Customer Reviews

Creative Aurvana Live! Headphones

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sound quality is very important to me so I've auditioned many headphones over the years. After trying a set of Creative Aurvana Live! headphones, I found them to be a solid performer. They easily hold they're own against other sets in the mid-level price range.

I often listen to music for hours at a time so comfort is important. Because of their light weight and soft cushions, the headphones were easy to wear for extended periods of time. The ear pads rested comfortably on my ears without putting too much pressure on them.

I wanted to make sure these were appropriately burned in before writing this review, so after approximately 50 hours of listening, I can say the sound reproduction of these was great. At first, the highs were a bit shrill and the bass a bit muddy, but once the drivers were burned in, they produced a balanced sound. The bass was not too boomy, the vocals stood nicely in the foreground, and the highs were clear. The soundstage was not as broad as I would have liked but this was probably due to the closed design. However, because of the closed design, the headphones are able to prevent you from disturbing anyone. This is very helpful when listening in bed while you're other half is asleep.

Even though the headphones are mostly constructed out of plastic, they still feel sturdy. There is a shiny black outer casing on the ear cups that give these a sleek look and feel. The cord is pliable and fairly short, so when your portable music player is in your pocket, any extra length of cord won't get tangled up. There is an included extension cord which is nice. These headphones also come with a small tote bag and a 1/4" stereo plug for use with a home receiver, simple but thoughtful additions to the product.

The Creative Aurvana Live! headphones are an impressive set at this price. I'd highly recommend them.

Let me start by saying I am totally happy with these headphones. They are ultra-comfortable, sound quality is nice, and they look great. Keep in mind these are not professional quality headphones. The sound quality is pretty good, just not quite the level of the Sony studio monitor headphones. That said, if you just want some headphones to use for gaming or casual music listening then this kit is more than adequate. There is some bass, a nice range of sound and it is generally crisp and clear. I sampled a number of different electronic genres ranging from ambient to trance to dubstep, and it all sounded good. I also played some different games using these headphones and they hold up. They are also probably the most comfortable headphones I have ever worn, and that says a lot. Even wearing glasses they do not put any pressure on my ears at all. They are also pretty light and unobtrusive. The cord is rather short (which I like). Works well if you have a jack on your desk within arms length but it comes with an extension cord if necessary. Really I don't think I could be more happy with them. If you are producing audio you may want to look at the higher end, but if you are just a casual user you can't go wrong with these headphones.

From my husband: "I opened the box with the ear phones and told my wife that I would just be a few minutes. I told her that I wanted to try them for a few minutes. I put the ear phones on, plug it into my IPAD and ITunes and planned to briefly explore the sound with a wide variety of music (country, folk, movie themes, Latin hymns, great masterpieces, holiday music and the list went on). Three hours later she nudged me and said that a few minutes was now 3 hours. These Ear Phone are the most comfortable I have ever tried, I do not feel them when they are on. The sounds they produce are rich and when I listen to orchestras I could clearly hear the different instruments. I am not a musician so forgive me for my layman explanation-with pieces where you have a sound slowly build up and then become the main sound in a piece, you can clearly hear the instruments that are building the sound. There is no static or distortions. Now when I put them on my wife waves goodbye because I will be absorbed in the music for hours."

PORTABILITY: These are surprisingly light, making it easy to take around with you. Also, the handy carrying bag gives you a pair of draw strings to loop your hand through for easy of carrying.

CORD LENGTH: At first I was concerned the cord was a little too short to have the mp3 player in my pocket while wearing the headphones, but it was just enough. If I needed a bit more length on the cord, they were nice enough to provide a 3-4ft extension cord. Nice!

COMFORTABILITY: I have the Sennheiser HD 558 Audiophile Headphones with an Internal Surround Reflector which are fantastic headphones...and they better be for the price. What Sennheiser chooses to do is make the headphone opening large enough to encompass your ear with room to spare around it. Nothing is touching your ears for the most part. These Creative headphone sit on your ears, but are so well padded that they also very comfortable. With this style in having material actually touching your ears it gets hot and sweaty after a couple of hours, or sooner if the weather is warmer. Otherwise surprisingly comfortable.

ACCESSORIES: You get the carrying bag, the cord extender I mentioned earlier and you get the adapter to plug into your stereo system. I really appreciated these inexpensive but necessary accessories already in the package!

SOUND: When comparing them to the Sennheiser these headphones were surprisingly good for all types of music. It handled highs & lows well, and had a good handling of treble and bass sounds. My only complaint is when I cranked up the volume very loud (you know you do it too), the sound seemed to distort slightly and was in tones that were uncomfortable to listen too. At the same loud volume the Sennheiser handled the sound better...but they better since they are a more expensive unit.

EXERCISING: Size does matter as they are smaller than the Sennheiser, but still too big for use while doing most cardio exercising. I still prefer the style of the Sony MDR-J10 h.ear Headphones with Non-Slip Design (Black) when exercising as I can clip one ear on my collar if I need to hear things (such as traffic while riding my bike) or just knowing the clip style has less bounciness when running and other activities. Also if your headphone get wet from sweat the cheap stuff is okay if it gets ruined vs. a near $100 headphones like these.

OVERALL:
It's rare I'd pump the volume so loud that I'd distort the sound, but I do like listening to it super loud sometimes. The other 98% of the time these headphones performed admirably. The fact the price has already come down $10-$15 since I got mine a couple of weeks ago, is even nicer for new purchasers. I leave my Sennheiser at home and take these with me everywhere now. Great portable headphones.

I am surprisingly pleased with these and find the sound to be very nice overall. In addition, the sound isolation is very good. I couldn't hear a word my wife said to me from three feet away while music was playing.

At first I was going to say they seemed muddy in the mids, but then after spending a little time playing with my equalizer I found that I just had an equalizer setting that wasn't favorable to them. For most music the rock preset ended up being the most well rounded. For a bit of rap music, I turned on the SRS WOW effects and got a very strong bass response. I would call the bass accurate and tight, but not at all boomy. If you are wanting really boomy, over-exaggerated head phones I don't know that these are for you.

So why the four stars? Well, I actually like slightly exaggerated bass which took a little bit of coaxing on these. This will be a personal preference though, because if you like accurate, tight bass, you'll probably like these. Other than that, despite the headset feeling light with VERY soft ear pads, they did feel a pretty warm to me.

I have a pair of similarly priced Sennheiser headphones and I have to say that the sound on these is favorable over them. Oh one thing I kind of like is that the cord attached to the headset is short. It is intended for being used with a iPod/Phone/Mp3 player worn on you, and is nice when you don't want 12 feet of cord dangling around you. However, it comes with an extension that is easy to use giving them a longer reach.

I bought these for on-the-go use and their size/form factor has always fit the role pretty well.
Clamping force is low, but stable enough to wall around in without trouble. Glasses-wearer friendly.
The pads for the ear cups are extremely supple after a little wear time. Great comfort among the headphones I've tried.

Build Quality: Plastic construction with metal headband. The headband is wrapped in a high quality pleather pad(not the stiff unnatural feeling cheap stuff). The band is somewhat thin and may create a little bit of pressure on you, but I've never actually experienced this, only conjecture. Cables are a slightly thicker gauge then normal, very soft rubber surround them. The proper strain relief is present. So personal testament to the strain relief, I've managed to actually hook my leg into the Y-cable split and rip the cups off the headband without doing any damaged to the cable. Note: the headband took no damage during this incident either, I just popped the cups back in and tightened the screws that were forced loose.

Sound: Alright, here the important part. The driver in these is the Foster OEM one shared with the Denon D1001.
If you don't know already, the D1001 was an extremely popular hit in the budget/beginner audiophile community
that enjoyed a pretty lengthy reign. The CAL! retains most of the sound signature at a cheaper price.

Bass: boomy, but also a bit flabby and uncontrolled. General consumers won't have any complaints here, and this actually
lends the CAL! to be suited for a lot of Hip-Hop/R&B.

Mids: present and slightly forward. Male vocals are a commendable effort, but something is lost from female artists. The
mids are generally praised, but I've heard better so complaints arise.

Highs: Somewhat absent in my book, but the CAL! is a darker (bass oriented) headphone, you'll lose a little bit of energy
and perceived clarity, but again it isn't something you would normally pick out without experiencing high budget stuff.

Overall, an extremely recommended buy. One of the best values under $100. Don't miss out!

I bought this headphone about 2 years ago. Very comfortable to wear, still working well, suitable for most of my favorite genres (Pop, New age, Musical instruments, even some heavy metal). Many of my colleagues tried my headphone and they all agreed that it could produce very good sound.
Best choice at this rate.

The Creative Aurvana Live! Headphones are an acceptable quality mid-range set of headphones. They are surprisingly comfortable when used for extended periods of time. I was able to wear them for as long as six hours with no hearing fatigue or physical discomfort. I wore them with and without eyeglasses and a nasal canula looped behind my ears. I did not experience any additional discomfort when wearing either or both of these devices. Creative seems to have found, at least for my ears, an ideal combination of padding and pressure. Over the years, I've moved away from full-cover headphones owing to physical discomfort.

These headphones come with a carrying pouch, an extension cable, and a standard-size plug adapter. I would prefer if the adapter was a screw-on device such as came on some other sets of headphones I've owned; it's less likely to be lost, forgotten, or misplaced.

Sound-wise, these headphones are good for their price range. When I compared them to a set of B&O A8 earphones, the difference in sound quality was immediately apparent. The B&O earphones, however, have an MSRP two-and-a-half times that of the Creative Aurvana Live! Headphones and generally sell for up to twice as much.

The Creative Aurvana Live! Headphones are a good choice if you're looking for a full-ear headphone that can be worn for hours at a time. I think they would be especially useful for things like late-night TV and video viewing if you're trying to not disturb your household or close neighbors.

These Creative Aurvana Live! headphones are VERY comfortable. I wear glasses and usually use earbuds so the softness of the foam and artificial leather on the ears and headband was a nice surprise. They weigh about seven ounces and stay over the ears securely but without an unpleasant squeezing sensation. They are also attractive, mostly black and chromed plastic.

I have some much more expensive headphones that are open but these are closed and they do a very good job of blocking out noise, which is important to me. The next time I fly, these are the ones I will take to use on the airplane.

The sound quality is very good, well-balanced, not too heavy on the bass. I tested them on different kinds of music and now these are my favorite for opera, which I usually listen to at home.

The plug is designed to be used with a hi-fi system but there is an adapter for using them with an mp3 player. The wire is about 5 feet long and there is an extension cord about the same length just in case.

Overall, these are nice headphones and seem to be an excellent value considering some earbud-style headphones cost about the same. I am now convinced that both types are useful at different times, although I doubt I will be wearing them on the subway like I see so many young men doing.

Although I am unable to confirm it, I think "Aurvana" is a portmanteau of aural + nirvana = aurvana.

These headphones sit right in the sweet spot, for me, of size and sound. I seem to go between bulkier, heavier headsets for home and then earphones for when I am out and about. These headphones can do both for me. They are light and almost compact - yet still a full-size, on ear headset. So, they are small enough to easily lug around or wear for extended periods of time. I use them both at home and at the office, taking them to and fro. The sound fidelity is very good and although it isn't at the level of some other higher-end sets, it also isn't as big, heavy or expensive. I am exceedingly pleased with these.