LugBug1
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2011
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But nobody here starts a thread saying they hate any other headphone they just demoed; why should Beats be the exception?
And Monster doesn't get their bass wrong. I learned that with the Turbine Pro series. But the people that buy Beats typically don't care about bass decay, so Monster didn't bother. Not that that's relevant to the topic anyway because Monster didn't make these.
So what do you recommend for air travel???
I've been on a quest to find the ultimate air travel headphones for the past 5 years (over 3MM miles flown during these years), serially buying up and discarding (giving away to my sons) noise cancelling cans as fast as Lance Armstrong and his teammates chewed up their competitiors (our addicitons are slightly different). So far, tossed cans include:
Sony MDR NC 500: rechargable and battery flexibility is nice, but sound was weak, not dynamic enough, volume too low
Bose QC 15: Most comfortable for long trips & noise canceling is one of the best, but the sound is so-so, construction not as nice as some others
Klipsch Mode M40: Best sound of the bunch, but very uncomfortable after 90 minutes, funky brown & copper color
AKG K 495 C: Best design in this bunch, sound is ok but not great, the diaphram in the left can goes haywire, comfortable
Sennheiser PXC 450: Very Comfortable, sound OK, but died after 4 months
Monster Beats Studio: I don't mind the exagerated bass, but the NC is mediocre, constuction is terrible (they break at the headband) and cranked these leak too much sound
None of these has spectacular sound. it's easy to conclude that expectations for NC phones should not be as high as regular quality cans. There is absolutely no comparison to any of my home-based cans: Grado 325, Senn HD595, AKG K1000 w/dedicated preamp, very old Shure Electrostats, and I'm sure that's true for most forum members.
At the end of the day, sound (as good as possible recognizing they will not be as good as regular phones), NC, portability, decent construction and comfort are what I am looking for when I travel. On my way to Mexico this morning I picked up a pair of the Beats Execs at the Miami Ariport after doing a quick direct comparison to the Klipsch Mode M40's I brought along for this relatively short trip. The Execs outclassed the M40's on every count, and are better than most of the others above as follows:
1. Sound: A clearer, more forward sound than the Klipsch side by side. And I thought the Klipsh sounded better than many of the others...
2. NC: Very high marks on this count after one 2 hour flight, and playing them in my hotel.
3. Portability: The Exec's case is, hands down, the most portable of the whole bunch, slightly more compact than the Bose. And its nicely designed to boot.
4. Construction: The Execs blow away the Beats Studios in terms of construction...no plastic, nice aluminum alloy and leather. I think they are among the classiest in the bunch above and should be more durable that many.
5. Comfort: I find these to be very comfortable..weight is not an issue, there is no undue pressure on my ears nor head, an the leather wrapped earpads are comfortable too.
These will likely become my go-to cans for travel until something better comes along. If anyone can recommend a better headphone for air travel I'd love to know what those would be (no earplugs please--I like them on the ground and for workouts but they seal my ear canal, wreaking havoc with changes in altitude on planes).
So what do you recommend for air travel???
I've been on a quest to find the ultimate air travel headphones for the past 5 years (over 3MM miles flown during these years), serially buying up and discarding (giving away to my sons) noise cancelling cans as fast as Lance Armstrong and his teammates chewed up their competitiors (our addicitons are slightly different). So far, tossed cans include:
Sony MDR NC 500: rechargable and battery flexibility is nice, but sound was weak, not dynamic enough, volume too low
Bose QC 15: Most comfortable for long trips & noise canceling is one of the best, but the sound is so-so, construction not as nice as some others
Klipsch Mode M40: Best sound of the bunch, but very uncomfortable after 90 minutes, funky brown & copper color
AKG K 495 C: Best design in this bunch, sound is ok but not great, the diaphram in the left can goes haywire, comfortable
Sennheiser PXC 450: Very Comfortable, sound OK, but died after 4 months
Monster Beats Studio: I don't mind the exagerated bass, but the NC is mediocre, constuction is terrible (they break at the headband) and cranked these leak too much sound
None of these has spectacular sound. it's easy to conclude that expectations for NC phones should not be as high as regular quality cans. There is absolutely no comparison to any of my home-based cans: Grado 325, Senn HD595, AKG K1000 w/dedicated preamp, very old Shure Electrostats, and I'm sure that's true for most forum members.
At the end of the day, sound (as good as possible recognizing they will not be as good as regular phones), NC, portability, decent construction and comfort are what I am looking for when I travel. On my way to Mexico this morning I picked up a pair of the Beats Execs at the Miami Ariport after doing a quick direct comparison to the Klipsch Mode M40's I brought along for this relatively short trip. The Execs outclassed the M40's on every count, and are better than most of the others above as follows:
1. Sound: A clearer, more forward sound than the Klipsch side by side. And I thought the Klipsh sounded better than many of the others...
2. NC: Very high marks on this count after one 2 hour flight, and playing them in my hotel.
3. Portability: The Exec's case is, hands down, the most portable of the whole bunch, slightly more compact than the Bose. And its nicely designed to boot.
4. Construction: The Execs blow away the Beats Studios in terms of construction...no plastic, nice aluminum alloy and leather. I think they are among the classiest in the bunch above and should be more durable that many.
5. Comfort: I find these to be very comfortable..weight is not an issue, there is no undue pressure on my ears nor head, an the leather wrapped earpads are comfortable too.
These will likely become my go-to cans for travel until something better comes along. If anyone can recommend a better headphone for air travel I'd love to know what those would be (no earplugs please--I like them on the ground and for workouts but they seal my ear canal, wreaking havoc with changes in altitude on planes).
Costume Jewelry is expensive these days!
Not workingin case you missed it.
I thought Monster and Dr Dre parted ways????