Why So Cheap? The Story Of Chi-Fi Earphones (Part 1)

A story in 3 parts. This is part 1.

When Doc invited me to apply for reviewer position at audioreviews.org, the first thing came to my mind was the “reviewer market” already saturated with many talents… I am just a nobody… No sane-minded audiophile or earphone enthusiast will want to read my opinions…

Then something struck me. Hey! I know the Chi-Fi industry better than most people, why not I write about insider’s news? I am Chinese, therefore I can speak their language and understand if they pissed off when I dig too deep into their shit holes. Furthermore, we Chinese people rather keep options to ourselves to avoid unnecessary conflicts.

Okay, where should I begin… Mmmm, 2009 sounds good! After all, that was the year after the big hoo-ha Beijing Olympics Games. Everybody still enjoying their “honeymoon” periods. After tasted sweet fruits in Beijing, the Mainland Chinese wanted more “international presence”.

But what has this got to do with earphones? Plenty! You see, Mainland Chinese are known to be extremely creative and resourceful. They produce some of the most innovative products by cloning popular international brands; audio products are not spared… Remember IE80 clones? They made and sold tons of those. And I must say some of them sounded quite good (at least 80% close to the real thing). Beats by Dre was another popular brand that had been cloned till death. However, the Chinese know in order to gain “international presence” they cannot sell clones to the West. Most westerners will despise the idea due to copyright and patent laws. Now they hit a roadblock, or did they?

Mmmm… Afraid not! Chinese people are smart. They can always work around for a solution. How about replicating the sound of popular earphones, but instead of giving them the exact same look and brand name, they tweak a little here and there to make them look “less original”. That was when Knowledge Zenith or KZ came into the picture. They are one of the first and major makers of such earphones.

How KZ started is an interesting story by itself and I will leave this until next time but they are one of the early pioneers of this Chi-Fi game. To win this game, manufacturers must not just complete in products and in sound, but in prices as well.

By now, there is no secret on how to bring down prices of products. China being the “factory of the world”, cheap parts, cheap materials and cheap labour are abundant and easily accessible. Just throw all the necessary ingredients into a huge cauldron, stir hard and fast… And churn out earphones by the thousands… everyday.

Keep in mind, these earphones are based on popular and well-known international brands so they should sound “as good”, and because they cost just a fraction of the real thing, they would appeal to many people, especially poor students and audiophiles from less developed nations.

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