professional I think I have pretty much good number of equipments for comparison
)[BREAK=The Findings]
Ok I admit that since the plugs (my current 635s) are little young …..man they are just out of the box, they haven’t still matured enough to their full potential.
I am still in the process of burning them (Thanks to BURNINWAVE.COM for the great burn in set up).
So what I say might not be the best they have shown me yet.
I would classify my findings on the following parameters:
Frequency Response:
I would say I was pretty impressed in this section. The earphones are indeed capable of displaying the whole audible frequency range. There is a lot of bass and “crystality†(in CREATIVEs terminology). For an average listener on stock headphones/earphones, these phones are a dramatic boost.
BASS:
The bass is pretty dynamic and feels more live. I could feel that the bass was much more clear and less muffled than my SE earphones. Although I still feel that SE phones ad more punch, but who cares when the definition in sound is missing. The creative ones offer a much clearer a deep bass. I still think that the bass will get better as the diaphragm burns in more.
AKON says “I wanna love you†and I am already saying that I love these.
HIGHS:
The highs are what I would rate as the real differentiators over the SE earphones. The highs are now so crisp and I don’t find that I miss even a single …..slightest frequency in the higher band.
But not everything is positive. I would say that phones don’t sound the best, they highs do get crackling after some point, as you go on increasing the volume. I am now never using the “HIGH TREBLE†settings on my phone (or other equipment).
However there is lot of subjectivity here. I think you can always control the sound to your taste.
MIDS:
The mids are what I would say seriously lacking, as compared to the other two. The vocals sometimes tend to be pressed down by the overwhelming bass and crispy highs.
Again there is a lot of tweaking that can obviate such argument.
The male vocals suffer seriously, female ones seem fine, though.
The sensitivity:
I would rate these earphones as the best I have ever encountered. I can very confidently rate them over the BOSE TRIPODS (Yes I have heard them …for a considerable amount of time and I didn’t find them any better than the ones I own, for 5 times the price I paid.)
The lows are definitely better than the SE ones and I could segregate the three parts of the Bass easily, with these plugs. The below 60Hz, the about 100Hz and the above 160Hz are perfectly distinctive with these phones. Its really a great feeling to hear new things you never heard before, in the same tracks.
Sound Staging:
Ok I wont recommend them greatly in this area. The stereophonic ambience is, although, better than the SE ones but still not good enough to separate the musical instruments.
The vocals feel like coming out from the center of the brain and the same goes for the lows. The highs seem to be placed a meters distance apart but still are incapable of producing the live environment.
The Power:
Whatever be the amount of sound depth, the kick is still missing. I cant just imagine an earphone to second the power of sound shown by my car stereo…..not just phones, but my PC system as well as the Mini Hi Fi component. Perhaps that may be due to the closed environment of the car, still if I expect that kind of sound from even an above average earphone, I will be expecting more. Creative EP ones don’t differ here as well.
The kick in the bass is missing. The groove is kinda fine still there is a perceptible amount of difference, I cant possibly put into words here.
Overall I would rate the equipments as following: Car Stereo>PC >EP 635>SE W950
Usage Scenarios:
I have used the phones as hands free equipment, for PC gaming, for music. Getting over to each one by one now :
This piece is great as hands free equipment because of the noise isolation. You wont miss some serious talk on the phone…..never
Ok not a great piece of earplugs for gaming; primarily because of lack of sound field reproduction capability. Even EAX isn’t much helpful in gaming with these phones.
Next is the USP of these phones, the music. These phones score dramatically high in this area as per me. These phones feature above average music reproduction quality. For the price these phones are available for, they offer a killing value.
[BREAK=The Conclusion]
The price to performance ratio offered by these earphones deserves accolades. Creative has done a great job. The strange thing is that the phones are cheaper in INDIA than in the US. Adding to it the fact that we are seeing a number of GOs being organized by various fellow members, we guys can get these even cheaper……this equipment is bound to top the list of MUST BUYs.
I am still testing the equipment and will update after I am finished achieving the target of 200 burn in hours.
BTW for the info of anybody who is deep into sound machines and specifically the personal sound devices, do visit Burn-in wave files: white noise, pink noise, frequency sweep, channel mix. I am sure the information will be helpful for all who buys a new earphone/headphone.
I think I can close my comments by giving rating these plugs at a 4 star rating on a scale of 5 for the sound, a commendable 5 out of 5 for the price to performance ratio, 3.5 for ergonomics (the wire and the connector are still lousy) and 4 out of 5 fro usability.
That sums it up to an average of more than 4 on all scales. The EP 630/635s command a worthy place in an ON BUDGET audiophile's dictionary......a definite DEAL.
Let me know what you guys have to add to this little piece of review.
PS: I owe the picture added to "TheClank, Amit Aggarwal, Delhi". I wish i had my cybershot here so that i could add more snapshots of the image.
Sorry for any typos, i hurried scribbling this note before sleeping.
