[hpaddict]

On a whim today I decided to try out a pair of Monster Turbines (the silver ones, about $150 MSRP, $100 online). I own the Ety HF2's, and I've listened extensively to the Klipsch s4 and the Shure SE210's. I've always been curious about Monster headphones/earphones. They're all nice and fancy looking (maybe even too much, almost bordering on bling bling). Seemed like the reviews have generally been good, but I've never seen them win an "Editor's Choice", "Top Pick", "Product of the Year", etc. award.

Packaging:

Although inconsequential to actual product/sound quality, the packaging immediately impressed me. Nice, sturdy box that shuts close with a magnetic latch. Finally something I don't have completely mangle and destroy in order to open! If the price were based solely on packaging, the Monster's look to be worth $400, the Klipsch s4 maybe $25 at most.

Carrying Case:

Meh...not very elegant looking and doesn't open wide enough easily to hold the earphones, which are relatively big and thick.

Design/Materials:

Very nice and sturdy. Although as I said before, maybe a little too bling bling. The cable material looks and feels much nicer than what's used for the Shure or Klipsch. It doesn't seem as microphonic as the Ety either.

Isolation:

Shure (foams) > Monster (large triple flanges) > Ety (large triple flanges) > Klipsch (large ovals)

But don't take my word for it, totally dependant on ear canal size and shape.

Sound Quality:

Immediately very impressive. Nice, clean bass. High's and mid's are very clear and nicely weighted. Heads and shoulders over the Klipsch and Shure. The Shure's were bass shy and overall sounded just lifeless. The Klipsch had overly abundant but not necessarily pleasant bass. Very fatiguing after a couple minutes. The bass is not overpowering on the Monster's, and I'm able to listen to them much longer than I ever was with the Klipsch's or Shure's.

I hate to say it, but I actually like Monster's better than the Ety's. I can't return the Ety's, but I don't feel too bad cuz I actually got them for less $100. Comparing the Monster's to the Ety's made me realize how nice it is to have thumping bass. High's and Mid's seem about as comparable.

Overall:

Very impressed and surprised at how good the Monster's sound, especially considering they're about $100 online. Makes the Klipsch and Shure sound like $50 earphones. If I paid full price for my Ety's, I'd be pissed!

 

[Napilopez]

Hey well, I mean, when it comes to audiophileness, you can't trust some websites very much. Some headphones that are really well liked hear have been shunned or not scored so well in reviews outside of head-fi, and especially in more mainstream-consumer oriented ones. Take the thinksound Rain and Thunder, for example. The Rain is a terrific sounding IEM for it's street price(though I haven't heard too many IEMs), but it only got like 3 stars from CNet.

The Turbines I think were a surprise for many people on head-fi who shunned monster as a company. Though some people disliked the recessed mids, overall they seemed to have been well recieved. The Turbine Pro and Miles Davis line--especially the Coppers and MD--are two of the most well regarded top-tier universal IEMs on this forum, from my anecdotal observations.

Good to hear you're enjoying them! I've been quite curious about trying them myself, but I don't want another IEM in the same price range that isn't going to have a different sound signature from my lovely HJE900s.

 

[Anaxilus]

I'm glad u like the Turbines. I haven't heard the normal Turbines but have heard the Gold, Copper, MD's. If you like the Turbines, u might consider returning the Turbines and the Etys and upgrading to the Pro line. From what I have read its just as big a leap as you experienced moving to the Turbines. Apart from the top tier sound quality u get a lifetime warranty, I mean come on......

Gratz on your audio revelation!!

FYI, they have been lauded in some real audiophile pubs, not like CNET or PCMag...blah.

http://www.avguide.com/review/monste...es-playback-30

http://www.avguide.com/blog/first-li...ear-headphones

 

[ljokerl]

A lot of people were surprised back when they were released:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f103/m...thread-416736/

 

[SolidSnake3]

I really think the stigma that is associated with Monster from their cables and the Dre Beats to a lesser extent probably clouded a lot of peoples predisposition to the turbines. Right off the bat I feel the Monster name was actually working against the Turbine line however, once they actually got some ear time with the turbines things changed quickly

 

[Aevum]

the stigma also comes from a company that use to commit fraud to sell their HDMI cables, there were cases where they would put 2 TV´s one next to the other and the "competition leading brand" HDMI cable was actually a cheap crippled composite cable from a source set to SD resolutions,

Monster "HDMI Difference" scam still kickin' in Fry's Electronics -- Engadget HD

its hard to buy a product, especialy a good product from a company whos main business up to then was selling snake oil, while they sound good, the jury is still out on longevity and support, and considering the history of monster cables, i wouldnt bet any money on it,

 

[fL.]

if you're really picky i would say go for the pros. if not i think the turbines do a good job. my turbines are sititng in the box. using the lil jamz in school and coppers at home.

 

[Dobber65]

I was thinking about this very topic this morning. I have the MTPGs and MTPCs, along with IE8s and other well-regarded IEMs. The Turbine Pros to me are my current reference IEMs, but the IE8s are close behind. I enjoy all of my IEMs for various reasons, but the MTPs get most of my time now.

I travel extensively, and use the original Turbines as my back-ups in case I don't want to use my Pros or IE8s. While I mainly have been using my Pros for the past month, I slipped in the original Turbines again last night and was as pleasantly surprised and pleased by their sound then as I was over a year ago when I first heard them. They really are that good to me. True, the Pros improve in every area of the sound spectrum compared to the Turbines, and the Pros' build quality is improved, but my 16-month-old Turbines have held up well physically and sonically, looking and sounding like new. I did require some support from Monster right after I received them, and they were prompt and courteous with what needed to be done.

I have been impressed by the Turbine line, and impressed by Monster for producing these. Yes, Monster does not have the best reputation, but for the Turbine line, give them some credit for a very high quality set of products.

 

[Alec E]

I had no familiarity at all with the Monster brand.

I thought the MTP Copper sounded like a ghetto blaster.

 

[wantmyf1]

I tried the Turbine Pro (Gold) at a meet and was immediately impressed. Sounded great and had a great mid which I wasn't expecting. I was not happy that I was impressed though. Because of their past mis-deeds they are not a company that I would want to support. Would buying them used count as supporting the company?

 

[JeFFz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fL. /img/forum/go_quote.gif if you're really picky i would say go for the pros. if not i think the turbines do a good job. my turbines are sititng in the box. using the lil jamz in school and coppers at home.

how does the lil jamz sound?

 

[ULTRA-HARMONICS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wantmyf1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I tried the Turbine Pro (Gold) at a meet and was immediately impressed. Sounded great and had a great mid which I wasn't expecting. I was not happy that I was impressed though. Because of their past mis-deeds they are not a company that I would want to support. Would buying them used count as supporting the company?

Agreed, the whole HDMI vs. cable is a train wreck... I just picked up a set of MT and I was pleasantly surprised....

 

[shigzeo]

I came as a typical headfier to review the Turbine last year and... to say the least: I was surprised completely. Monster isn't as big in Canada as it is in the States, and has NO presence at all in Asia - nothing. No one has even heard of them.

So, the whole stigma will certainly be NA and Europe probably.

Anyway, I started the other thread and love them. The Gold are even better and made well to boot, and the Copper are more of the same (comparison review pending).

I have no idea about the HDMI thing, but it sounds sad. In any case, their earphones rock.

 

[hpaddict]

Well, glad to hear that my impressions were pretty much in line with everyone else.

Just goes to show that selling snake oil can really hurt a company's reputation. The nice packaging and high quality construction of the Turbines almost hurts them. You're led to think all the money was spent there instead of on the actual sound quality! I won't even get started on the Dr. Dre and Lady Gaga endorsements.... BTW, I do really like both of them, just not as endorsers for high quality audio equipment.

Sadly, the Monters will probably be going back. I bought the Ety's through a friend (employee discount) in order to get the super low price, so it's going to be a hassle to return. The other thing is that I use an Iphone, so I really need the mic and inline controls. Shame...the Monsters were really what I was looking for. The high's and mid's may be better on the Ety's, but I'd have to do some extended listening to really determine that for myself. The high's and mid's on the Monster's don't bother or fatigue me after extended listening, so in the end does it really matter?

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aevum /img/forum/go_quote.gif the stigma also comes from a company that use to commit fraud to sell their HDMI cables, there were cases where they would put 2 TV´s one next to the other and the "competition leading brand" HDMI cable was actually a cheap crippled composite cable from a source set to SD resolutions, Monster "HDMI Difference" scam still kickin' in Fry's Electronics -- Engadget HD its hard to buy a product, especialy a good product from a company whos main business up to then was selling snake oil, while they sound good, the jury is still out on longevity and support, and considering the history of monster cables, i wouldnt bet any money on it,

You know there was nothing in that display that claimed to compare 2 different HDMI cables. "See the Monster HDMI Difference." was the display name, most marketing involves ambiguity. Like buy my car, it has 100k mile warranty, does that make it better? It was an HDMI vs. 'out of the box' cables comparison from the get go and never claimed otherwise. I also challenge anyone that claims their entire range of analog cables was snake oil, I have many years experience observing the effects of their whole line on video quality. I'm not gonna get into the 'Cables dont matter' debate, I've read all the critics and their 'analysis' and I have my own eyes and brain to go by. So if people want to blame a company for gullible and ignorant consumers that think you can improve a digital '1' or '0' feel free.

Your claim about poor Monster support is ludicrous, myself and many others in the industry have long worked w/ Monster products and never had issues. They are as good if not better than anyone else out there. Good luck to you when your Shure cables fall apart or your TF10's go out. IMO a flamer that hates on Monster is just as bad as a shill. Inserting MD's now....