Beats Studio by Dr. Dre - Hi-Def Noise-Canceling Over-Ear Headphones

"The Beats by Dr Dre Studio..."
Big words... Big names... Ridiculous quality...
Really??? $299??? Hell yeah, I'm not dreaming, no way... The Beats by Dr Dre Studio's suck... the sound quality suck as well... the build quality aren't any better... the comfort may be a bit above average, but there are better for it's price... and the price??? DO NOT BUY THEM!!!

(Sorry for my english but i'm italian)
The only positive side of these headphones are the cable (Monster quality), the comfort and the attractive design.
The audio quality is a tragedy, weak mids, too much basses and trebles like a 30$ headphones, they absolutely not worth the price they ask, maybe a correct price can be a maximum of 90$.

Let me start by saying I am not an audiophile, just a consumer.
 
Pros:
They are good looking.
Bass heavy for some kind of genres is good
Carrying case
Cables
 
Cons:
Cost
Bass heavy all the time
Glossy finish means scratching
 
Value:
If you buy them I am sure that you would be happy, they look great. They are not as bad as people say in terms of sound quality if you are listening off your Phone/ipod. I just think that you could do better for the price like the Logitech UE 6000 cost less and sound better.

Right up, I'm gonna say that Beats gets a lot of hate on Head-Fi and I certainly understand why. They are very much bass heavy and the bass quality is pretty crap, but I do think that having Beats around is actually really good. They were my first pair of headphones and they were the headphones that left me wanting more and the headphones that got me into higher end stuff. Below is My full review:
Design, Accessories and Packaging
Beats are not designed for audiophiles, but rather for people who care more about style than SQ. I actually think that they look pretty good and they are one of the most comfortable pairs of headphones that I have tried. The red "b" symbol has almost become a fashion symbol rather than a headphone brand. People wear them around their necks more than they actually listen to them. Beats has certainly put more effort into marketing then into the actual headphones. The packaging is very flashy and it comes with a nice semi-hard case, an 1/4 inch adapter, 2 cables and a cleaning cloth. From the outside, it actually looks like a nice headphone, but when you listen to it, you will realise how bad it really is. Oh, and build quality is also very bad and the headphones are constructed fully of cheap glossy plastic.
Sound
I must say that these sound pretty crap and very bad for their money.
Bass
The bass is very much exaggerated in a terrible way. Say if you have an IE8, the bass is 5 times as big as it and not in a good way either. It is certainly very boomy and bleeds not only into the midrange, but into the pretty much non-existent treble as well. The quality is nothing special, maybe a bit better than a pair of stock Apple earbuds. Overall, this may appeal to those people who like hugely overexaggerated bass which to me, sounds like crap.
Midrange
The mids are quite recessed and if you view a frequency graph of the Beats Studios, you will see that it is rather V shaped. They certainly do sound distant, sort of like the ATH-M50, but more recessed. The bass bleeds into the mids, drowning out much of the mids. Vocals sound like a muddy mess. A good thing that you could say is that there's no sibilance whatsoever, but it is so veiled that it's not really saying much.
Treble
The treble is absolutely terrible on the studios. Apparently, the frequency graph is V shaped, but II just cant hear how the highs are emphasized. Yes, I do think that the mids are oddly recessed, but the treble is almost non existent. If you can imagine your neutral headphones have their bass turned up 15 DB and the treble turned down 10, then you have the Beats studios.
Conclusion
I honestly have no idea why someone would buy this headphone except for the looks. The bass overpowers the entire spectrum and it is lacking detail and resolution. It's worth something like $80.

I've got to hand it to Monster - as mediocre as these headphones are, they've done a bloody good job marketing them. No other brand of headphones has developed such a cult following. They are just about the only brand that's easily recognisable by pretty much every organic life form on the planet. They appear in TV commercials, magazines and music videos. Wearing them in the street automatically attracts attention, for better or worse. The label on the back of the box claims reference-level sound quaility. In reality, none of this is deserved, yet people still keep falling for it. Hell, I fell for it and bought them about a year ago - a decision which I came to regret. 
 
Let's look at the most obvious stuff fist. The design of Beats Studio is incredibly distinctive and frankly, really nice. It's simplistic and elegant enough on one hand and and manages to attract attention on the other. The finish is glossy though and is therefore prone to proudly display each and every smudge or fingerpint. They might be a tad too big for someone as well. 
 
The build quality is nothing special but it's not too shabby either. It holds together a lot better than its smaller sibling Beats Solo and generally feels pretty solid, although the plastic layer on the top looks somewhat brittle. I've heard people complain about the layer cracking but I've never had that problem, even after a year of daily use. The cable is detachable which is always a plus.

The set is als extremely comfortable with its soft cushions and light weight. Transport is not a problem either, the headphones can be worn around the neck with surprisingly little discomfort, they fold up nicely and they come with a nice impact-absorbing case.
 
Now this is all nice and well but unfortunately, the same positive qualities don't carry over to where it matters the most - the sound. To be completely fair, they are not the worst-sounding headphones I've heard. The sound is fairly immersive and a lot of fun to listen for someone (like me) who used to have an inferior set before them, they're just not what you'd expect from a set of cans in that price category. For one, the bass is fairly heavy - perhaps not as heavy as in Denon D1100 but unfortunately not of the same quality. The main problem is that it sort of spills all over the place and the mids and highs feel a bit muffled as a result. Which brings me to the next point.

 The active noise cancellation. Now the person who thought that forcing me to have the noise cancellation on at all times was a good idea should be kicked in their privates. Not only is the constant buzzing interfering with the sound quality but it also requires two AAA batteries to work. Oh, you're out of batteries? Then enjoy your useless piece of $300 plastic.

Last but not least, the headphones suffer from a range of little annoyances that could be overlooked individually but put them together and you'll be searching for the nearest second-hand electronics shop to sell your Beats to. First of all, the sound leakage. Make sure you listen to them at a low volume when you're on a bus - even then, you'll still probably earn a few less than enthousiastic looks from people around you. Second,  Remember the sound your old computer speaker used to make when your mobile started ringing? Yes. They do that. You're looking at $300 headphones that are not shielded from interference. This also carries over to attempting to use them with your PC. In some cases, you're going to hear more of your hard-drive than your games.

So what's the moral of this story? Well don't trust marketing. Beats aren't the worst headphones ever (unlike what many an audiophile would have you believe), they are, however, far inferior to most headphones you can get for the price (unlike what the media and general public would have you believe). They look nice and are supremely comfortable but you need to ask yourself whether that's reason enough to justify a $300 pricetag.

Had a chance to test these headphones from a friend. Nothing good to say about these headphones, they sound horrible, like a plastic speaker. I myself owned beats solo HD which are really horrible sounding headphones.

Borrowed these for a week for the purpose of studying them (having previously borrowed the Beats Solo HD from another friend for studying) and the friend I borrowed these from swears up and down that they're real, and I believe him. I'll talk about 4 criteria: design, comfort, noise canceling, and sound.
 
Design
These headphones, as with all the other Beats, are pleasing to look at. They're shiny and look like they have a piano finish, and their shape gives them a cool look in a "blingy" sort of way. Personally, that look isn't really my cup of tea; reminds me of Skullcandy. The design is clearly made to be flashy and easy to show off, like it was designed for high schoolers that want to brag about them.
 
Unfortunately, although they're good looking, they don't have the strength to back it up. The plastic is brittle, and under that thick band of plastic there's only a thin metal band keeping the headband together. The earcups are also somewhat rattly, adding to the feeling of flimsiness. Although on a brighter note, the unpluggable thick red cable that plugs into the left side is a plus. It's strong, and even if it gets yanked, it's more likely to unplug itself than break.
 
 
Comfort
Not much to say here. It's a typical around-ear headphone with soft pads. Comfortable, but might make your ears sweaty on a hot day.
 
 
Noise Canceling
To test out the noise canceling, I brought these to the local audio store on a busy day when people were testing the stereos and car subwoofers in the other corners of the store and went for the Bose Quietcomfort 15s and Sennheiser PXC450s (also active noise canceling headphones) that were on display in the store. I first put on the Beats and turned them on. Then I turned them off and put on the Bose QC15, then took those off and put on the Sennheiser PX450s. Shockingly, suprisingly, totally completely unexpectedly, totally OMG, unbelievably, (that was sarcasm, by the way) the Beats' noise canceling couldn't match up to the Bose QC15s nor the Sennheiser PXC450s. It did negate a small amount of the low frequency ambient noise, but it didn't do even half of what the Bose QC15s and Sennheiser PXC450s did.
 
 
Sound
Bass is big. That's a plus for me, but for those of you seeking an accurate response or even using these for the *cough cough* STUDIO, the Beats STUDIOs are not the answer. Don't get me wrong, big bass is fun when you're listening to lots of dubstep like I do, but the bass here is slightly "mushy." I prefer punchy bass over mushy bass.
 
Mids are muddy, mostly because of the lack of clarity. Instruments sound like they're blended together; it's hard to tell them apart sometimes. There're some of those moments where it's like "Is that the piano or the guitar?" Ironic, because the box says these are "HIGH DEFINITION" headphones. No, these are not high definition at all.
 
Highs are not really much to brag about. Some detail is missing around these frequencies. Wait a minute! Dr Dre himself said that when people aren't using Beats, they're "NOT HEARING ALL THE MUSIC." Huh? We're not hearing all the music even if we ARE wearing the Beats! But I digress. Bottom line, there's some sound missing from the high end through these headphones.
 
 
Conclusion
It might sound like I'm bashing these headphones, but I'm not. I'm judging them from the $300 standard. If I'd been judging these from the $50 standard, these would actually have gotten 4 stars. But from the $300 standard, the construction is flimsy and the sound is muddy. Its two strong points are the appearance and the bass. Look, if we ignore the price, these are not horrible headphones. But when you pay that $300 for these, you're overpaying by $250. Is the Beats brand really worth that?

The Good:
These headphones are banging!... I never pictured myself buying a $300 headset but something about these made me walk out the store a very gratified customer. I was blown away by the acoustics and noise cancellation that drowns out background noise leaving you drenched in a bass heavy orchestra! These headphones were made with hip-hop in mind and they bang! If you got a few hundred to spoil yourself go ahead but I warn you be careful walking down the street. People have been walking into traffic and hurting themselves...Really these are some very stylish, comfortable and dynamic sounding headphones.
The Bad:
$300.00 is a lot for headphones, seriously even for those who have this type of money to throw away. They are also very bulky, I would suggest getting a pair of in-the-ear type phones if you plan to be mobile a lot, these are better for chilling at home are in a studio…..The battery cap is flimsy so must be careful not to break it when changing batteries.
Conclusion:
These earphones rock and come with all the accessories you can use including a nice case you can attach to your keys or back pack. I mean the box is even pleasant to the eye and you’ll probably end up keeping. You can flex theses headphones and they will snap back in to place…..I would have never took the time to write this review had I not been very impressed……

.

I will start my completely realistic review by saying how sad I truly am to see so many "abusive" reviews toward Beats headphones lineups (except for the Solo/HDs, they do sucks overall ).
(I'm also not a Beats-Junkie, or even a young man who embraces the word SWAG or YOLO.)
 
Saying things like:

1. "Beats are overpriced piece of plastic crap & nothing compared to audiophile headphones AKG blablaseries, Audio Technica blablaseries, and Sennheiser blablaseries!
2. "It's a total marketing scam! It's not even an audiophile headphones with that similar pricetag!"
3. "Get these headphones instead (with lists) If you wanna get a much better sound at WAAAY WAAAY cheaper pricetags and MUUUCH MUCH better overall sound quality. screw Beats!"
4. "This should be priced at blabladollars considering the sound quality!"
5. "The way artists & producers wanted you to hear. Yeah right."
6. ..and more.

 
 
Here are my responses:
 
IT'S A FASHION HEADPHONES! My goodness you guys seriously (-_-).... Why are most of you guys (with all due respect) comparing it with audiophile headphones?? Of course it's not gonna win. It's like comparing a newly released fancy-looking casual laptop with a 5 years-old gaming laptop for their ability of playing hardcore games.
 
IT'S NOT EXACTLY A MARKETING SCAM. While I agree their marketing/copywriting strategy are indeed genius, I don't think they are scamming. Here are why:

1. They've NEVER marketed Beats as a true audiophile headphones as far as I'm aware of.
2. Dr. Dre have stated during the press conference that they made Beats (Studio, that time) as the kind of headphones that represents what a modern music should sounds and feels like, NOT what all kinds of music should EXACTLY sounds like.
3. When he said that it makes the music sounds like the way artists & producers wanted us to hear, he could be right. As modern music sounds relatively boomy & full of (electronic/digital) instruments nowadays, perfectly balanced audiophile and monitoring headphones can't capture the EMOTIONS that the artists and producers aimed at.

 
FASHION HEADPHONES ARE EXPENSIVE FOR A REASON! Beats Studio, in this case, priced at You pay that much for 70% head/fashion accessories & packaging, 20% Audio Quality, and 10% Built Quality.
Fashion headphones are in similar class to travel/outdoor headphones; it HAS to look good, because you'll wear it in a place where people are around you (and possibly see you). Otherwise, people will laugh so hard at you wearing a big-ass long-chord visually-swagless headphones (there I said 'swag' already) around the urban street. FYI I was once being laughed for carrying my friend's Sennheiser HD 700 around the street of Oxford Street in London despite the superb audio quality it produce.
So if you're looking for a headphones that screams fashion-statement more above anything, this is it. Beats are in that kind of headphone class, so comparing it with a true audiophile headphone is just plain stupid to be honest :S.
 
 
I've had a chance to try several fashion-headphones like Skullcandy, Marshall, Ministry of Sound, House Of Marley, and Incase. None of them, arguably, can top the overall value of Beats Studio in this case. While the audio quality are far beyond audiophile, it sounds excellent for a fashion headphone (so far, I haven't tried the Monster Inspiration yet). Even though I hate the fact that they do need batteries to work & sometime produces interference when wore in between strong wifi/cellular signals.
 
The values of these cans are exceptional for those who look for fashion/travel headphones. If you're not one of those guys, YES, spend your money elsewhere.
I've found my Beats Studio to be an excellent travel companion, and it makes my music sounds exciting and fun to hear. I love it.
 
For those of you who wonder if I'm one of those "Beats Army", I'm NOT.
I own a pair of Monster Beats Studio (Red) for my travel headphones due to functionality & looks.
And I own a pair of Sennheiser HD 202 for my home studio recording & DJ set on-a-budget, and a pair of Sennheiser HD 280 Pro for critical video & audio editing and HDSLR separate audio monitoring. Solely because of the quality.
See right there? Know the class of your headphones before you judge .
 
With Love,
thepan

Before I got them stolen by a kid at school(the police are investigating) I really did enjoyed them. well to begin with I have never tried any akg,high end sennheiser, grado,denon, ultrasone, ect. gear so I can't compare to that, but to me the sound quality was great compared to the solo which the majority have.
 
Highs
The highs on the headphones are clear, there is no distortion and no muddiness compared to the beats solo, which are outright awful.
 
Mids
I didn't get too much time to experience these headphones because of them being stolen, so sorry, I currently have no information on the mids for these headphones
 
Bass
Now here is where the beats studio excel at. The bass is very strong and boomy, but sometimes it may overpower on some songs and can also distort. 
That is all people, first review, probably not the best

The good--
Pretty much all of my friends thought I was the man. In fact, I'm pretty sure like 5 other kids bought them because they saw me wearing them. I wouldn't say that these headphones are bad at all. For some reason all "audiophiles" proclaim that Beats are horrible without really listening to them all the way through. They are a good pair of headphones for someone who's looking for bass that overshadows everything. They are also comfortable at first but after a few hours your ears start to hurt from the pressure. They also have decent noise cancelling.
 
The bad--
The bad is, is that they are no where near as good as any other pair of headphones out there today. I tried the Shure SR440, ATH-A700s, and the Grado Sr60is and I can say that all of those headphones beat the Studio beats in a landslide. For some reason, Monster gave the placebo consumer affect that bass is everything. And now all people who buy beats, buy them because "oh they have amazing bass". Yeah... I'd like to tell them to get get some LCD2s... then come back to me. I feel like the mids, and highs just dont appear to me as well as the bass. These headphones are also INSANELY OVERPRICED. Not only that, they have inferior sound quality to audiophile headphones. These headphones are WORTH about $70 dollars. Not even $70.
 
The ugly--
They could be well respected headphones among the audiophile community but they aren't.

I bought these on a trip, mostly for noise cancelling on the airplane, and because my previous portable headphone broke. I was fully aware that I was buying an overpriced headphone, as far as sound quality goes. I compared the sound of these to a friend's 50 dollar skullcandy, and the only relevant difference was treble and bass quantity between the two. So here's a review, where I won't review the cans as if they were my 1000 dollar Sennheisers, but for what they actually are.
 
First of all, the beats are attractive, in a fashion-like way. The sleek design and high gloss black finish looks sweet, and details like metall and the logo on top of the headband give them an exclusive look.
 
Comfort/fit is pretty good, but the small earpads sometimes heat up my ears and the pressure of the headband can start getting uncomfortable after a while. The noise cancelling function (requiring batteries) works okay, but the headphones starts to leak sound at higher volumes and a low noise is always heard when music is not playing. The headphone is foldable, making it easy to transport while on the move, and a useful mute switch on the right earcup is a big +. The cable is detachable, but it appears to make static noises at times.
 
Build quality isn't something to cheer for. The plastic design and materials on headband and earpads feels cheap, and the earcups rattle. Construction is pretty solid though.

About the sound...
The first thing I noticed was the complete lack of soundstage openness. The quite aggressive sound signature is clearly coming from the left and right. No center image, no air and no depth at all. It just sounds very fake and electronic.
 
The highs are clearly flawed, being noisy and sometimes piercing with strong treble presence in the music (some female vocals for example). The mids are pretty sweet with more relaxed female vocals, but overall dry and soulless (kind of what you would expect from a 30 dollar headphone )

The bass lacks any sense of realism, lacking air and power. The kick is there, and hip hop entusiasts will appreciate how the bass performs, but for anything else than electronic, mainstream music - this won't cut it.
 
You should get these if you consider design more important than sound quality. The detachable cable, mute-switch and noise cancelling are all useful, and I would highly recommend it as a portable fashion headphone - if it weren't for the price.
 
For the person who's not into headphones and just care about looks, these would probably seem very expensive. I'm not that person, and the price didn't really hurt my budget that much, but as a serious listener I look at these for what they are: a fashion accessory. The sound quality is not good enough for a serious listener expecting a 300 dollar headphone of this kind to deliver value. 
 
As far and sound goes, NOT recommended.
 
 

It's about time I warn prospective buyers how bad these are.
Have tested them in stores, at home, and have concluded that these are exceptional fart cannons with a built-in toilet.
Spend your money elsewhere.

the good~~~
if you have heard these things, there is something very addictive about them. they are a very nice looking pair of headphones, and they sound very good to the untrained ear(heavy bass, good highs). These headphones also come with a warranty that lasts one full year, and i like how when mine broke, they sent me a new pair sealed in box the second that they received my defective ones.
 
the bad~~~
these things are super flimsy! have you ever heard them in best buy? chances are you heard one ear of them! mine broke even though i completely baby them, and i had to send them in to get fixed by warranty. When they are put on a HATS machine, they have bad ratings in distortion, tracking, and worst of all, frequency response.
 
The ugly~~~
The worst part about these to me, is how genius the marketing team for monster is. one thing about these headphones, is that they are called "studio high definition) well, there isnt really a "high definition" standard for headphones, and if there was, these wouldnt be it. I feel kinda like i was lied to by them in a way. also, they are called "studio" and it says their purpose is for people recording in the studio. well, in reality, we all know that people in the studio use headphones that have super super flat frequency response, and they are normally pretty ugly. there is a lot of stuff done on tv to make these look better than they are. they sound great yes, but they arent what they are said to be. in the end, im very sad that i hate these so much because I remember loving them to death in the first place. i have learned a lot about audio since then, and can do a lot better than these headphones in the given price range

well, surprisingly, i actually like the sound from these.  and when i travel, these are the ones i take with me.  they fold up into a pretty compact semi-hard case.  i like how you can press one side to cut out the music so you can listen to someone who wants to talk to you.
 
what i don't like is that it isn't circumaural but, that is my personal preference.  in addition, it needs a couple of batteries to work actively.  i wish it would've at least just worked passively w/out the batteries.
 
i got them pretty cheap from an authorized dealer (online) so look around b/c i wouldn't have paid full price either.

Very unbalanced sound for me. I couldn't try too many different kind of music, but the fat bass was way too much for me. I thought the demo model was damaged. 

I dont know why lots of headfiers keep on bashing this brand but honestly the studios are pretty good. Clearly the bashers and those who have joined the bandwagon havent tried them, dont own them, or tried them with a crappy source. Im not affiliated with monster but im trying my best to be as non bias in this review. First off the studios have strong bass, neutral mids, and clear highs. Ive been comparing them to audio technica es10, denon d1001, bose on ear, audio technica ws70, akg k181dj, and many more. I found out this had a unique sound from others which is non fatiguing. It might be true that for $350 msrp, these are a rip off but i got mine brand new for $150 so what can i say? Those looking for fun sounding headphones coupled with mediocre noise cancelling then these are the ones for you.

Love the design and the headphones are very comfortable.  Most importantly, the bass is nice and fat - call me strange, but I like it that way.  There are some small screws that have been working their way out over the last few months, but I was able to contact Monster for a replacement screw that popped out completely.  Overall, I'm happy with these headphones -- there are others I tried that cost a little less but these fit me best.