Timbre Headphones got CDR-Kinged!

Timbre Headphones, the first Filipino-made Headphone brand as you may heard of is now available in stores. Released just this December 2011, this Filipino-flavored headphone Timbre Gitara comes in two colors, the black with red printed design and the white with gold printed design. See the pictures below.

  

Just this day February 16, 2012, I went to CD-R King to buy a new headphone. I decided to buy the headphone with the detachable flat cord and the design somehow shaped like Dr. Dre's Beats studio. This comes in three colors, red, blue and green. It costs 320 pesos, and it is somehow expensive compared to their other headphone models which only costs 180. But because of its detachable flat cord design like the one's with the Beats, I was intrigued and I decided to give it a try. When I got home, I was excited about its performance and sound quality so I tested it right-away in my good old PC. I played songs with extreme bass to know how good it is and a couple of my favorite songs. And it is a good headphone after all despite it's price and design. Below are pics from CD-R King of the headphone I bought. I got the blue one.

Three in the morning, February 17, 2012, I came across a blog entry which features A Filipino-Made Earphone and I read about it. Then I found out while looking at the pictures of the headphone that what I bought earlier was a pirated version of Timbre Gitara. The headphones may not look the same in their design but the shape, the packaging, and the specs are identical. See comparison below:

TIMBRE GITARA Technical Specifications

• Loudhailer: 40 mm (Diameter)
• Frequency Range: 20-20,000 MHz
• Sensitivity: 110 dB
• Impedance: 32 Ohm S.P.L. (at 1 KHz)
• Maximum Power Input: 100 mW
• Plug (mm): 3.5 mm stereo
• Cable Length: ~ 1.5 ml
• Accessory: Volume Control

CDR-KING Headphone HP-001-HUA

• Loudhailer diameter: 40mm
• Frequency range: 20KHz-20000Hz
• Sensitivity: 110dB
• Impedance: 32 ohms
• Cable length: 1.5m
• Maximum power input: 100mw
• Plug type: 3.5 mm stereo jack

You may not see the Volume Control in the CDR-King's specs, but the cable has volume control. After seeing this, It came to my mind that the Timbre Gitara Headphone may also sound like this because their specs are the same. But it's an early conclusion without testing both headphones (and nothing beats the original).

I thought they only did this to the Beats Headphones, because they also have their version of Dr. Dre's Beats Solo and PowerBeats (the clip-on version of Beats Tour). The difference is that the logo in their version is not letter 'b' but 'c', and the logo is not engraved but only a sticker, all which make it look funny.

If CDR-King is good at copying product designs, I wish they would also copy the products quality and reliability. If not, it's better for them to just create their own.

CDR-King Headphone: http://www.cdrking.com/?mod=products&type=view&sid=12009&main=167
Timbre http://www.tjsdaily.com/2011/11/timbre-headphones-first-philippine.html
Timbre Headphones: http://www.timbreheadphones.com/