[H22]

I live in a small town in western Colorado, so test driving headphones is pretty difficult.
I had some spare time last week, so I walked into the local box store with my sony X and mini3 to try out the few headphones they had.
 
the reason I stopped by was a new pair of sennheiser's they had ( HD 428 if i remember correctly ) at ~$75USD . So that was the first pair I tried. I was extreemly underwhelmed. They felt and sounded very plastic, i realise that "plastic" is not a good audiophile term, but that was my first thought when i started listening to them. bass was extreamly aniemic, witch is funny cause looking at the web site the 428 is touted as a bass monster. the mids and highs sounded far off and muffled.Turning the volume up to try to bring anything forward just resulted in massive ammounts of distortion.
 
The $35 Koss port-a-pro's sounded much better.
 
So then i held my nose and tried the $175 beats, the smaller on ear size ( think they are called the solo). These things sounded very good to me, granted I din't have much to compair them to, but I thought they sounded pretty good.
I could really crank the volume up too, not that i would ever listen at those levels, but it was kinda fun to get those things thumping on some of my favorate bass heavy songs. The mids and highs were pretty good too i thought. Overall i left the store wanting to splurge on the beats. Yea they are expencive, but the build quality feels quite good, and i was impressed with the sound.
 
Anyone else tried these?

 

[ANinjaBurrito]

Might as well get some Ultrasones or Audio Technia's if you are willing to spend that much on a worse product. Did you try any songs that didn't accentuate the bass through the beats? Obviously not

 

[H22]

Quote:

Might as well get some Ultrasones or Audio Technia's if you are willing to spend that much on a worse product. Did you try any songs that didn't accentuate the bass through the beats? Obviously not

Well you will notice that i didn't buy them. and no, i didnt have time for a propper listen. I know these are a bass heavy can, so I really cranked it up, but i was also paying attention to the mids and highs as well. Even though i was thumping the snot out of them I was impressed at how they presented the mids and highs. I would love to listen to other phones with a simiar bass handling capability, as i am quite certain that the reputation these have on this forum is not to be ignored. Is it just that they are overpriced? or do they realy have a crappy sound signature and i was just fooled by the bloated bass? yea i am a bass head, though i do not like R&B witch seems to be the music these are geared to.  
 

 

[vicktnguyen]

The beats solos are notorious for cracking headbands. My friend has to replace 3 times during two months period

. I would suggest you stay away from them due to poor SQ and build quality. Look for it on youtube and you'll know what i'm talking about.      

 

[aznguyen316]

I've heard this a lot too.  Fortunately the new Solo HD supposedly have fixed this issue with a metal band that goes across the top band under the cushion.  Feels solid to me.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgLgc5Cah0E&feature=player_embedded
 
wow they seem a lot more solid than the previous versions from that video =)

 

[Thehalfaman]

whats the difference between the solo hd and solo?

 

[wind016]

People don't buy Beats to listen to violin, but I definitely agree that there are better basshead headphones
 
Quote:

Did you try any songs that didn't accentuate the bass through the beats? Obviously not

 

[Coupe]

HFI-580s are definitely a much better option, and have much better value, if you enjoy lots of bass.

 

[Ishcabible]

Quote:

whats the difference between the solo hd and solo?

HDs have more treble, but please don't get them. The Solos are horrible (coming from someone who thinks the Studio Beats are passable and defends them once in a while.)

 

[wind016]

X2 They have can have ALOT more bass impact than Beats Studio too and definitely more detailed
 
Quote:

HFI-580s are definitely a much better option, and have much better value, if you enjoy lots of bass.

 

[ArmAndHammer]

Unfortunately.
 
Quote:

 
Anyone else tried these?

 

[Xymordos]

Well, if you listen to rap and stuff like Gaga, then they're quite good, otherwise don't get them.

 

[rroseperry]

You can get better basshead phones like the Sony XB500 for less than the Solos. I listened to both recently and the Solos had pretty poor detail for all that bass. The Sonys were much better in that respect.
 
But they're your ears.

 

[Coupe]

AFA the solo's, I will respectfully disagree.  IMHO, the solo's fart bass.
 
Quote:

Well, if you listen to rap and stuff like Gaga, then they're quite good, otherwise don't get them.

 

[meraki1990]

The solos are far behind the studios.. which are far behind the pros....
 
I would only recommend the solos for portability..