Beats Mixr On-Ear Headphones

Flagretro

New Head-Fier
Pros: Good bass overall; can play loud; seems durable; won't disturb your spouse in bed!
Cons: Not as much clarity; on-ear design uncomfortable after long periods; pricey
Well I just joined Head-Fi yesterday after spending quite a bit of time on the site, so I thought I'd drop some novice input.  My wife knew I wanted some nice cans, after being without any since I was a teenager.  As a present, she recently gave me a set of the Beats Mixr model.  Not exactly what I would have bought, but these were certainly better than anything else I've owned.  Not having much else to compare them to, I enjoyed the bass and the volume I could get out of them.  I've seen the 'Beats bashing' going on, and I know there are plenty better out there, especially for the money.  I've since picked up a used set of AE2's as a 'spare' for $20 on eBay, and I certainly like the Mixr's much better in every respect except comfort.  Mixr's on-ear design gets uncomfy after an hour or so.  But as a dad in a busy household, my headphone-wearing time is pretty limited, usually in bed after my wife falls asleep or during a road trip, so I can't enjoy anything that leaks.  This is where the Mixr's have a great advantage - I can crank them and it won't bother anyone.  And IEM's ain't happenin' for me.  So no plans on taking them back, they landed a solid place in my lifestyle.  However, I do enjoy high-quality audio, so I definitely plan on an upgrade down the road.  
DaveTheWave81
DaveTheWave81
There's very few headphones I've tried that sound as good as the Beats Mixr's did but the pain they used to cause my ears was just unbearable and I returned them. I stretched them and wore them for almost an entire month and still no relief from the pain after wearing them for 20 minutes. The Beats Solo 2's are much more comfortable but a very noticeable difference in sound quality.
AluminumHaste
AluminumHaste
229$???? Wow what a rip off. 50$ is more it's actual price range. For that price you can get some really good cans.

FancyDan

Head-Fier
Pros: Sound is literally perfect for DJing, incredibly travel ready, durable, packed with DJ special features, unfairly cool looking
Cons: Can by harsh on ear cartilage if worn for long period, high price tag, that famous "big red B"
Wow, where to even start with the insane, surprising, and amazing looking package that is the Beats Mixr? Well I'll start by saying this: these are headphones exclusively for DJs and people who are going to be listening to music that has been created using electronic rhythms or beats (house music, trap, dubstep). That's IT. If you try to listen to The Beatles or Arcade Fire on these your ears will puke. They're just not for that. These are headphones made for the sole purpose of listening to and DJing electronic music. However, if that's what you're in the market for then whoa boy Dr. Dre and crew have cooked up a delicious treat that you can't help but fall in love with. 
 
I am a DJ. I've been a DJ for many years now and so between mixing tracks in my studio and DJing live, headphones have become very important to me. The Beats Mixr are some of the best DJ cans ever made. Yup, you heard me. Despite being made by the same company responsible for the sonic atrocities that are the Solo HD, and the 250 dollars over price Beats Pro (fun fact: in my opinion the Mixrs actually sound significantly better than the Pro, even for the most "hood" of all trap and rap music) these cans are a really high quality product. Everything from the travel ready hardcase and fold-up design, to the coiled cord and 1/4 inch adapter that comes stuck on them are design to make life as a DJ the best it can possibly be. Plugged in to the super high-performance sound card of the well loved Traktor S4, they sound detailed enough to pick out every little subtlety you want to hear to be immersed in your mix, while bringing the backbeat and percussion to the front, making beat-matching a breeze. The flip up cans are sort of fun and certainly make one-ear monitoring easier, something pretty much every DJ likes, as well as giving it the ability to fold up into itself for travel; a useful little feature. Oh and the design? Look up any picture of these cans (I have the green neon edition, which seems to pretty much catch the eyes of everyone in the room when I walk in) to see how insanely sporty and cool they look. These cans have also gone for a design that hinges more on metal and tough, road ready plastics that give this can a vast amount more durability than anything Dre's brand has every put out in the past, ignoring the Pro, which pretty much has build quality as it's only advantage. 
 
As far as cons go, they are certainly a bit bass heavy, but honestly these aren't trying to be audiophile headphones, they're trying to be DJ headphones and the audio curve on these is PERFECT for that sole purpose. The only major con I can come up with about this headphone is that they can hurt your ears after long sessions of use, but this is only really an issue when listening to music casually, as when DJing you really don't notice, and can overlook this easily considering how much they stay on your head no matter how into it you're getting while mixing. This is great for me, as I like to really headbang and jump around on stage a lot to get the crowd hyped. These headphones really don't have any flaw, other than being associated with one of the most controversial headphone brands in the world. They easily jump to the front of the pack when compared against Denon's options and go toe to toe with the other DJ headphone greats such as the V-Moda M-100s and the Sennheiser HD25 DJ Headphone (which beats blatantly copied many aspects of, but who can blame them as the 25 is clearly the headphone to beat when it comes to DJing). The Beats Mixr truly are legendary headphones when it comes to DJing, and I highly recommend them to all DJs if you're willing to pay a little bit more due to that ever present B. 
cb3723
cb3723
Absolutely agree with everything you mention - you've nailed the mixr review perfectly. I love these cans for mixing and even occasional chilling out listening to tunes on iPod. David Guetta was apparently involved in the design of these cans, and his DJ input shows by covering all DJ bases required for a competent headcan for DJing with confidence in these robust quality cans.

inthere

Headphoneus Supremus
Pros: Very DJ oriented EQ: kick drums and backbeats are very pronounced, perfect EQ for DJ'ing; nice little touches that benefit pro DJ's
Cons: Very harsh digital sound when cranked
I have 4 pair of these, all given to me as a result of my job, which is professional DJ. The 1st pair I got had the 1/4 adapter connected(see photo) to the cable permanently so you would never lose it, which I thought was a very nice touch for traveling DJ's because I lose them all the time, but that feature was later removed in the 3 pair I got after that.IMG_0239.jpg
The flip up ears are also a very nice touch and in my case at least, very well done because I can flip up an ear and the headphones still fit snuggly. 
 
 Beats gets a bad rap from *audiophiles* who want to seem like they know what they're talking about, and the quickest way to get respect is to slag off Beats. Be aware though that there are an extremely high number of fake Beats out there and if you go to YouTube there are literally hundreds of videos for identifying fakes. So best to buy any kind of Beat from a reputable chain store or you'll most likely get fakes. 
 
 These are by far the loudest headphones I've ever put on my head (not necessarily a good thing, but it does give you versatility with loud sound systems) and it's advertised that you can hear what's going on over any club sound system and that's pretty much correct, but it's the way you can hear that's interesting. They've cut a ton of sub bass out and anything below 100hz is just about gone. On the other hand, you're going to get a boost at around 150-300hz, which gives kick drums a lot of clarity. Ditto for claps/snare/backbeats which gets a boost at 800hz to about 1.5khz. Backbeats stick out like sore thumbs and that makes beatmatching a lot easier. The Sony MDR 700's are no longer industry standard, but comparing the Mixr's to them I'd say the Mixr's have a better soundstage (which isn't usually a good thing for DJ's because you listen with only one ear a lot, but it works) and 
because of the emphasis on kicks and backbeats it really threatens to change the game. The only thing holding it back is the Beats name itself, which has a horrible reputation with professionals. 
 
 It's important to realize what made the Sony MDR 700's so popular for DJ'ing; they were the loudest headphones and they're essentially mono. Customizers cut off an ear and make a phone style monitor with them because the same thing basically comes out of each ear. Pioneers knows about the importance of mono in DJ'ing and even have a mono switch for their HDJ 2000's, which I also own. Mixr's are louder than the Sony's and place emphasis on kicks and backbeats, which the Sony's never did. I'm hoping some other company embraces the concept of EQ'ing kicks and backbeats because I'm embarrassed wearing Beats in public. 
 
 On that note Beats seems to get a bit greedy (what a surprise!) because of the nice soundstage, because they're also going for the portable mp3/iPod crowd. Beats have a problem with store listening because most stores I've been to have a preamp that they run all the headphones through, which because Beats are basically the loudest headphones out, they're going to be the most distorted cans on display. This is actually a smart strategy for stores because Beats are usually going to sell regardless because they're coveted as a fashion accessory more than as a listening device. Boosting the volume of all the other cans while distorting the Beats make them a better choice for people that actually care what they're listening to. In my personal experience though on normal non amplified sources, the Beats distort very little even when cranked all the way up. 
 
Make no mistake; these are DJ headphones and for that specific purpose the Mixr's jump to the head of the pack. For studio work and professional sound engineering they're absolutely useless. Too much added and taken away from key frequencies. For that purpose i would recommend a neutral set like the ATH-M50's. For pleasurable/home/audiophile listening no way as well; they're closed, soundstage not good enough, very harsh overall in the high mids and low mids, and uncomfortable for long listening sessions. 
 
For portable listening (iPods/iPhones/mp3 players) Mixr's are the loudest headphones on the planet and you will never need an external amp. Athough they won't distort at top volume, it still is not a pleasant listening experience to these ears because things get quite a bit harsh and painful, not because it's so loud, but because the aforementioned high mids and low mids cut through so sharply.
 
They have a lot more high end and mids than the Studio Beats, and they're louder, but Studio Beats have a warmer overall sound and sub bass, which the Mixr's don't have. 
 
Build quality: they're a LOT sturdier than other Beats. And the pictured cable is from my 1st pair, which still works flawlessly through a LOT of abuse. I had a lot of problems with cabling on the Studio and Solo Beats.
borisr
borisr
At the end of ur review didnt you pretty much say that these are sort of specialised cans for DJ's?
honestly would you even rate them as mp3\cellphone or for that matter anything but DJ headphones over 100$ outside the high volume?
inthere
inthere
I thought I made that clear......however, all headphones are specialized for one area; for instance, most high end headphones are useless for DJ'ing, unamped on an iPod, and pro studio work. Great pro studio headphones are too neutral to sound good on anything. Loud cans like Beats are worthless for audiophile listening on properly amped sources.
Beats Mixr's will actually work well on an unamped source like a phone or iPod and a lot of people that don't want the hassle of a portable amp will prefer their sound too a lot of other cans; I see it all the time.
helmutssss
helmutssss
Nice review. I have the Mixr and I agree with you on most things.
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