[YiddishHamburgla]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dookiex /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm contemplating the Yuin PK1s to go with my Tomahawk when it arrives. Maybe a pair of SE530s... MAYBE since they are $450.

i thought about the pk1 for quite some time myself. i have decided that i must go customs now. one advantage is that nobody else can wear them. that way when friends or co workers ask if they can listen to my iems i can say no without seeming rude. sharing iems is a disgusting concept.

 

[dookiex]

To that person that called me a rookie, just check my join date. I'm not a rookie, I just never bothered to post. Now I understand why I didn't post in the first place. I come here to post something intelligent and then get a blacklash of folks who dislike something based solely on a manufacturer's street cred, yet for some reason they believe they are authorities on the matter. There's a few other actual knowledgeable posters on Head-Fi who left for the same reason that I never posted on these boards before. Great way to maintain a community folks.

 

[kjpmkjp]

It was probably an accident. "D" and "R" are pretty close on the keyboard.

I'll give these phones the benefit of the 'Bose' (maybe they sound ok, but they aren't worth the price). I'll stick with my Ultrasone's, being a basshead and all.

 

[dookiex]

I love my Ultrasones as well

Have the Pro 650s and the ProLine 2500 (picked up the 2500 for dirt cheap, new). They are not very good for mobile use though, definitely needs an amp coming out from my iPods and iPhone. Hoping that the Tomahawk can drive them efficiently especially since they are both relatively low impedance, 40 for the 2500s and 75 for the 650s). Straight out of my Macbook, TV, JVC SU-DH1, they are all pretty weak at driving the Ultrasones. They sound great coming out of my receiver though.

 

[JayG30]

I didn't bother reading all the posts in this thread. I just felt inclined to comment after my experience with the Beats. I was at a local Best Buy and decided to give them a listen. Putting aside the fact that I find them hideous, I'll only comment on sound quality. First off, the displays at the stores for these things are horrible. The volume at it's lowest level is far to loud for any normal person to listen to. I could not even put them on my ears as I'm pretty sure I would have blown my eardrums up or at the very least damaged my hearing severely. So after telling them that I just wanted to see what they sounded like, me and a few of the sales guys took an open box model out and hooked it up to a few different players (for some reason BB & CC workers love talking tech with me and do stuff like this all the time). Hooked it up to a Ipod classic first. After I was extremely disappointed in that, we hooked it into my Cowon D2 (Cowon being well known for powerful amps and first class sound). Was still underwhelmed to say the least. I honestly could not find a single redeeming characteristic about these headphones. I don't know what the general feeling currently is on these headphones but I wouldn't spend even $50 on them. They just sounded.....horrific.

I did notice someone say that these are probably the best sounding headphones at chain stores like Best Buy. Best Buy stores around me carry, in store, the whole line of Shure IEM's, as well as a few other decent IEM's. A bit overpriced, but still not as bad as the Beats, and they no doubt sound light years better. As far as full sized cans, Best Buy doesn't carry anything worth mentioning in store. I think Circuit City does carry 1 or 2 work considering in store (or use to) but haven't checked in a while. Not that it would matter to me as I'd still buy offline for a better deal.

 

[hatethatgiraffe]

sorry dookie i never meant to call you a rookie!!
was the excellent spelling correction on my iphone which i forgot to double check before finalising my post!!
Sincere apologies!!

 

[fault151]

Yeh i have, i didnt rate them at all. They just seem like normal headphones to me, way overpriced cos you get them in apple stores and its just to do with marketing because there by someone so famous.

 

[dookiex]

hatethatgiraffe, apologies accepted and please accept mines as I did act a bit rash JayG30, please give us a more comprehensive impression of the Beats, same with fault151, it's really a good thing to know the impressions of the folks who have tried these out. I spent some solid time with them and to me, they sounded excellent for headphones that are fun to listen to, definitely not a set for critical listening.

 

[hatethatgiraffe]

I think the point which you last made compounds the feelings of other posts here dookie...... that they are not a set for critical listening.
I think the point that people are trying to get across that for that price people expect more and not just a fun headphone!
My mum, wife and two neices have fun listening to ibuds but that doesnt mean that they would spend big bucks buying them!
These definitely seem to be geared towards the Bose market share, nothing wrong with that, but rarely if ever are noise cancelling battery driven headphones accepted into the fold around these parts!

 

[dookiex]

I feel that's an issue as well. There's two broad and general views to music enjoyment in my honest opinion (which can be broken down further, but let's not get into too much granularity). They are as follows:

1) Audiophile/recording purpose/critical listening - You want the detail, you want the resolving power, you WANT to analyze the music to every last detail. You are gaining enjoyment from analyzing every component of the music or to be honest, sound. (This I have a personal problem with, audiophile style listening sometimes take the music out of the music and breaks it down very scientifically, is this TRULY what a artist or producer really meant for us to hear? I really doubt it).

2) Fun listening - This would be listening to the music for the music. Much like going to a concert. Is what you hear at a rock concert the best acoustics ever? Not really (this is coming from a rock, punk, and indie perspective, never been to any other live concerts other than maybe a few hip hop shows here and there). What do we get from a live show? Energy and atmosphere. Do people go to a Green Day concert and analyze every bit of the sound they are hearing? No, if one was to do that, they would miss the majority of the show. Listening to music with fun and musical enjoyment in mind, in it's purest sense, we would really be missing a lot of details that we would have otherwise picked up via critical listening.

The consensus, which I truly agree with, is that "fun" listening is suitable for both the general masses as well as us Head-Fiers. What is the big problem with "fun" listening then? The majority of the products out there for the mass market is honestly GARBAGE. Now the reason I really enjoy the Beats and am interested in picking up a set is because they serve their purpose and may possibly be one of the only mass market cans that sound good. This is a step in the right direction, a big step actually since these sound phenomenal for THEIR CLASS OF HEADPHONES. This is really a big big step and their success will help others realize that they are not limited to the horrible Bose headphones or stock buds.

Here's the big issue that has been way too prolonged, the general public truly believes Bose has the best sound quality because of all those ads that states that Bose is about sound quality. They don't live up to their claim. The Beats doesn't boldly boast that claim, but instead they are pretty honest with telling the public that these beat out Bose NC headphones and that the Beats sound great with good thumping bass and quality that is more towards the audiophile equipment. Are they claiming that these are for critical listening? No. They do their job well but they are just a tad bit expensive at $350.

 

[dookiex]

Let me just add one more thing, let's get back on track and provide full reviews of these cans. Maybe Monster will start reading these forums (they probably do already since they made the jump and released the Beats) and improve future headphones if they choose to make new ones. Constructive criticism folks, constructive criticism.

 

[AnGeLiCbOrIs]

I just tried a pair at Best Buy. To put it mildly, they outBose Bose.

 

[longie11]

Just watched a post game interview with Lebron James after an olympic basketball game and he was wearing the Beats. Did anyone else catch that? He had them hanging around his neck.

 

[JayG30]

Are there people that really need a more in depth review on these? Are their people that can't test these at there local Best Buy still? I only put my comments out there because I, for whatever reason, felt a need to get a thought from my brain to...well a forum I guess. I don't honestly expect anyone to take what I say seriously, or that my opinion on them to change that of others. I've always been someone that, when I feel someone is making an uninformed (and in my eyes bad) decision I try to casually talk to them and explain some of the finer details so they might make a decision that is best for them. Many times people really appreciate what I tell them and they follow my advice, and other times they do not. All I have is opinions. You should all form your own, especially when the headphones are at your local store on display.

To explain a bit more. I found the overall sound muddy and blanketed. This tends to make you want to turn the volume up to hear better, which than, IMO, makes the bass far to bloated and STILL doesn't reach the detailed highs I'd want. I didn't find listening to them enjoyable even in the slightest bit. In fact they hurt my ears and head. I couldn't listen possibly to them for more than a song or two in a row.

 

[AnGeLiCbOrIs]

The only way these deserve a 26 page thread is because one could not warn people enough to avoid these. Hopefully this thread will show up on people's google searches so that they will learn to avoid these at all costs.

The fact that a headphone as wonderful as the ESW9 costs about the same as these ****** says enough.