Creative Labs EP-630/A Noise Isolating Earphones (Black)

The creative headphones are designed better, and cost £5 less (always seems the way with Sony). Perfect length cable for pocket or bag, nice weight, very comfortble to wear. Cable feels stronger too.

I got fed up with Sony's ridiculously sized cable, but really loved the sound (actually I'm convinced that phones at 5 x the price of these wouldn't sound better). I spent a long time testing these headphones, comparing them with the Sony's, and honestly couldn't tell the difference in sound. I really listend for it, absolutely sure that there must be something. But no. Excellent bass, deep, strong, rich (etc). Very clear trebles, and everything in between.

The best sound is achieved by choosing the right sized cups for you. You get 3 sizes, and once you have the right one, you'll know. It might take a little while to get used to it feeling as though you have your fingers in your ears, and being able to hear everything internally, like breathing and walking, and zipping up your jacket ... but it tunes out after just a little while, and you never really notice it again. I sometimes put them in my ears with no music on just so I don't have to hear people's inane mobile phone conversations. It's wonderful, and makes your train journey calmer, and more relaxing, just for that.

Highly recommended over the Sony's, over any others in fact. The tech specifications are identical, the quality is absolutely excellent, the price is ... shocking! I used to recommend the Sony's, but now I recommend these to everyone I know now.

Get 'em - you'll love 'em.


EP-630 Earphones. The best for the money   December 29, 2005
279 out of 285 found this review helpful

I've tried a lot of headphones over the years being a pro musician, but these have 3 major plus points:
1). They have excellent freq response - deep bass, clear treble, a very good overall sound.
2). They keep out much of the noise going on around you. This isn't total isolation (for that you are going to need something like the Shure E2c, or Etymotic ER6 and the price that goes with them!). This has the huge hearing health benefit of enabling you to turn the volume of your player right down because you are not fighting with other sounds. Better for the ears (and those around you who don't want to hear your music).
3). The price. Other models from top brands like Sony, Phillips, Senheiser etc. in my opinion are not as good - yet they cost more.

Down side? In my view they are somewhat delicate compared to 'closed shell' plastic models. So don't expect to stuff them in the bottom of your bag and not to damage them eventually. It would have been good for Creative to supply a little case to avoid this.


Creative EP-630 Earphones   July 18, 2006
RageofKlugman (Rochester, Kent)
55 out of 56 found this review helpful

I thought I'd add my tuppence worth as I've owned my EP-630 earpohnes for well over a year now and am still extremely pleased with them. I've not had any problems with them and would strongly recommend them to anyone.

Pros:

-They block out background noise almost completely so they are ideal for use on public transport.

-They don't leak any sound, so when you're using them the rest of the world doesn't have to suffer your abysmal taste in music.

-The sound quality is excellent. Not only can the earphones handle very high volumes without distorting, they also produce a very full bass sound.

-The earbuds are surprisingly comfortable once you get used to them and they won't randomly fall out.

-They're a very reasonable price.

Cons:

-Hmmmm... Well, I guess the wire is bit long, which can very occasionally be a nuisance.

-I wouldn't wear them while eating crisps. They amplify the crunching sounds in your head alarmingly.


Better than I thought   February 18, 2006
S. Grenyer (Hampshire, UK)
293 out of 303 found this review helpful

Just bought a new MP3 player after losing my IPOD shuffle on a business trip. Thought I'd buy a set of earphones and was looking for something not too expensive (certainly not more than the MP3 player to go with it) and one which would help cut out some of the background noise. I'd tried regular ear phones with noise cancellation gadgetry and found the sound to be not very good. Read some reviews on the Shure E2C but thought these were a bit expensive as I didn't know if I'd get along with sticking these things in my ear. Decided to go with the creative Ep-630 as they were affordable and had good reviews.

My first impressions when using them were truly awful. No bass, tinny sound, worse than the headphones the MP3 came with AND the darn things kept falling out...........

THEN I figured out how to fit them properly......WHAT A DIFFERENCE.

I'm a bit of a sound nut but for the money these sound great AND they cut out a lot of the background noise such as car traffic when I'm walking the dog. Will be on a plane at the weekend for 10hrs so these should help with the noise there as well.

How do you fit them.

Well first of all try the various sizes of rubber earbuds until you find the right size for your ear. It took me several goes.

When fitting try the following;

Take your left hand over your head to grab top of your right ear with the left hand's fingers.

Pull the top of right ear up to open up your ear canal

Put your ear phone in while you hold up your ear as above.

While you hold in the ear phone, let go the ear held by left fingers.

Keep pressing the earphone in place with your right hand for a few seconds to let everything settle down as this help the ear "grip" the earphone bud and hold it in place

Do the same thing for the other side .... just use the right hand over the head instead..

If its a good fit you can tell as if you tap the earphone (gently) it feels as if the noise is inside your head. You need to get a good seal to give the right sound with decent bass.

I thought I was fairly intelligent but it took a search on the internet to find these instructions (they're not mine then). Now fitted correctly I'm very impressed.

Would I buy these again......you bet. Highly recommended


great great phones   March 11, 2006
Mr. Bj Chambers
18 out of 18 found this review helpful

I bought these, seemingly like every one else to replace the factory inpacks that came with my mp3 player (useless). And like everyone else my previous experience of in-ear earphones was Sony’s (which I thought were the bees, until…). To get the best sound, you have to get the right fit, and then they are great. Pull on the upper tip of your ear lobe, as you slide them in, doing this you should get a good comfortable seal. Once inserted properly the earbud uses the acoustics of your ear to produce the high quality sound, particularly bass, that they are known for.
Initially I found that these earbuds seemed to over represent treble, with a clear bass and little in-between. However after forty or so hours of use they seem to be well blown in and now present a full spectrum of sound at all stages. And so it goes, as with more use they just seem to get better and better. I had always been convinced that over the ear phones gave sound that just couldn’t be beaten. Now I’m not so sure. These ear buds do have an exceptionally wide frequency response compared to just about anything out there. All the stats add up to make these, on paper at least the equal of much more expensive ‘phones. Another plus is that you are driving a very small speaker, so that’s good news for your battery life. They look good too, and I wanted phones that weren’t white plastic mugger magnets. Is it me or are white phones starting to look dated and cheap?
So far that adds up to a five star review, it’s just that… the cable is too rubbery. It’s that almost sticky feeling rubber, so that are susceptible to pulling on your ears, and this contributes to what I think is their greatest downside. Although this applies to all in-ear earphones. Did you ever make a tin can telephone? You know, the two tin cans connected by a piece of string. Well these phones seem to transfer sound the same way. You can hear a muffled rumble as the cable slides against your clothes, walking downstairs produces a muffled fut-fut-fut. I wonder if it’s the same with the super priced etymotic’s or shure’s, the earphones that cost 4x what my player cost? Whatever, it’s not intrusive. Most of the time you’ll just be enjoying your much much more