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Some Dishonest Chinese Manufacturers Are Counterfeiting High-End Headphones. A Story About Fake Headphones.

MIJA said:
The real question is whether we can actually call them counterfeits, they use the same drivers. If you didn't know, the drivers are made in China. Companies like Abyss and ZMF only designed the frames, the designs and technology itself isn’t really theirs. That’s why you always see “patent pending” on their products.
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Without knowing more about the background, it's impossible to say.

If the driver wasn't developed by JPS Labs at all, but simply purchased cheaply, then the original price would be outrageous anyway.

If they developed it themselves and have the components manufactured cheaply in China, even though they suggest to the buyer that it comes from the USA, then they only have themselves to blame.
It's no secret that large quantities are repeatedly produced that bypass the customer/manufacturer. As an American or European manufacturer, you have to know this; it's a basic requirement for doing business in China.

The third possibility is that they have a headphone model from the Chinese manufacturer, or a modification of it, produced for themselves.
What would then be the clone?

The fourth possibility, and one that manufacturers can never rule out, is that someone independently copies a product without using the original manufacturer's existing resources. That's unfortunate, but is often encouraged by a completely excessive selling price. This is the actual definition of a clone, but it doesn't say anything about whether the clone is worse, better, or equivalent.
 
Roland68 said:
Without knowing more about the background, it's impossible to say.

If the driver wasn't developed by JPS Labs at all, but simply purchased cheaply, then the original price would be outrageous anyway.

If they developed it themselves and have the components manufactured cheaply in China, even though they suggest to the buyer that it comes from the USA, then they only have themselves to blame.
It's no secret that large quantities are repeatedly produced that bypass the customer/manufacturer. As an American or European manufacturer, you have to know this; it's a basic requirement for doing business in China.

The third possibility is that they have a headphone model from the Chinese manufacturer, or a modification of it, produced for themselves.
What would then be the clone?

The fourth possibility, and one that manufacturers can never rule out, is that someone independently copies a product without using the original manufacturer's existing resources. That's unfortunate, but is often encouraged by a completely excessive selling price. This is the actual definition of a clone, but it doesn't say anything about whether the clone is worse, better, or equivalent.
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What I was able to find is that a white-label company located in Canton Province is the one that manufactures the drivers. And not only for Abyss and ZMF, but for several other brands as well. From what I read, if you pay a fee, you can get exclusivity for a specific driver, and they’ll only sell it to your company. If you don’t pay for the exclusive rights, the drivers are available for general sale. That’s why you can find the Atrium and Verité drivers everywhere. Likewise, the Caldera driver was available for a while, but I imagine ZMF paid for the exclusive usage rights.
 
MIJA said:
I have a pair of legit Abyss 1266, paired with a DIY amplifier and resistor network (as you know, they’re almost impossible to drive to their full potential). Recently, I had the chance to compare the clones with the real ones. I’m ashamed to say this, but the clones are on the same level as the originals, their timbre is even a bit more accurate. The Abyss tends to get slightly lost when many strings are playing at once. Other than that, the bass, detail, transients; everything I love about the Abyss was there. A friend has wanted to buy my Abyss for a while, and I always said no, but I accepted his offer a few days ago, and the clone is already on its way. It feels crazy to hold on to a $7k pair when I can replace it with one that costs 800 bucks.
I sold my calderas for the exact same reason, chinese clones are taking over the industry. Spending more than one grand in a pair of headphones is starting to sound like crazy talk.
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You mind posting photo where you have these both? I want to believe you that I could snug 1266 performance for $800 but reality of that might or might not vary in internet.
 
My JVC headphones cost me €14 in the local supermarket and they're quite good enough for the 10 minutes per year that I use them.
 
Time to revive the post with a consumer-type perspective.
Skipping what you think about XK Audio or what they did in the past, I managed to snatch a pair a while ago for 900 USD of XK Audio Serene (from Aliexpress). Now I see they are more like 1.7k USD on AliExpress, so apparently their value went up as well. They claim it is basically made to be like Susvara, but I never saw they claimed “this is Susvara” in branding.
I wanted headphones with such FR, and this seemed to be a fit for the ears, but most importantly for the budget. I mean, look at those FRs below and compare 950 USD, vs 8k USD headphones.
First thing, they are both produced in China, and as far as I know both are sourcing drivers, or driver related parts, from Chinese sources anyway. I think they developed these Serene headphones, apparently with the same or very similar drivers as Susvara. Frequencies match super close. And as far as I know, there is no such thing as counterfeiting a frequency response or having inspired design from different company (think of cover songs I guess).

I mean as a user of headphones wanting such headphones, buying over "legit" site like AliExpress, I do not understand all the rage around this specific case. I understand the part where they pretend to be some brand and literally copying whole design. That part is dishonest, of course, and I do not support it.
Perhaps they stopped with that, I guess, didint notice anything lately (perhaps for western buyers - maybe there is on taobao but that is chinese market and they have different rules concering these stuff anyway)? I do not know.
But man, look at the FR comparison graphs and the humongous price difference. As an audio consumer this is a freaking no brainer. I am extremely happy with my Serene, they are the real shit.
Good and sturdy build and all in all as a consumer (contrary to the original post) I can only recommend XK audio and Serene and for anyone wanting to save a buck to explore what they offer (unless it is literally a counterfeit - I do not support that).

I think XK audio should receive more praise and advertisement around products like Serene because it is legit good product. Maybe this could push them more into the territory to create something on their own, as obviously they have the capabilities to tune stuff and source good drivers.

P.S. They are (or at least my model) super duper difficult to drive. The cheapest all around thing that I have found to actually drive this properly is 22W (16ohm) output capable Topping A900 that I use to power them (I tried 8W and 12W @16ohm amp, but it wasn't giving enough headroom - which is amazing how hard at least my model is to drive).

P.P.S For anyone comparing batches or models of Serene. I dont know is this is serial number or production number or is it designation of the model. But only thing I have designated on them besides XK-AUDIO logo is No. 0017 (maybe someone can confirm do they have same No. on their Serene to confirm what is true regarding serial number, production number or just model designation). BTW nowhere on the headphones is written "Serene" - this is only implied with the advertisement from the seller (and the design of the headphones).


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I had Serene, very good headphone.
When you consider price - it's better than Susvara.
 
ObjectiveSubjectivist said:
I had Serene, very good headphone.
When you consider price - it's better than Susvara.
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In the context that there are not a lot of reviews of these cans, why did you "had" them instead of still having them?

For example, for me, the only con is if I really want some rumble or bass it is impossible to EQ it, it literally can only be done by making a leak/port to really "feel" the bass to slap or rumble.
By leak/port, I mean creating (lifting headphones) 1-2 cm at the bottom part of the ear.
I always thought, well, if I ever want some more fun and bass, I can EQ it, but then I noticed I was wrong. I have never had any experience like that with the headphones before, so it was an interesting learning experience.
 
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I'm now very worried that my 2 sets of sub-£20 IEMS might be fakes too. They sound excellent to me, and both with good ASR tests, but what if they should have been much cheaper as fakes and I've been ripped off?
 
Nailer said:
In the context that there are not a lot of reviews of these cans, why did you "had" them instead of still having them?

For example, for me, the only con is if I really want some rumble or bass it is impossible to EQ it, it literally can only be done by making a leak/port to really "feel" the bass to slap or rumble.
By leak/port, I mean creating (lifting headphones) 1-2 cm at the bottom part of the ear.
I always thought, well, if I ever want some more fun and bass, I can EQ it, but then I noticed I was wrong. I have never had any experience like that with the headphones before, so it was an interesting learning experience.
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I sold all "expensive" stuff.
Other hobbies are not less important ;)

And I use all my headphones with eq.
So bass was not a problem, I just added bass shelf
 
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