[dookiex]

Wow, Head-Fiers sure are on high horses. I made many points and all they could come back with is that "Yeah, these suck because I heard them blasting at Best Buy for a few brief moments." There's a LOT of love for products from Head-Fi sponsors but nobody gives a hoot about anything else regardless of if they have used them or not. On top of this, everybody basically jumps on the same bandwagon here based solely on other's postings.

A lot of people come on here and figures "Hey, this person has the most posts, he/she must be right" or "Wow, they are using all these new terminology, these people must know a lot!" With these people believing basically anything that "sounds" like something of value, I would have liked to believe that Head-Fiers would provide valuable information instead of a load of better then though let's all jump on the same bandwagon regardless of what reality is mumbo jumbo. Then when someone dares to explore other avenues that deviates from the path most treaded, there's a big backlash, a backlash without a firm footing in anything.

This really comes to show, thank goodness I actually frequent audio and electronic shops regularly to try things out instead of coming on this forum (really, I only came on a few times to research on some amps and see some info about burn in times for some of my sets, then I decided to be constructive and contribute, what a big mistake).

JayG30, if you truly believe that posting on here is just to express a personal opinion or bias without much merit, then you are sorely mistaken. Have you not seen the amount of "What should I buy?" posts on these forums?

AnGeLiCbOrIs, the reason this thread started was because there was interest in the Beats, the reason for it being 26 pages long is because the majority is just straight out bashing without merit. Guess folks on here don't REALLY do research and apparently they don't like to read. On top of that, I've been labeled a fanboy just because I'm being fair to something that deserves some credit and due to the fact that I haven't really come on here much except recently, I received a lot of backlash. When the original impression was made by Jude, a admin on Head-Fi, it garnered a lot of interest and it was mostly positive and with serious posts. Then a few pages later, the biassed and truly pointless pollution of bashing posts appeared. I tried to get this thread back on the right track but alas, it just turned back into a pile of bashing again.

 

[arteom]

dookie, they sound decent and maybe worth $200, not $350. I do understand that they are out there to compete with headphones (bose QC3) that are in a similar price range. And in that sense the $350 price tag does make sense. But then again we are talking about competition between two mainstream high price cans, which is nice and all for that market but not for head-fi. A venue where it will get bashed senseless because we know there are plenty of cans out there that un-amped will do many things better in that price range. Maybe these headphones do work well for "pop" music, and thats the music that the targeted demographic listens to. So it will likely have success. I don't know why you're so surprised that they are getting the reception that they are here on head-fi. Where after all it is a discussion board about hi-fi headphones.

 

[dookiex]

Point very well understood there arteom. My irritation with all of this has been the senseless bashing, not the negative criticism that has the details to back them up. I'm happy as long as there's justification for things you say and not just mindless "This sucks, no reason except that I don't like mainstream stuff."

 

[JayG30]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dookiex /img/forum/go_quote.gif JayG30, if you truly believe that posting on here is just to express a personal opinion or bias without much merit, then you are sorely mistaken. Have you not seen the amount of "What should I buy?" posts on these forums?

You might have noticed that I don't post here....at all. I just read a lot around here. Very seldom do I feel the need to come online and make a comment about headphones. Because in the grand scheme of my life (and hobbies), headphones are lucky to rank within the top 20. I have far to many interests/hobbies/jobs that I research FAR to deeply. I say I just love knowledge and am always looking for new things to learn, some other people have told me I might have OCD (I don't lol). I wouldn't say I'm a hardcore audiophile like many here. And I sure don't let it consume my life, but I do EXTEME amounts of research. Yes, I know people come here for advice of what to buy, but have any of my posts been in that regard? No. And would I tell anyone what to buy? No. I'd tell them to make their own decisions because thats the best way to get what YOU want. Be thankful you have the ability/right to choice and don't let other people tell you what to do/buy/think. Be a individual for pete sake! Thats what I would tell them.

You might also say that I don't wish to go into detail about what I thought because all it ends up doing in a forum is create arguements over personal opinions. People will, as it seems you are already doing, argue against my observations in a sad attempt to try and make me agree with the other side. I'm a bit more strong willed than most though and don't intend on spending more of my precious time on the topic. I said how I felt. I tried them initially from the display booth and could not even get them onto my ears because they were to loud. Me and the sales guys decided to pull them out and plug them into some players (including my D2). They sounded muddy, and as if someone laid a blanket over them. Turning them up only added sloppy bass with no improvement in clarity. If you have a problem with my opinion, feel free to disregard it. I'm sure not holding a gun to your head telling you to listen to me or buy what I tell you too.

Regards.

 

[shigzeo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by deeplove /img/forum/go_quote.gif Those wouldn't have anything on Flav's Line! I was reading on these "Beats" and how LeBron and Dre bought the USA team the headphones. Of course, when they win Gold it's safe to say that these will sell like hotcakes. What a great way to promote your headphones. Hats off to Dre. Mind you, I wouldn't spend the money for them but if they would've been about $50 - $75 cheaper then I would've thought about it. They look really nice. And I'm sure they sound decent. But for that money I'm getting my pair of headphones. Audio Technica ATH-A700 and ATH-AD700. 2 good headphones and closed/open for both worlds.

coming from ad700 as my first sort of decent phone: you will end up selling these (i am no prophet but i did rather soon as i heard real headphones later from beyer) and that money that you 'saved' will be up for not as you will lose money on the sale/giveaway etc.

i won't say the beats are better than anything or worse as i have not heard them but bias against them because of monster cable, dre etc is silly. but then as has been hinted at here: headfi has been turned upside down by bar burners for a long long time.

im sure that even the venerable stax sr series omega with a nice 'bose' faceplate would receive hate and derision and 'sounds rubbish' tags here.

 

[dookiex]

Shizgeo, I commend you. You have pretty much summed up a major issue on these forums that truly should be cleaned up. You are absolutely right, if given a blind test of different headphones and some good sounding mass market sets were thrown into the mix, I really doubt people would have such quick negative comments about some of them. If let's say Sennheiser were making the Beats, there wouldn't have been so much nonsense one lined posts of "These are overpriced" and "These suck, you can get better cans." If one day Stax was to quietly start producing phones but all branded by Bose, those would never have seen the light of day from Head-Fiers. Quite ridiculous if you think about it. In response to AT, I've never really enjoyed many of the Audio-Technica phones as they just did not provide a very good lively sound. I'm not quite sure what all the hype and interest about AT sets are about. The only pair I've actually thought were SORT OF ok was a cheap pair of the camo AT's that I picked up for dirt cheap, reason feeling that they were ok was because of how cheap they were.

JayG30, your posts means something to whomever ends up reading your post, if you are going to negate something, it should come backed with clear reasons why, not very general one line explanations. I asked for a detailed impression JayG30 not for the sake of arguing over your details, it's truly because detailed impression are what counts. If you have not noticed, my frustration has been aimed at the mindless copy cat one liners that frequents this thread. If you have auditioned something and you are going to give a impression, let it be backed with more than "I think these sound horrible, not worth the money." As yourself have said, you do EXTREME research on whatever you are researching at the time, whatever you find do you ever read something and consider that it's just a opinion with very little (if any) weight to it? I HIGHLY doubt that thus if you're going to post something so obtuse, why even bother posting at all? If your a person that is going to tell people "choose whatever you feel is right for you, be your own person" then why do YOURSELF do any research at all? Why do you come on these or any other forums? Why do you need forums at all, you can very well go out to the shops and audition things yourself totally disregarding brands. That's pretty much what I've been doing for years. I spend a minimum of $500-$600 per month on electronics, mostly audio and video gear. I've bought a lot of duds, some were actually recommended on forums I frequent. I sell off a lot of gear as well. I buy blind all the time thus I post on forums for the benefits of OTHERS not to just get my opinion out there, because I've been there and I've done that and thus letting people know my EXPERIENCE with something. Now when you start flooding a thread with useless one line quips about products, that's not helping anybody. Something like that you should just put on a blog.

 

[matt_wants]

My HTX7s work well with some Dre, so I'd be interested to hear these. They look nice, but I'd not pay full price for them when I could buy some Grados and ATs for similar outlay.

 

[fault151]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dookiex /img/forum/go_quote.gif 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.

Well i listened to them in the apple store of an Ipod playing mp3's. They sounded ok. That is really the best way to describe them. They didn't make me feel like they were doing anything special. i think they are good for standard headphones, but I don’t think they are in the same class as Sennheiser, Grado...

To give them a bit of credit, i was listening to them via the headphone jack on the Ipod, mp3 low 160kps sample rate and to music I hate (RnB). IF i was to hook them up to a decent amp and cd player it may be a little more positive. However, i still would find it hard to believe that they are worth there price and compete with the headphones that are most popular amongst critical listening setups.

They were very light, pretty comfy but felt plasticy. To me they are the same as the Bose headphones. Way over rated. They are good for standard headphones, but not as good as say the Grado's, AKG's, Sennheiser...


I think my cheaper hd595's walked all over them. I had them running of the same Ipod listening to the same song.

 

[thedauntlessone]

So dookiex can't take other people's opinion and must insult people. Check. I did write a reply for you but I had a few tabs opened and I closed it by accident. I didn't feel like writing it up the whole thing again.

However, I would like to say there's nothing wrong about researching to gain knowledge such as headphones. While these boards serve as reviews for some people, there are a lot of information that someone can learn about audio gear. Things such as amp, source, headphones (not the sound), electrostats, iPod docks, etc are all information that someone can gain through these boards. If you think this is just a review board you have sorely mistaken.

It's also funny how you insult someone about their "one line impressions" when you've done exactly the same thing. While you commented on "clarity" and "bass," your impressions of the beat is very ambiguous and provides no help to other people. To top it off, IEMs has a lower performance for the value and you used a pair of 200 dollar IEM to a 350 dollar headphone. If you say these are as good as they are, you should use something in the 300 dollar range. Maybe Triple.Fi 10? When you get around to it, try to do it like this:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/4617913-post208.html

Also, if you actually checked my location, I live in Canada. Not only is the beat no available here yet (been to 2 different best buys in the last couple weeks for other things), headphones in general is an extremely small and niche market in Canada. There's no place for me to go audition headphones. I do buy headphones from reviews but I find most reviews so bad I take each opinion with a ginormous bucket of salt (including yours with the beat). However, I purchased my last 3 pairs of headphones without reading any reviews. They were in my price range and I bought them (used of course).

I'll answer one more question. I don't deny I have huge bias against big companies like bose or monster cable, mostly due to their gimmick marketing strategies, but it is still my opinion. I will stick to it until I see ONE good product from a company. Then I will re-evaluate the company as a whole again (eg. Electronic Arts). In addition, I would like to pose a question, have you ever stopped and asked how much I think these headphones are worth? You assume I want these headphones to be half priced or something.

 

[Usagi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thedauntlessone /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also, if you actually checked my location, I live in Canada. Not only is the beat no available here yet (been to 2 different best buys in the last couple weeks for other things), headphones in general is an extremely small and niche market in Canada. There's no place for me to go audition headphones. I'll answer one more question. I don't deny I have huge bias against big companies like bose or monster cable, mostly due to their gimmick marketing strategies, but it is still my opinion.

thedauntlessone,

You've admitted to no first-hand knowledge of the headphone in question and that your opinion is biased. From an informative standpoint, what do you have to offer this thread?

 

[silverrain]

 

[JayG30]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thedauntlessone /img/forum/go_quote.gif However, I would like to say there's nothing wrong about researching to gain knowledge such as headphones. While these boards serve as reviews for some people, there are a lot of information that someone can learn about audio gear. Things such as amp, source, headphones (not the sound), electrostats, iPod docks, etc are all information that someone can gain through these boards. If you think this is just a review board you have sorely mistaken. It's also funny how you insult someone about their "one line impressions" when you've done exactly the same thing.

Agreed on both points.


It seems that anyone that was not impressed with these headphones must prove so with a full length review. I never wanted or intended to do so. Just become some member on this board wants me to do a big long review on them doesn't mean I have to, nor will I. I'm not going to sit here and come up with a long colorfully worded review to explain why I disliked these headphones. I didn't sit at Best Buy with a pen and paper writing down my thoughts. I tried to listen to them critically and they failed. Tried to just enjoy them and they still failed for me. The words I used to describe them is how I feel. What more do I have to say? Do I need to explain the definition of those words? Because I think you know exactly what they mean. Tell me are you being as hard on the people who say, "these headphones are awesome" or "they are the greatest thing ever" or whatever other statements that are for these phones? If you have an issue with people providing short negative comments than you better have a problem with short positive comments (such as your own).

I think the whole reason you keep asking people why they dislike the way they sound is because you really want to discredit their opinion. I don't know if you are trying to prove to yourself or someone else that these headphones are good, but that is sort of how it seems to me.

As far as your comments directed at me and my research and forum lurking. I said I do research, never that I do research on this forum or that I take peoples opinions as research. I don't. I take scientific data as research. You know there is a lot more to music and sound than personal preference and "opinions". There is a whole science behind things and they can be tested in a scientific manner. If you really care so much than perhaps you can go fork over the $300+ for these headphones, the equipment, the time, and do the testing yourself. I won't because these headphones failed to even intrigue me enough to warrant the purchase.

So here you go for the last time, I disliked the headphones and felt a need to come on here and say so. Why? Because it was burning around in my brain for the last few days and I wanted to get it out. That is what a forum is for me. A way to push stuff out of my brain (occasionally a way to waste time). I'm not in any violation of forum rules, so I will continue to do what I please (within those rules). I won't be doing a formal review or providing a long winded review simply to say what I've already said.

Reading what you say more and more it just seems to me you do not care at all about accurate reproduction of music and instead insist of favoring a certain "tone" of sound that is pleasant to your ears. You than try to tell people that care about accurate sound that they should just care about how enjoyable the phones are to listen to. Don't pass off your feeling to others. I enjoy and want a accurate sound. You clearly do not and think people that enjoy that are wrong. I'm not telling you that what you prefer is wrong so please don't try to infer that I (and others) are.

 

[dookiex]

First off, silverrain, hilarious smiley! Secondly, Usagi, you've hit the nail right on the head! Third, JayG30, I'm not even going to bother with responding to your post as I think Usagi's very short posting states it all.

I'm not even going to bother reiterating what I've pointed out countless times on these quite useless negative comments on the Beats and mass market products in general. However, as promised in another thread, I'm going to give a semi-brief comparison of the Beats with two of my other sets, the Senn HD595 and the Ultrasone Pro 650. Both sets that fall in similar pricing brackets as the Beats. The way I tested is that I tried to make the playing ground even via the price point that these sets are at as well as having all phone connected straight into my iPhone with no amp since this truly is the fairest way to compare these phones.

Beats compared with Senn HD595
Though it's not a very fair to compare a open set with a closed set, there's those who brings up Senns compared to the Beats. Straight out of the iPhone the HD595s had a good, not stellar, sound stage. Details are nice and clear along with a good bass response. Sound coming from the HD595s were tight but you get the impression that even though the 595s were not straining they were lacking a lot of oomph. The 595s can do A LOT better as I've had them for quite some time but mostly for home use. The Beats surprisingly sounded quite neutral but had a bit of noticeable bass boost but not distorted and in no way boomy. Compared to the unamped 595s, the Beats had a livelier sound. The high frequencies were up front along with the bass as well, the mids however were a tad recessed. Details were nice and clear though not as resolved as the 595s. However in using it unamped on a portable player, I would have to say that the Beats win in that respect due to the fact that they sounded quite good while the 595s had the clarity it lacked the livelier sound as well as a bit of oomph. The soundstage on the 595s also did not sound quite as well spaced and enticing as the Beats.
The overall impression here is that straight out of a portable source, the 595s does not suffice when compared to the Beats.

Beats compared with the Ultrasone Pro 650
In this comparison, the Pro 650s does a better job when compared with the 595s. Across the spectrum the 650s flat out beat out the Beats in clarity and detail. Bass however is a bit lacking unamped and I literally had to blast the Pro 650s to max/close to max volume on the iPhone. The Beats lags behind in it's range compared to the 650s. You can really start picking apart the difference in resolution between the 650s and the Beats where the 650s really lack in this comparison is if you are only interested in lower volumes then the 650s clear out blows the Beats out of the water. However, if you were to really like to rock out, you're limited on the 650s as they really do need to be amped for you to totally rock out.

So to conclude, the Beats beat out the 595s straight out of the box because of it's better livelier presentation. However, the 650s beat out the Beats and the only real difference is how far do you want to drive the 650s. If you are looking higher volumes then I would have to say that the Beats are a better choice compared to the 650s. Mind you, I'm not in any way saying that the Beats have a muddy sound. On the contrary, they have very good resolving power but the 650s just has more even at lower volumes. So would I recommend the Beats? At $300, yes, I would suggest them if someone wanted a set that they can use straight out of the box that sounded very good. At $350, I wouldn't recommend them because that's $50 too much.

As an aside, to comment on those that felt these were muddy and boomy. They are off by a LONG margin. There's clarity with the Beats but lacking only in it's tad bit recessed mids (not horribly so mind you). The bass is also in no way overwhelming as I get more bass out of my Pro 650s.

 

[denl82]

Thank you for your detailed semi-review Dookiex. I'm with you when you say that it's better when people give detailed information about gear they have experience with. I for one have a hard time determining if audio gear is good if the opinions/reasons why are brief, like they often are on e-store reviews, e.g. "best headphones I've tried, and I've tried 3 headphones!" O.K., maybe a little exaggeration there hehe=]

 

[dookiex]

Right on denl82! It's ironic that on these boards we scoff at those brief e-store reviews yet many on here does the same thing. Kind of silly.