There has been a change of name for the Zen Aurvana, which is now the Aurvana In-Ear, to make way for the rest of the product line (see box).  However, they are indeed the same set of earphones as the previous version.  Note that they also come in white as seen on Creative’s website but are only available in some countries.

Everything is included

Travel case, airplane adaptor, three sizes of tips for all types of ears and a cleaner…All of these accessories suggest we are in the high end.  And at almost 100 Euros, users like to find things other than just a pair of earphones in the package.



Make sure you have the right tips for your ears

Given the in-ear aspect of this product, our first experience was unpleasantly surprising.  The sound was very aggressive with a lack of basses and mediums.  THEN  we changed the earbuds.  Better adapted to our physiology, we could now feel their full potential.  However, basses still lacked a bit of  strength and high mediums and highs eclipsed the lower mediums giving a false sense of precision.  The result is that the overall sound tends to be rather dry.  But despite all of this, we have to say that we enormously appreciated the quality of sound reproduction which was much superior than most of its competitors.

Isolation that needs to be improved

The Aurvana’s cables aren’t isolated from the headphones and this causes a rubbing that can be heard.   Unfortunately, this is a defect that is more or less present on all in-ear headphones.  In addition, we found the cables to be a little too rigid especially for a product in this price range.  You may recall that the Aurvana is sold for a recommended retail price of 99 Euros.

In conclusion, these are quality earphones that will please listeners who like a more dry or neutral sound.  For those who like good basses and lower mediums, other models offer better.