A Little Background
 
I currently own Beats Pro and I listen to them on a daily basis. I have previously owned Beats Studios and Beats Solos. I bought all of them from The Source in Ontario and got them severely discounted. I only buy Beats when they are on sale and I am able to get 30% discount on top of that. The Beats Pros are the only Beats headphones that I have kept and the only ones that I like. Are they worth their full price? God no. But they are well made, look the part, and are fun to use. No they don't sound the best, but they are fine and I enjoy them every now and then. The old Studios and Solos were complete crap however. They sounded terrible, they felt cheap, and they were uncomfortable in my opinion. I barely had them for a week before I sold them.
 
Studios 2013
 
I opened these up 3 hours ago and have been listening to them ever since. I am coming at this short review from the perspective of an average consumer. I am by no means an audiophile and I am not going into topic on the highs and mids and lows, cause frankly I don't care. I care about how they sound to my ears, how comfortable they are, how portable, and price.
 
Comfort
 
GREAT! They feel much better than the old Studios. They fit wonderfully on my ears and they are much lighter and smaller. If you have big ears they may be uncomfortable, not sure. 
 
Portability
 
They come with a nice hard-shell case and fold to a portable size. No issues with portability. I would not want to throw them into a bag without their case however, unlike the Beats Pros.
 
Sound Quality
 
Honestly, they are wonderful. The old Studios were terrible in my opinion and the Solos were complete trash. Everything about them hurt my ears. My music did not sound anything like what they sound like on my B&W MM1s at home. These new Studios, however, sound great. Are they as good as other audiophile-grade headphones in their price range? I am not sure. Some people believe so and others say no. It does't really matter much to me, I like them either way.
 
Noise cancellation is annoying. I wish they did not have it, or had it and gave us the option to turn it off. That being said, the noise cancellation does not produce much pressure on your ears and that is a great improvement. These headphones only produce a relatively quiet white noise for noise cancellation, and while that is good, it can also annoy you in between songs or (if your ears are really adept) during songs.
 
Price
 
At full price, are they worth it? Honestly, I think so. I didn't pay full price, but I would have gladly paid it. They sound great for what they are, they look amazing, they feel stronger, and they carry with them the feeling of 'class'. 
 
Conclusion
 
A much improved product on every front. They feel and look great, they sound equally great, and they are worth the premium price in my opinion. I wish they didn't have noise cancellation, but what can you do. Lastly, all this Beats negativity turns most people off of their products. Audiophiles everywhere complain about their sound quality, and blah blah blah, but I think they sound wonderful and really Beats is designed for the average consumer not for audiophiles. If you like the Beats line of products and are excited for a much better sounding pair of cans from them then these are for you. If you don't like noise cancellation then look elsewhere. Try to get them on sale.
 
You can read all of my impressions on my newly created website: here.

 
Previously I owned a Logitech 2:1 set up that packed some powerful bass, but after 6 years it was time for something new. I did lots of research on small 2:0 and 2:1 speaker setups that had good audio quality and it was Lunatique's review of them that persuaded me to purchase the A2s. I also didn't have much room, so they had to be small.
 
From the second I lifted up their postage box I knew I would be in love with their build quality. The box they came in must have weighed a good 15 pounds. I ran home from the mailbox and unboxed them. When I got the box opened all the cables were wrapped in their own velvet pouches (a really neat feature). The A2s were also in their own velvet bags; obviously for travel, but I do not plan on moving them much, if at all. Each speaker came in at just under 4 pounds. They stand about 6 inches tall and have a width of about 4 inches. They are about 5 inches long. So, these speakers are SMALL. But their build quality far surpasses any desktop speakers I have owned, extremely satisfied. 
 
I was a little worried about the silk tweeters and Kevlar woofers, both being exposed without any type of covering. But they seem to be well designed and shouldn't be a problem ... unless you have kids in your house. I remember when I was younger I liked to stick my finger in the holes on the speakers :O
 
I am no audiophile, but these speakers sound great. I listen to rock, pop, metal, and a little country and everything sounds wonderful. That being said, I find the bass to be a little muddled at times, perhaps it is just me. Listening to Linkin Park and electronic music such as Basshunter, I noticed the bass is too heavy. I realize Lunatique pointed this out in his review, but I thought I could cope with it, seeing as I enjoy a good amount of bass in my music. But, when I got the A2s on my desk and hooked up my Mac and such, the bass was kind of annoying me. So I used the EQ built into iTunes to adjust the bass a bit.
 
As an average consumer, that loves his music, these little guys are great. The price was in my range and the size was what I had in mind. I hope their sound quality grows with age.
 
The fact that the volume nob is on the back of the left speaker annoys me. Because I use these with my laptop, and I take my laptop with me everywhere, unplugging the A2s without turning them off leads to some feedback. To turn them off it requires reaching around the back of the left speaker and turning the volume knob to the off position. Just a little annoyance I have with them.
 
I have been noticing some weird sounds coming from my right speaker. I am not sure if it is interference from something else in my room or if there is something wrong or if a cord is loose. I have always used the supplied 3.5 mm cable that came with the speakers but I decided to swap it for a right and left component cable to 3.5 mm. The sound sort of disappeared but was still noticeable. It sounds like static and sometimes it grows in volume and sometimes it disappears. Now I turn off the speakers all the time when they are not in use because the noise is annoying me. Contacted customer service but just received an email back about troubleshooting steps (I did not find that very helpful, it wasn't even a personal email addressing my specific problem). I use these speakers with my iMac now so they always stay plugged in.
 
I have boxed up the speakers now and they are either going in the trash or just sitting down in the basement. When I was listening to music yesterday the woofer in the right speaker started to rumble, like something was loose inside of it. When you blast the music it disappears but in lower volumes it is annoyingly clear. I decided to open up the speakers and see if something was loose or vibrating against the woofer. I was surprised when I opened up the back of the speaker because it was so clean inside and well put together. They insulated the inside of the speaker which I am assuming should stop stuff from vibrating around. I removed it and found that all the wires and connections were soldered neatly in place and had been glued down. No sign of any wires causing the sound, or anything else. I put the speaker back together and played some music and heard the sound again. Only in the right speaker. At this point I am assuming the right woofer is busted. I contacted support again.
 
Today I received an email from support that is identical to the initial email I received from them in September, a bunch of different troubleshooting steps which have nothing to do with my problem. I didn't bother emailing them back. I put the speakers in their box and put them in the basement. It looks like I need new speakers, and they won't be AudioEngine brand.

Bought these because they were cheap and because everyone says such great things about them. Didn't expect much but was pleasantly surprised with their sound. I don't know much about good sound quality but these certainly sound a lot better than your average pair of cans. I did not realize the cord would be so long, I probably should have better researched them. Obviously these headphones were;t designed for walking around with, but that is what I use them for. The cord is really long and just gets caught on everything so perhaps not the best choice for a pair of walk-around-cans. Build quality is superb, no issues. They tend to get uncomfortable after a couple hours but, what else is new. 
 
Overall, for an average consumer, they are great headphones. I am very happy with them. 
 
I sold them. Not because I didn't like them, but because they weren't getting used. I wanted something that was easily portable, which these were to some degree, but they were not fun to walk around with with such a long cord. Plus, I got the coiled cord which, sometimes can be great, was a pain in the ass since it kept getting caught on my pockets, etc. If the cord was shorter then I would have kept them. I am not complaining though, I should have known how long the cord was, they are for DJs after all and not leisurely listening. Some may not have a problem with it of course.