Dust off the portables: As I write this, Spring has sprung here in the Tri-State area. We'll soon be spending more time out of doors, and who wants to hear the swallows coming back from Capistrano when there's a whole Internet full of digital entertainment waiting to be downloaded to our handheld devices?
Of course for many, portable entertainment automatically means earbuds--or in-ear headphones--as the audio delivery device of choice. And even when people step up from the crappy little earbuds that came with their player, that aftermarket upgrade is likely another pair of earbuds. Don't get me wrong, the entire in-ear category has exploded in the past few years, continues to improve dramatically, and the compact design brings with it some distinct advantages.
But Creative wants to remind people that earbuds aren't our only choice on-the-go. Second from the top in their "Aurvana" line of premium eargear are the new Aurvana Live! Headphones. Aurvana Live! is being touted as a more stylish, higher-performance complement to either the ubiquitous iPod or Creative's own ZEN, which is what I used for most of my portable testing for this review.
I won't be reviewing The ZEN per se here and now, but pairing these two products was something of a digital entertainment reality check. Here in the '00s, the source component doesn't need to be particularly big--The ZEN audio/video player is literally the size of credit card, even though it holds an industry-leading 32 gigabytes of data, in flash memory, double that of the highest-capacity iPod touch--but maybe the headphones should be. In other words, the Aurvana Live! headphones dwarf my player in sheer size, and that's a good thing.
2 Cups = Gallons of Sound
The earcups have been shaped for ideal sound projection and sized to facilitate proper imaging, taking into account the way the entire ear works, versus earbuds which fire directly into the ear canal. Obviously this is a more natural way to listen, and one of the reasons why a good pair of over-the-ear headphones can sound more like real loudspeakers. The earcups are not so large as to be impractical or to draw unwanted attention, although they are extremely attractive with a shiny silver and black finish. They fit snugly over the ears, with adequate faux-leather-covered padding around each for both comfort and noise isolation from the outside world.
Part of me was convinced that these fancy-looking 'phones were a bit much for portable use, until I tried them on. The flexible, adjustable band helps distribute the modest weight across the top of the skull as well as the ears, for greater comfort. The inside of the band is also cushioned. At only 210 grams (less than seven-and-a-half ounces), the Aurvana Live! headphones are lighter than expected, and certainly lighter than they look. After a couple of hours nonstop use, my ears did grow a little warm and weary from the gentle physical pressure, and I felt the slight, familiar top-of-the-head ache I sometimes experience during extended movie-watching/music-listening on long airplane flights, so occasional breaks are always a good idea.
The powerful 40mm Neodymium magnet drivers are combined with extremely thin, sensitive composite bio-cellulose diaphragms. This unconventional configuration makes the Aurvana Live! highly responsive, with an organic warmth. They can also be driven hard and played loud without distorting.
Drive Hard
In fact the first and only real distortion I encountered was during the first really big explosion on the digital copy of Fox's Live Free or Die Hard, which I had transferred to The ZEN, and to be fair that was at maximum volume. At almost all other times I was impressed with the excellent detail and even the directionality of this busy movie soundtrack. This is not true "surround" obviously, but it does impart a definite sense of spaciousness that is filled with fine details and more than a few virtual "behind the head" effects.
The well-engineered cups do successfully block out a lot of ambient noise. At normal listening levels, sound leakage to the outside world is minimal, a boon to both my loved ones and total strangers on a train, for example.
Aurvana Live! is also MP3's new best friend. These headphones deliver a solid, meaty thump to the drums in "Personal Jesus (Pump Mix)" off of Depeche Mode's maxi-single, a favorite demo track. Ditto the "(Acoustic)" version, which also showed a respect for the subtlety of the guitar in the high frequencies. I also gained a new appreciation for the very faint vocals that accompany what could during lesser reproduction be mistaken for instrumental-only portions of this track. So as an old-school alternative to earbuds, these headphones succeed unequivocally.
The included microfiber travel pouch also makes a handy polishing cloth to keep that just-off-the-showroom-floor luster.
Their performance is also robust enough that when we're home listening to real gear, we can most assuredly hear the difference between compact discs and compressed audio. Using the quarter-inch adapter, I plugged them directly into a dedicated living room CD player, the harman/kardon CDR 30, and was immediately taken by the fullness of the higher-quality signal, the purer, deeper soundfield, and the increased dynamic range, especially on a well-produced record like The Beatles' LOVE.
Final Thoughts
I'd be exaggerating if I said that these lightweight headphones should be the go-to pair for serious home listeners, but their versatility between sedentary and active use pleasantly surprised me. While the mere thought of wearing anything around my ears in the hot months ahead initially brought beads of sweat to my Italian brow, the comfort and sound of Aurvana Live! soon put any misgivings to rest. And balmy earlobes are a small price to pay for the major sonic upgrade.
Where to Buy
Manufacturer's Specifications
What's in the Box?
Manufacturer's Contact Information:
Creative Labs, Inc.
1901 McCarthy Boulevard
Milpitas, CA 95035
ph: (800) 998-1000
website: http://www.creative.com/
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