No one having heard them all will disagree with this: these are hands down the best of the Beats headphones. I'd say they're what the beats should have been in the beginning. They are very cool looking, but also breath quality. I think the are the most attractive of the bunch, with nice blend of red and black and cool, stealth-like matte finish. Materials are top notch. These feel seriously solid. Build quality is every bit as good as you'd expect for the price. They're also lightweight so thats a good thing (unlike the PROs).
Where they really surprised me was in the sound. The first thing I noticed was a very strong, powerful bass response. Probably the most elevated bass of all the beats headphones. But it's done very well. The bass doesn't feel loose, or slow, or muddy - it's just fun and energetic. Then came the midrange, and while the bass is more elevated and does overpower a bit, the midrange is present and with fairly good tonality. Nothing standard-setting, but it's a midrange that does the job fine. Doesn't feel passive and slow like the PROs and is much more refined than the Studio and Solos. These are EXCELLENT headphones for bass-heavy music. They really are, trust me.
Didn't really try out the treble. But I felt it was well behaved. Not piercing, not to recessed.
For hip-hop these are a great match. They have VERY strong bass, but at the same time quite clean and balanced sound. Not sloppy or muddy.
The comfort is not really great. The pads are pretty hard and they clamp a lot. Needs more padding.
I recommend (yup, I said it) these for fans of hip-hop and other bass-heavy music. They are not GREAT headphones, but they're fine. The bass is way too strong to work for acoustic music though so I wouldn't buy them if you are a serious listener seeking accurate sound. These are for putting on your head and just rock out for a while (not too long though, as they'll start to hurt eventually).
Now, do they stand up against the Audio technica M50 or the Sennheiser HD25? Well, no. Those dig more deeply into the music with more refinement. They are also much more neutral. So I guess these are still overpriced, or those two are great value... decide for yourself. You do get much better looks and build quality than the M50s or HD25s though.
Where they really surprised me was in the sound. The first thing I noticed was a very strong, powerful bass response. Probably the most elevated bass of all the beats headphones. But it's done very well. The bass doesn't feel loose, or slow, or muddy - it's just fun and energetic. Then came the midrange, and while the bass is more elevated and does overpower a bit, the midrange is present and with fairly good tonality. Nothing standard-setting, but it's a midrange that does the job fine. Doesn't feel passive and slow like the PROs and is much more refined than the Studio and Solos. These are EXCELLENT headphones for bass-heavy music. They really are, trust me.
Didn't really try out the treble. But I felt it was well behaved. Not piercing, not to recessed.
For hip-hop these are a great match. They have VERY strong bass, but at the same time quite clean and balanced sound. Not sloppy or muddy.
The comfort is not really great. The pads are pretty hard and they clamp a lot. Needs more padding.
I recommend (yup, I said it) these for fans of hip-hop and other bass-heavy music. They are not GREAT headphones, but they're fine. The bass is way too strong to work for acoustic music though so I wouldn't buy them if you are a serious listener seeking accurate sound. These are for putting on your head and just rock out for a while (not too long though, as they'll start to hurt eventually).
Now, do they stand up against the Audio technica M50 or the Sennheiser HD25? Well, no. Those dig more deeply into the music with more refinement. They are also much more neutral. So I guess these are still overpriced, or those two are great value... decide for yourself. You do get much better looks and build quality than the M50s or HD25s though.
