So let's start with a story. It was recently my one-year anniversary with my girlfriend, and she's a badass girlfriend, so she gave me a $50 gift certificate to Best Buy. I happened to have another $20 one lying around, so I figured I would take the DC Metro over to the Columbia Heights Best Buy to see if I could get my grubby hands on some new phones. So I get there, and I'm browsing. Bose Tri-Port IEM's...no. Monster Tours...no. Sony's...definitely not. Lo and behold, I spied with my little eye a small brown and black box that said Altec Lansing BackBeat Pro. Hmm, what are these little dudes? Well, I'm no dummy, so I head over to the customer computer to look up the reviews on BestBuy.com, because that's the only site you can look at. So I query BackBeat Pro, and they don't come up. I do see, however, the BackBeat Titaniums. These little guys are pretty well liked and got good reviews on the site, so I said the hell with it and got the Pros. So, I got home, unboxed them, and went to see if I could find them on the internet. Nothing. Hm, was I ripped off by Best Buy? (Of course, but I mean ripped off in a sense that these were like fake from India or something.) I even headed over to the Altec Lansing website. Nothing. Alright, I was feeling a little disconcerted at this point, so I called up customer service. The woman was at a loss for a while in finding these phones also. But, I was in for a great little surprise! The woman found them and told me that they were set for release later in Spring 09, and that I was one of the few people that participated in a pre-release event exclusively at one of a few Best Buys. Needless to say, I was feeling pretty relieved. As for the sound on these IEM's, they're certainly better than the Titaniums. They do only have one armature driver, but it's pretty well engineered judging by the sound of them. The bass is great for a single driver and very punchy. The mids are excellent in these phones with great clarity, and the highs are sparkly without being too harsh on the ears. They sound great with my Zune 80, and are very high-quality in regards of material. The cord is in a new direction than the previous BackBeats also. The older models have a braided cord, which is durable but noisy, I know because the premium Zune IEM's have them. The cord on the Pros is actually braided cloth with a high quality clear rubber over them, so they have the durability and silence of both types. I couldn't be happier with these IEM's. And finally, for the first time, I can say that Best Buy didnt screw me!
If you guys wanna check out the Pros, here's a press-release link with scant info on them: Altec Lansing > HEADPHONES > Earphones for iPhone > Backbeat Pro
If you guys wanna check out the Pros, here's a press-release link with scant info on them: Altec Lansing > HEADPHONES > Earphones for iPhone > Backbeat Pro
