Writing anything about Monster is fraught with peril. Everyone knows the traditional lime: Monster preys on morons. They sell expensive cables to people who don’t need them and they made a mint doing this over and over again. But this is a new era. Wireless is soon going to eat Monster Cable’s lunch and unless they can diversify – and convince the jaded public that they’re not out to screw them – they are stuck.
So where does that leave the Beats by Dr. Dre? This is a relative first for the company and I believe the headphones, taken at face value and considered in a vacuum, perform quite admirably.
First off, I’m coming at these headphones from a non-audiophiles perspective. I don’t know the lingo and I don’t want to get into a penis-length war with audiophiles because some of what they say is batshit crazy.
The question I tried to answer with the Beats is this: would I recommend them to a friend who flies a lot. No matter what anyone says, the majority of us use earbuds or headphones on flights. I know there are better headphones out there and I’ve used some of them but I’ve always gone back to the Bose QuietComfort 3, one of the most popular headset brands for road warriors.
How do the Beats compare? I’d say quite favorably. As Head Fi points out I was expecting a pair of bass-heavy headphones without much fidelity. What I found in tests at home and six hours of use on a plane were a pair of comfortable headphones with nice fidelity and good noise cancellation. Monster talks up the connection to Dr. Dre and I’m that the good Doctor knows his audio.
Music sounds great on these headphones. TV and movies – I was on JetBlue watching DirectTV and watching movies on the iPod – were a bit rougher. The headphones seem to be tuned for music and not speech and soundtracks.
Were the unlistenable? No. Because they were quite comfortable and cancelled a lot of plane noise I was happy to sit back and ignore whatever artifacts were happening in amplifier. Incidentally, these headphones were louder than the QC3’s. Plugging the Beats into an audio source and then the QC3’s showed a distinct difference in the volume.
Another slight complaint: the headphones aren’t very portable. The QC3’s pack flat but the Beats fold over, leaving a fairly large package. The cabling is also very nice and tangle-free – it comes with a standard audio cable, a 3/4″ converter, and an iPhone adapter.
As a whole these headphones are more than acceptable and quite nice. I’m not sure about the $349 price tag – as many have pointed out there are cheaper headphones out there – but for my money I’m sold on Bose QC3s and I’d be happy to swap the Beats out for extended music listening sessions. Monster is trying and, all things being equal, I’ll give them a chance. Just don’t buy the special anti-oxygen copper and gold coated super magneto-audio dongle that they sell alongside the phones – it’s just not worth it. I think it’s just a piece of plastic.
For more info on Beats By Dre Headphones go to www.beatsbydre.com
Im Getting These…
x
I tested beats at a store the other day and was not impresed. i can get better sound clarity out of dollar store headphones. Go buy Bose, much better. And if you feel like spending go for Grado.
there is no reason that noise should be different “for music and not speech and soundtracks”. the audio must have been low quality…
@ bentley
i think im goin to buy the iGrado instead thax… i was thinking about getting the GS1000 but my music is mostly encoded in LAME V0 so i really dont think there is much reason to go for the top of the line ones
lol nvm that was before i looked at the prices. probably get the SR80 @ ~$95, instead of the beats @ 349.95.
seriously what was i thinking (probably just ill informed)… thax again bentley
i still really like how the GS1000s look but i cant spend $995 on headphones after dropping $1500 on a new computer
No offense intended, but bose headphones are for chumps. If your intention is to spend $250 on a product from a mediocre audio company with great marketing, than go right ahead. Otherwise, go with sennheiser, shure, grado, or akg. You’ll be better off for it.
ive got the beats and ive gotta say tht they r pretty good for first timers
( + i got them for way less than retail 4 a brand new pair) and really bose isnt so great… bass is good evrythin else not so much
i agree with FLM
250 isnt very good price on mediocore stuff
id rather get shure or akg than bose anyday
Bentley is a tool. bye bye bentley!
I’m sorry but these sound like over hyped shite to me and the price is just ridiculous..also
“I don’t know the lingo and I don’t want to get into a penis-length war with audiophiles because some of what they say is batshit crazy”
If you dont know the lingo (understand the technicalities) the how would you know that what they say is “Batshit Crazy”…infact..what are you even doing reviewing these headphones? I’d understand if they were not £273 but your telling the public it’s ok to spend that on these headphones without giving any proof that they couldnt get the same or more than likely better qualilty from a cheaper set of headphones.
Sounds to me like these headphones are way more responsive on the lower frequencies giving the illusion of listening with a sub woofer and really not ideal for all styles of music or any listening other than music that is mixed bass heavy, so if you only listen to Hip Hop, Rap etc and are sycophantic enough to buy stuff with a famous persons name on it then these headphones are for you..after all..a fool and their money are soon parted.
P.S why buy something for a particular purpose that the person endorsing them would not use themselves?
well i own a pair of these cause im a spoiled lil fuckkk
dear John the moment wireless headphones become better than headphones with a wire will be the day you become a good reporter. which will be never…
loving my beats d-_-b
Keep hatin pussies… these are legit headphones and this is the only website i have seen with people who didnt like them. Derick this is america we dont follow european currency…with that said a fool and his money are soon parted is a true statement true for people who lack money, if you lack money he is right u should not drop coin like this on any headphones but if you got it flaunt it. Keep sippin’ your haterade and cause these headphones are the real deal wether you can afford them or not.
Lol I’m with you, I’m thinking about buying the beats by Dr. Dre.
I just want to critisize you on one point, the british pound (£) isn’t the european currency. It’s only great britain’s currency.
My wife and I each received set of these as an anniversary gift. They are PHENOMENAL! With two young children it helps to reduce the noise we hear from them on car/plane trips. Great product, I definitely recommend this product!
lol @ ZJ, you use these in the car when you’re driving?? Can you still hear other traffic around you??
Your kids gonna die with parents like you lol
They do sound decent, better than tri-ports, but Grado and Sennheiser make them sound like ibuds.
im with eric. the beats are sick! by far better then Grado or sennheiser. they set out to make BAD ASS headphones and they most definitely succeeded
Lolwut? Dude, Grado and Sennheiser are well-known professional headphone manufacturers for decades now. Ever heard of the SR series or the HD 600 series?
dear Monster employees, try to be less obvious next time
I arrived here because someone in my class had some of these, so I decided to look for some reviews. I’m not an audiophile, but I bought a pair of Audio Technica phones (ATH-M30) for about $50, and I can’t imagine wanting anything else. http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AUD-ATHM30-Professional-Headphones/dp/B00007E7C8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1248908371&sr=8-1
If I were going to spend more, it would probably be a pair of ATH-A700, which I read are way better than the Bose QuietComfort 3 and are still less than $120 on Amazon.
Headphones – Beats by Dr. Dre…. object of big and exaggerate advertising campaign.
Yes, they sound not bad. These headphones are suitable for advanced cellphones, travellers using i-pods, i-phones, mp3 devices, portable CD players, computer gamers and so on. Nice design, nice sound.
Most of small portable audio devices powered by batteries are suitable for them, but … music could change if you used AC adapter to power some of these devices. May occur that through these anti-noise headphones you could hear …. ac adapter buzz ….Ha Ha Ha…. For ex. Sony CD Walkman D- NE241 POWERED BY ITS AC ADAPTER and connected to Beats by Dr. Dre headphones produces background AC transformer buzz.
An another thing : on ufficial site , even on package box there aren’t any technical data such as: frequency response , impedance, HD, total harmonic distortion , sound pressure and so on. ALL THESE DATA ARE ENIGMATIC.
If you are very demanding audiophile that prefers to listen to music at home .. I sugest you to invest your money in good Sennheiser headphones, for ex. HD 380 Pro.
Simple headphones sound good with all audio devices powered by batteries or by AC adapters.
I got these for my birthday, but I’m really unhappy with them. Maybe it’s because I have a bigass head, but they hurt after about 20 minutes. The quality isn’t striking, either. On a few songs, I noticed some improvement, but it’s really not worth it. It might just be me, but I’m returning them.
I like these headphones bougght mine for 210$. Dont know if there better then my bose headphones.
i tried this Beats, i still love my Beyerdynamics DT990 Pro……