[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drag0n /img/forum/go_quote.gif Being one of the very FEW that has actually HEARD these headphones......Ive stated like 3 or 4 times in this thread that THEY DO NOT HAVE A HIP HOP BOOMY FLABBY FART-CANNON SOUND!!!!!...

I had an opportunity to listen to this cans for a brief moment (about 3 songs) and I agree w/ your impressions. At the same time I was able to listen to the Bose on ear headphones and I was very impressed, if "she who must be obeyed" had not been there I would have purchase them.

 

[Drag0n]

Ok, this time i heard them at the Apple Store with my own player and amp (i think, cuz they went under the table then out again, so who knows whats in there)....and,,,


Theyre worth $100usd for sound, and being theyre noise cancelling, ill throw in another $50, so $150usd, and if i must throw in the fact that theyre promoted by someone famous(Dr Dre)....$200 at the very most.

Highs a bit rolled, not very detailed, bass isnt fast or punchy but certainly not bloated or boomy either. Nothing special about them except for the fact that theyre closed and block some sound, and the noise cancelling blocks even more.
They block noise very well, but they sound average, and not like RAP phones.

My Q40 sounds better, but isnt noise cancelling.
Any Grado is more detailed.
I prefer them to the Bose they had for $149 soundwise, although the Bose wasnt noise cancelling.

I wont buy them. No Point.
Way over-priced. If they were $150, i can see buying them for the plane because of the noise cancelling.
So now i heard them blasting at Best Buy, and on my Zune with my Portaphile at the Apple Store.

 

[w0lla]

hmm How do these compare to senns HD25-1/2 ? (tried searching this thread but didnt find any answer).

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhythmdevils /img/forum/go_quote.gif I listened to these at Best Buy the other day. Didn't realize there was so much hu-bub about them! I can't say much on sound though, because the way they were set up for auditioning was so frustrating that I walked away pretty quick. They were set up at a specially made listening station for them, at the front of the store. there were light up buttons you could push for 3 genres of music R&B HiP HOP and something else and a fourth button that said something like "POWER BOOST", which maybe raised the voume a little? but there was NO volume control, and they were set to an excrutiating volume, so i couldnt let them stay fully sealed on my head. really annoying marketing scam. we all know how catchy high volume can be. but in their defence, they did sound pretty clean, a little prickly on the top end (but they were too loud) and the bass was STRONG but not bad subwoofer boomy. I'd say they sounded similar to K81dj's but with more soundstage. My impression was that they were trying to mimic the car audio sort of sound signature. and they were defintiely optimized for rap, etc. not sure they would sound any better than a farting hyeena for folk music... but they weren't that terrible. i wouldnt pay 350 though

Agreed. I stumbled onto these yesterday at my local Best Buy when I was out running errands for other stuff. The volume was horribly high. I couldn't even stand to keep them next to my ears for more than a split-second. As you say, the only volume control turns them up.

Sort of reminded me of the old switcheroo-to-the-more-efficient-speaker-trick: sounds louder, must be good.

From what little I heard, I agree that the bass was decent and not bloated. However, the highs were sizzling and there seemed to be no midrange - sort of like a well-powered Sony V6. There is popularity in that type of sound signature, though, so it's not a show-stopper, by any means.

The headband is a major turn off for me: some sort of hunk of acrylic plastic with hard edges - not very ergonomic, IMHO.

The cups were also disappointing - very similar to Bose's with that scrunchy little ear cushion.

Again, the sound will probably impress the masses and the setup next to the iPods at Best Buy will get some major traffic.

I'm not trading my Senns in anytime soon, though.

EDIT: wolla,
"my Senns" includes a set of HD25-1 II's. The HD25's are really a sterling pair of headphones. Save your money from the Beats and buy a pair of those, instead. You won't be sorry.

 

[w0lla]

ah k, just wanted to know how these would compare

I allready own a pair of senns

 

[Deadneddz]

I just dont understand why Best Buy would present them in such an EAR BLEEDING way.

It was waaaay too loud for me

 

[tomb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deadneddz /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just dont understand why Best Buy would present them in such an EAR BLEEDING way. It was waaaay too loud for me

Yep - they were very loud, and that's an understatement.

I just tried my Sony V6's after not listening to them for ~6mos. With a good amp, the Beats have nothing on a Sony V6 - very similar: deep, slamming bass, very recessed midrange, with quick, sizzling highs - but the V6's may be faster with deeper bass slam, if my memory serves. The V6's are certainly not another $250 worse. Again, if you like that sort of thing ...

The Best Buy salesmen in my store were pushing heavily a comparison with the Sony MDR-NC6, probably not very fair for a $50 pair of headphones. They would not be doing that if they had V6's, I think.

 

[Usagi]

Curious,

Did anyone ask sales staff to reduce the volume of the display models?

 

[Drag0n]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Usagi /img/forum/go_quote.gif Curious, Did anyone ask sales staff to reduce the volume of the display models?

Yes.....and they said its what the marketers wanted and thats the way it is, and thats the way it will stay.

Whatever.

 

[younglee200]

I tried them from a friend who works at Monster Cables and I thought everything except the bass was just mediocre, nowhere near the marked price tag (ofc, he got them for free)

He gave me the cables for the headphones (about 8 ft length) and attached a 1/8 adapter in the end and told me I can fiddle around with it... gonna try to see if I can somehow get it working with my livewires

 

[Lil' Knight]

I also got chance to hear it at Best Buy.
The opinion that it sounds like the K81dj is quite right. However, I think it's more comfortable than the K81. The bass is BIG quantity, but fairly bad quality. Not deep. Not tight.
The high in the demo track (hiphop) sometimes hurt my ears

Can't stand it.

 

[LeeG23]

So I think you will all find this interesting, I have stumbled upon head-fi because of the "beats" headphones - I haven't heard them yet, but the $350 price tag led me to believe there are better cans out there (Monster ALWAYS overcharges....)

I am a bit of a gadget freak, much more into home theater than audiophile stuff, and was using my ipod/iphone with a pair of ER6i cans for a while, until they stopped working (funny buzzing from one ear...not sure the issue), and didnt have more dough to drop on headphones at the time. Now I have lousy stock buds.

Just got the the new iphone, and I am looking for a new set of good headphones. The beats caught my eye back at CES, and I am still interested. I read the whole thread, and despite many here thinking they won't do well, here's why I am still interested (not in any order of importance):

1) Noise cancellation - I would like to use these on plane flights, so I actually want noise cancellation. Cant be a purist 100% of the time, and this will be nice for me. Having gone through this from the HT end of things, I wont touch the Bose QCs.

2) Nice looking/well-built - they do look nice, and from the reviews above, seem solidly put together.

3) Good sound quality - Most reviews above start with low expectations, and most people seem pleasantly surprised. I get the distinct impression that had these been from another manufacturer they may have even been rated higher. There may be better sounding phones out there, but as you can see, this is one of several factors in my decision.

4) iPhone integration - 100% of the time I use headphones they are connected to my iPhone as the source. 100%. Whether in the city, on a plane, music, movies, podcasts, whatever. If someone calls me, I click the cord and answer the call, or if I dont like the song, I double click the cord to skip it. This integration is REALLY nice. It seems the Beats have this with the Monster iPhone cable.


So yes, I know (based on what everyone is writing) that there are headphones that sound better, but for me there are several factors here other than ONLY sound quality, and I need to make a balanced decision. BUT, $350 is a lot of dough.

Since I am very new here, and the Beats got me here and opened my eyes...can you all direct me to some other cans that might be similar to the above factors I am interested in (maybe even at a lower price point)????

As far as iPhone compatibility, I know there are add-ons I can use for any phones:

Griffin Technology: SmartTalk


Thanks so much...I am anxious to learn-

L

 

[Denver Max]

I just bought some beats (got them half off, or else I wouldn't have even considered them). I saw them in person first and liked the aesthetics, so I decided to drop what was necessary to try out a pair.

I've only had them 2 days, but here's my impression so far. This is with my ears being used to the very analytical Livewires and the detailed Proline 750 by Ultrasone that I listen to almost every day:

1. The noise canceling technology is not as good as the circumaural Bose QC2s, but the hiss is much less noticeable, as Jude has said earlier. Unfortunately, the nice little switch on the side that normally on a NC headphone would turn off the technology simply powers the headset completely off! That's odd.

2. The headphones have a smaller bass quantity than my the Proline 750. Considering the market these things are aiming for (trust me, I saw the people who were eyeing them in the Apple Store), this was a surprise to me.

4. There's an integrated microphone, which means I can make calls with these things over the internet on my Nokia internet tablet. Huge plus for me as I'm not a big fan of bluetooth headsets!

3. The headphones do a decent job detail-wise with simple music:

(all Apple Lossless tracks, source currently my Mac Mini directly as my iBasso D1 is broken)

Hip Hop
- Kanye West - Stronger, Flashing Lights sounded quite pleasant.
- Common - The People sounded great
- Bun B - Get Throwed actually felt bass-light for the style of music, but was still not bad on these cans

Acoustic/"Indie", if that's even a genre anymore
- Pedro the Lion - Bad Things to Such Good People sounded sub-par compared to my other setups. The acoustic presence is not as lively.
- Sufjan Stevens - Chicago is a perfect example of a track where these cans cannot be appreciated. There are many instruments being played simultaneously, and these cans for some reason have a lot of trouble with that type of layered music.

Electronic, of different sorts
- She Wants Revenge - These Things sounds great. No complaints here. More "fun" than my livewires for sure.
- Matmos - Steam and Sequins... sounds above average, and again is a lot of fun.
- Gui Boratto - Chromophobia is awesome, and might be the first track out of this electronic bunch where I'd say I enjoy it more than I do with the Ultrasone Proline 750.

Metal
Shai Hulud - Chorus of the Dissimilar. In what in my opinion is the best produced album of the year so far, the Monster Beats FAIL HARD. Terrible. Not a metal can.
Amon Amarth - Hermod's Ride is again relatively atrocious, as this headphone cannot seem to handle distorted guitars well, nor can it handle too many instruments playing at once.
Mastodon - Capillarian Crest is again not much fun at all, and I'd much rather grab my Livewires if I were on a long flight and needed some sort of isolation.

So bottom line is:
PROs: Stylish, decent noise cancelling, good with electronic and hip hop, integrated microphone
CONs: Not technical at all, expensive at full price for the amount of detail they have

Hope you enjoyed my insight. This should definitely not be a Head-Fiers first, second, or even third choice at the price range, but for people who place other factors like extra features, looks, and NC technology for flying in the mix, they might do the trick.

 

[thedauntlessone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeeG23 /img/forum/go_quote.gif wall of text

You can look into a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7. If you want a mic integrated on the headphone then you're out of luck.
Audio-Technica - Microphones, headphones, wireless microphone systems, noise-cancelling headphones & more : ATH-ANC7 : QuietPoint® Active Noise-cancelling Headphones

I'm glad you found head-fi. While 350 dollars is a lot of dough for non head-fiers, once you make the first 100-150 dollar purchase for headphone gear, it becomes 500+ very quickly. That's what happened to me. Damage has been 2000+ dollars just for headphone gear since February 08!!

 

[pkshiu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeeG23 /img/forum/go_quote.gif As far as iPhone compatibility, I know there are add-ons I can use for any phones: Griffin Technology: SmartTalk

I use the Shure SE530 with their "music phone adaptor" for the iPhone. Because the E530 has a modular cord system (meaning starts with a short cord) it works pretty well, not as well as the integrated ones, but works. The E530 is a very good sounding IEMs, and cost not much more at discounted prices. Being IEM, they are also mildly noise muting, and much smaller to carry.

P.K.