Digital Trends

Creative Aurvana Live

April 1st, 2008 | by Mike Kobrin

Features and Design

The Aurvana Live's earcups are done up in high-gloss black with chrome (plastic) for the Creative logo and trim. The earpads and adjustable headband are covered in very soft black leatherette. The earcups swivel, but not much -- 30 degrees each way side-to-side and 135 degrees vertically -- which means they won't fold or lay flat.

The nearly 4-foot cables connect to both earcups and are stiff enough to prevent tangling. The 1/8th-inch gold-plated plug is straight, which is less than ideal if your headphone jack is on the side of your MP3 player (i.e., the SanDisk Clip) or phone (i.e., the Nokia N95). The package includes a quarter-inch adapter, a 5-foot extension cable, and a soft microfiber drawstring bag that doubles as a cleaning cloth for the smudge-prone earcups.

Our overall impression is that although some might think they look like cheap gaming headphones, the craftsmanship is solid. The cables don't seem like they'll wear out quickly, and they're not excessively long. They're not particularly portable since they don't fold up, but they fit easily around our neck, and with the headband extended all the way the earcups didn't mash into our face.

Comfort

At about 7.4 ounces, the Aurvana Live are noticeably heavier than Bose's lightweight TriPorts, but this doesn't cause any discomfort. The pads fit all the way around our somewhat large ears, with the fabric covering the inside of the cup smushing our outer ears slightly. They're very comfortably padded and the headband tension is just right, but they did make us feel a little closed in compared with the spacious-feeling TriPorts, which give our ears plenty of wiggle room.

After about 20 minutes, the headphones really seemed to disappear while we sat at our desk. After about an hour and a half of listening, our ears were pretty warm, but that happens with any closed-back headphones because they don't let your ears breathe. The upside is that the Aurvana Live blocks out plenty of noise from New York City subway trains just by covering your ears, and very little sound leaks out.

Image Courtesy of Creative