Recently, I managed to get clearance from a friend to borrow his Beats headphones for a few days, just for kicks. Since there aren't that many (objective) reviews on the Beats, I decided to make one.
Lineup:
Beats Solo HD
Type: Supra-aural
Target audience: Teenagers
Target genres: Pop, hip-hop, rap
Primary competition in price range: Sennheiser HD25, V-Moda M80, Beyerdynamic DT1350, Skullcandy Aviators
Beats Studio
Type: Circum-aural Noise-cancelling
Target audience: Teenagers, airplane travellers
Target genres: Pop, hip-hop, rap
Primary competition in price range: Bose QC15, Audio Technica M50, Ultrasone HFI-580
Beats Pro
Type: Circum-aural
Target audience: DJs
Target genres: Pop, hip-hop, rap, electronic
Primary competition in price range: Ultrasone Pro 900, Pioneer HDJ-2000, Skullcandy MixMaster Mike
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Sources:
iPod Touch/Toshiba Laptop
320kbps .mp3 song files
All headphones were tested ampless.
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Build Quality:
Solo HD
As most of you may know, the Solo and the Studio both have notorious high rates of breakage and headband failure, and once you hold it in your hands the problem is painfully apparent. What the headband is is basically just a thin piece of slightly flexible plastic with a layer of padding attached at the surface. Unlike the other on-ears (I shall be comparing the Solo with the HD25), it feels just too rigid and extremely fragile.
The hinges of the headphone are also a big weakness in their design. Folding and unfolding just doesn't feel... smooth. Flappy even. The gloss finish looks nice, but just attract too much dirt and smudging.
Able to fold, but the type of fold (spectacle-type) coupled with the plastic leaves much doubt on the integrity of its "storability" (lack of a better word to describe this).
Studio
Very similar to the Solo HD; it is basically an over-ear version of the Solo in terms of build.
Pro
Unlike the latter two, the Pro feels very solid. There's quite a bit of metal involved in the construction of these headphones, and feels like they will withstand a lot of damage. Hinges feel much more solid and less likely to snap off, a problem in the more mainstream Solo HD and Studio.
Able to swivel in one direction, able to fold.
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Comfort:
Solo HD
I'm not really a fan of on-ears, but okay. The Solo HD feels pretty comfortable, not bad but not excellent either. Padding on the headband feels a little though.
3 hours tops.
Studio
Actually, surprisingly comfortable. It generates a tight fit around the ears, but apart from that the Studios are nice to wear.
5 hours tops.
Pro
One thing that strikes me about the Pro's comfort is the weight. It's just so heavy. I cannot imagine a DJ wearing something like this for anything beyond a 2-hour gig. The padding on the cups can vary between enough to thin, depending on person to person. On my head, the padding was too thin.
An hour tops for me.
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Isolation:
Solo HD
As compared to the HD25, the Solo doesn't seem to isolate much. However, they are enough for, say, a bus ride. Something like a crowded train would be a long-shot, though.
Studio
As expected from a noise-cancelling headphone, the Studio isolates the best out of the three. However, to be as critical as possible, the noise-cancelling feature isn't exactly the best and other noise-cancelling headsets isolate more. Still, it does isolate more than non-noise-cancelling headphones, so no qualms here.
Pro
To put it simply, they isolate just as much as my M50.
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Sound:
General sound signature
Solo HD
Slightly dark frequency response. Sounds very Portapro-esque, but slightly more veiled and muddy.
Studio
More V-shaped than the Solo. A good example of its sound would be the frequency response of the HFI-580. Generally bassy with a *surprising* lack of sub bass rumble.
Pro
Slightly dark-sounding, with a little treble sparkle. Very mid-bassy.
Highs
Solo HD
The treble on the Solo HD sounds slightly subdued, and lacks the sparkle present in most mainstream headphones. There is also a slight fuzziness that intrudes on the cymbal and hi-hat sounds.
Detail-wise, there is a lot of frizzing within the sound (A.K.A. unnecessary roughness), and treble is generally untamed and blurred, sometimes being coarse as well.
Studio
Not that bad actually. Can be considered treble-happy; relatively grain-free. A good comparison would be against an Ultrasone HFI-580, but with insignificantly less detail and refinement. Which is bad, considering that the Studio is twice the price.
Pro
Slightly warm, and yet a little sharp at the same time. Hard to say. Surprisingly detailed, though with a weird synergy with the mids, causing vocals and wind instruments to sound slightly off and unnatural.
Mids
Solo HD
Slightly recessed. Due to its aforementioned sound signature, the mids are slightly veiled and fuzzy. Lower mids sometimes bleeds into the rest of the frequency during the busy parts of a track. Vocals aren't recommended for this headphone.
Studio
As stated, the Studio has the same level of mid recession as the Ultrasone HFI-580. There is some slight bass bleed on very bassy music, though the mids pretty much remains untouched. Pretty linear, definitely not as recessed as some Head-Fiers make them out to be.
Pro
As per the other Beats models, the mids are expectedly recessed. However, they do have better detail retrieval than the Studios, allowing one to detect as far as air within vocals. There is a very good separation between the mid-bass and the midrange, but upper bass and lower mids blend in a little too much.
Lows
Solo HD
As expected from a mainstream can, there is a mid-bass hump. Unfortunately, the Solo's bass sounds sloppy and uncontrolled, leading to bass bleed and overly-fuzzy details.
Studio
I was genuinely surprised at the amount of impact the Studios had. Instead of an XB500-esque type of amount, the Studios reached about, say, XB700 type of levels. Again, the bass sounds very similar to the M50 (apart from volume), with the only differences being extra reverb. There is a noticeable sub-bass roll off, causing the Studios to lack in the really deep rumble that gives a song its extra depth.
Pro
There is a substantial amount of bass in the Pro. Unlike the Studio, this does sound more like the XB500. However, the midbass may sometimes overwhelm the sub-bass, and sometimes even the upper bass.
Soundstage
Solo HD
Slightly bigger than the HD25's. Unfortunately, it is still very tiny and unsuitable for classical and/or orchestral music, as well as for gaming.
Studio
Tiny as well. The soundstage on the Studio is slightly worse than the Audio Technica M50's, and like the Solo, isn't great for gaming and for soundstage-oriented music.
Pro
Actually, the soundstage on the Pro is pretty good. Not great by open standards, but above average for a closed can. However, it is still lacking (closed headphones. What'cha going to do?) and I wouldn't be expecting much out of this aspect. The width is average, but there is depth, and a lot of it.
Instrumental separation
Solo HD
Now, this is an objective review, so I will refrain from using words such as "horrible" or "digustingly inadequate". However, the Solo's instrumental separation really takes the cake here. Instruments literally mush together like cake mix (see what I did dar) and the result is a very congested, very bloated sound courtesy of the Solo's drivers.
Studio
Coming from the disappointment that is the Solo, the Studios definitely fare better. I would relate the instrumental separation on the Studios to the M50 (again, the two headphones are very similar), but the Studio somehow manages to separate drums and guitars better than the M50. Just a theory, but this is maybe due to the immense leakage the Studios have.
Pro
The instrumental separation on the Pro isn't stellar by any standards, but then again it does separation the beats from the melody very well. I must say, this may make a very good DJ headphone.
This is just a rough skeleton for the time being, but it'll be updated with one last aspect: value. When I have the time, I'll elaborate more on the written aspects too. Feel free to give me feedback and to add on to anything you may think that I left out.
Edited by crinacle - 1/22/12 at 7:10am
