Monster Turbine Pro Copper In-Ear Headphones

I was selected to review these headphones in exchange for honest review, that review follows:
I have used a lot of different headphones of varying prices and have been enjoying the Monster Turbine Pro Copper headphones ever since I received them.  In short, they are now my IEMs of choice.

Before even listening to the headphones, I was impressed by the packaging and the way I could customize my experience with them.  The attention to detail on the packaging (like the little fabric loop and magnetic closure that makes opening the box easy yet keeps it closed when desired) told me that Monster was thinking about the whole offering experience.  Upon opening the box, I was impressed by the array of accessories.  There are two nice cases included.  I'm not quite sure which I prefer on functionality, but one case says "For Audiophiles & Audio Professionals Only," which turned me off of that one a bit.  While it's nice to know that Monster believes the products are high-grade, I don't really need to show that off.  However, perhaps this is what is brilliant about the flexibility of these headphones: Again and again, Monster offers choices to make the experience the best for each individual.  This possible philosophy extends throughout the product use.  So many sets of eartips are provided that I really don't even want to count them all, there's a flexible holder for your favorite eartips if you want to carry them with you, there's a pair of over-the-ear hooks in case you wish to use the headphones that way, there's a slider on the cable that can be adjusted if you wish to reduce some slack above where the R&L cables come together, and there's a very nice 1/4" adapter.  The eartips are definitely the most important of the accessories, as I certainly didn't find them all to be a good fit, let alone find them comfortable.  With other IEMs, I've had much fewer choices, making it tough to get the headphones to work properly.  In open disclosure, Monster sent these to me for an honest review, so I didn't have to worry about the cost, but they really are a great value for the quality.  Given many will take the headphones out and about, Monster's, "you break it, we replace it" warranty will surely be appreciated.

Now on to what really matters: sound.  While Monster recommends doing a burn-in of the headphones, once I found a set of ear tips that fit properly, I instantly was impressed with the headphones.  However, it is true that after running though the Stereophile Test CD 3 burn in track and a random sampling of my music for many hours, the music did feel a bit more natural.  I was particularly impressed with the tightness of bass and warm mid-tones.  When I compare them to my Sennheiser IE7s on Dean Peer's all bass guitar track, Lord's Tundra, I was surprised how much deeper and more precisely the Coppers could play.  Also, playing the high bitrate binaural Explorations In Space and Time album available on HD Tracks, I was able to pick out instrumental details I could not with the IE7s.  Effectively, it seemed like the imaging on the Coppers allowed for lots of independent instruments to be heard cleanly at once, while other headphones seemed to be dominated by the loudest instruments.  More than these technical details, I simply enjoyed getting into the music on the Coppers.  Whatever I threw at them sounded great.  I was really engaged with the Mumford and Sons album's enveloping vocals and tunes, while darker A Perfect Circle albums took me on a journey with Maynard's visions through masterful editing and lyrics.  I also very much enjoyed London Symphony Orchestra's Braveheart Soundtrack, Paramore's Riot, a host of tracks from Ben Folds, Hot Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium, Snow Patrol's Eyes Open and many more.  Each were so vibrant, and I just wanted to play them again and again.  Honestly, they remind me lot of Sennheiser HD 580s in a very tiny package.

I tested the headphones with a number of headphone amplifiers.  My typical rig was an Apple Mac Pro using lossless files feeding a Cambridge Audio DacMagic via optical, to a HeadRoom Ultra Micro Amp with Astrodyne power supply.  I also used a really cheap Fiio E1 from an iPad and the internal 1/8" outputs from computers and smartphones.  I found that the Coopers worked quite well with all of this gear and they seemed to offer a lower noise floor than the IE7s, and the Coppers didn't need a high impedance adapter to avoid communicating noise from a computer's standard headphone jack.  That said, the Coppers really showed what they could do when connected to the DAC and a good amp.  Since they're easy to power, I found that the DAC was much more important than the amp.

While I have to say that I prefer open over the ear headphones for all around comfort and quality, they often aren't the right fit for the environment.  In fact, the noise isolation from the Coppers are impressive and are great when I want to go into my own world in public.  The Coppers with the cheap Fiio E1 do a very nice job compared to full size headphones with much more complicated (and expensive) gear.  I look forward to more opportunities to compare these headphones with others, but they unquestionably are becoming the bulk of my portable rig.  If I didn't have an extensive desktop rig, I'd probably just use these as the headphones I use most of the time at home and office.  Great work indeed.

Terrible build quality, the "copper" color disappeared after one-two months, plus the "copper"part disconnected from the silver part, cable noisy... well... sounds good, if you use it at home...

Pros comments

Excellent tips and their choice: Tips are critical for IEMs sound and comfort and MTPC has the excellent stock tips. From numerous tips I tried, MTPC rubber tips are the most comfortable to wear and convenient to insert. The previous favorites were Sony hybrids, Shure E2c and Jays rubber tips. MTPC foam tips are also top-notch, in terms of sound, comfort and durability. Gel-filled tips look promising, but unfortunately do not fit my ears.

Plenty of accessories: cases, ear tips holder, shirt clip and so on.

Best uses

Portable Electronics

Travel

Delta-sigma budget DACs

Disclaimer

I was given this product as a gift in exchange for writing this review,

Conclusion first

From earphones I tried in $400 price range, MTPC is my favorite for use straight from mainstream DAPs, un-amped. MTPC strong and deep bass helps power-deficient portables to sound big, speakers-alike. Warm midrange makes digital sound livelier; highs are forgivable to MP3 artifacts. No need for deep insertion, ease of putting in and taking out make MTPC an excellent IEM for those “not so serious” audiophiles, who want both great sound and convenience.

Warning

With warmer source / amp, like multi-bit HM-602, MTPC yields in clarity and instruments separation to lean sounding competitors.

DETAILED REVIEW

MTPC bass is certainly emphasized but in a very wise manner: deeper is frequency – more is emphasis. This psychoacoustic trick works well with the headphones / earphones, because it partially compensates the loss of hearing sensitivity on lowest frequencies and absence of kinaesthetic perception of bass by human body. At the same time, such emphasis does not affect the midrange a lot (no “bass bleeding into midrange”). I like this, because:

1. This fools the brain to “feel” the bass, giving the good body and scale to the sound. I agree with Monster when they call MTPC “In-Ear Speakers”.
2.  This also helps to listen on lower, safer volumes or to block ambient noise.
3. This lets to not wrestle with a perfect seal and deep uncomfortable fit.

Is MTPC an earphone for bass-head? This depends on a tips used; with some of the included tips bass becomes painful to me. With others it is just right until I increase the volume. On higher volumes bass becomes too much for me even with “bass-shy” tips. I appreciate this, because this forces me to listen on safer volumes. Bass extension, attack and overall quality are very good even on high volume.

Midrange is a bit warm and very slightly blurred by rich decay. Thankfully, this works for the good, smoothing out the harshness of digital sound coming from the ordinary DAPs.  Speed, details, clarity, instrument separation are just right for the task. I know some earphones which are better in these terms. But they sound harsher with mainstream DAPs, MP3 records and budgetary delta-sigma DACs. Here MTPC keeps a nice balance of speed and smoothness. Unfortunately, warmer sources (say HM-602) break this balance, instruments separation and details are suffered.

Highs are nothing to complain about, their quantity is just right and quality is decent. With my “sibilance test” records MTPC produces nice results – the sibilance was low, while highs were not subdued.

Aside of deep bass emphasis, overall frequency response is pretty even. When listening loud, some may complain that mids are recessed comparing to strong bass. Well, do not listen loud, this is just harmful.

I listen to variety of music and I like MTPC genres versatility. There are just few genres where MTPC yields to some mid-centric competitors. These are vocals and small acoustic bands. Other genres, including (but not limited to) blues, rock, pop, trance and especially ambient are reproduced with excellence.

Sensitivity: MTPC plays great directly from a DAP, though good amp (say Corda Move) may further improve bass control and instruments separation. Lesser amps have no sense.

Is the “For serious audiophile” claim, placed on MTPC box, correct? Yes, for those of us who are not willing to give up convenience for sound quality. Those, who do not want to struggle with half-baked boutique DAPs or bulky DAP/amps combos. Those, who prefer a perfect usability and slim form-factor of mainstream DAPs, like Clip+ or iPod. Those who want putting in / taking out the earphones easily and does not want to bother with perfect seal. Those who do not want to chase for the better ear tips or ordering a custom tips just to get a satisfactory bass. To those people I can recommend MTPC heartily. Let me call them “not so serious audiophile” :)

COMPARISONS

I tried / owned following mid-fi and hi-fi IEMs: RE0, RE-Zero, RE252, RE262, ER-6, ER-6i, ER-4P, ER-4S, E4c, E500 (same to SE530), UM2, UE 5 EB, SA6, ATH-CK10. I decided in favor of HiFIMAN RE262, so I compared MTPC to RE262 with some portable sources:

• MP3 > Sansa Clip+: MTPC is the winner. RE262 is underamped – lean bass, dry mids, lack of speed.
• MP3 > iPod 5^th Gen, iPhone 3G: the choice depends on music genres. For those who like various genres, like me, MTPC is safer bet due to the stronger bass and forgiving highs. RE262 is sometimes lean, sometimes sibilant.
• MP3 > iPod 5^th Gen > LOD > Meier Corda Move: there is no clear winner or preference. MTPC may sound boomy, while RE262 may sound sibilant.  Otherwise both sound good, so “choose your destiny”.
• FLAC > HiFiMAN HM-602: RE262 wins hands down.

MTPC is the best for MP3s, cold delta-sigma DACs and low-power sources – say un-amped mainstream MP3 players. The only IEM which can compete with MTPC in this field was Shure E500. I did not compare these directly, but I prefer MTPC basing on my memories. E500 is less comfort and convenient. It also has the feature I did not like – extensive macrodynamics. Listening to orchestra classic, I had to raise the volume for cellos solo, then crescendo came and I had to reduce the volume, otherwise it sounded deafening.

So I stayed with my RE262, but I am less satisfied with it after I tried MTPC. MTPC bass depth and weight are something I am missing now. And I am not sure if custom tips for RE262 will solve this issue. Well, head-fi is a journey, there are many things to try yet – upcoming models, high-end customs and so on. With regards to MTPC, I thank Monster for opportunity to try an outstanding IEM. MTPC took its place in my personal “IEMs hall of fame”, along with RE262 and ER-4P/S, being unbeatable in simple “MP3 > ordinary DAP > IEM” application.

the goods~ these things sound great for people who like to just listen to their music and for other personal use. they also look really nice, and come with a lot of options for fitting them well, and with two really nice cases. come with a lifetime warranty where if you break the headphones yourself, they send you another pair.

The bads~ my first pair of them broke, which was really too bad. i know it wasnt my fault, but im not going to believe that all sets that they put out are the same. anyways, i also feel that there is just way too much bass coming out of them. their whole marketing ploy is that they are for "audiophiles and audio professionals only" they dont mean that literally at all, because these things dont have the sound an audiophile looks for at all. i like bass in hip hop as much as the next guy, but when i have eq flat, and im listening to something acoustic, it gets really annoying

The ugly~ these things arent nearly as bad as the dr. dre stuff, but i just still feel like these headphones are not what monster says they are. quotes like "only for audio professionals" and "designed to make you hear the music as it was meant to be heard" are just to excite people about the product.