[Allforheather]

 
Quote:

Beats are worth their price if you value comfort and style over loss in SQ and if money aren't an issue. There is no competition to Beats in that sense. Other headphones look plain or aren't comfortable ( bulky) or both.

 
It's funny that I don't even think beats win any of the aspects in terms of design and comfort...
 
In terms of how it looks, yes, there are people who like them, though, there are tons of others that are at least on par, let alone most of them are better, with the beats. what about dt1350s? grado sr series and rs series? hd25s? BW P5s? M80s? d2ks? k550s? Ultraso...oh wait, I hate the looks of those.. ignore this one....
 
In terms of comfort, Pros are too heavy, and the Studios pinch your head with the intention of taking your life. comfortable, really? get yourself a pair of d2ks for that price and call it a day, and HMVs in the UK started to sell them in stores too, the demo player was kind of crappy, but it provide a chance to the non-audiophile community to experience a sampler of our enlightenment. and personally I really hope more higher-end portable or semi-portable phones appeared in stores, and I believe people will judge with their own ears. A brand name could only get you so far, without impressive products, it would fail eventually and I see monsters' failing in the near future.  
 

 

[Dubstep Girl]

just got my d2000s, and they are light years ahead of the beats in terms of bass and overall sound quality. 
 
the build quality is alot nicer too.
 
they're a little big but look very nice and definitely dont look cheap or crappy.

 

[Imagine Peace]

I have had my Beats Studios since launch.They were a gift from my girlfriend who was being thoughtful as she knows that I am a life long hip-hop fan. So let me give you my honest impressions of them over the years I have owned them. They sound pretty good, especially if you're not comparing them to much else. The noise canceling really makes you feel like you're in your own little world. I have had people come up and tap me on the shoulder and scare the crap out of me. You can still hear things around you but the body is taken out of nearby sounds. They leak sound big time. Almost as if they were open cans. Bass is huge, highs and mids are OK. They look flashy, they definitely make a statement.
 
However, there are far better headphones for a fraction of the cost. Audio Technica Ath-M50 are one suggestion off the top of my head. I also own Sennheiser HD555 and those quickly became my go-to headphones. Those cost 100 dollars, one third the cost of Beats. Bass isn't as intense as the Beats, but it is a cleaner, crisper bass. Vocals are brighter, mids less muddy and highs less tinny on the HD555. I find it hard to go back to my Beats after hearing other more "audiophile" friendly brands. I am actually looking to upgrade myself. In conclusion Beats are OK but for 300 dollars there are better options and Beats are not the most well-rounded cans in terms of musical genres.

 

[deb0]

Angry Beats owner here.
 
Today, I called Monster and I spent 2 hours on the phone waiting in queue to reach support.   To cut to the chase, I"ve owned Dre Studio headphones less than a year and have had two bad sets.  Today, I demanded an upgrade due to the problems I had and they offered me a Pro headset refurbished.
 
The Sound quality is superb to me, so I'm dumbfounded about all the overly negative comments here about the sound quality.  But it's everything else about this product that is horrendous:
- Cables red housing separates from the black end connection housing.
- Crackling noise in the headphone when moving or touching.
- Plastic at every turn.  Feels more like a 50.00 set of headphones.
- Intermittent silence of the headphones.  They just go silent for no reason.
- Extremely long hold times in customer service.
- Automated form online doesn't work, forcing you to call and wait for a long time.
 
Based on these issues I've encountered, there is no way I will ever purchase or recommend another musical device with Dr Dre or Monster's name on it.  Dr. Dre should stick to what he's incredilble at:  creating Beats.
 

 

[LizardKing1]

deb0 when you get the Pros you'll understand why the Studios are said to sound bad. The Pros sound actually very good, and you're basically getting for the price of the Studios which is a decent deal.
 
I don't get the problem with the cable. The cables used in the Beats are thick, which is pretty much all you can ask for in these sub-600$ models, since very little sound quality would upgrade with a better cable.

 

[Nightowl217]

In my opinion, I think that Beats are simply bad. There are nearly no redeeming points to them. They look ok, but way too flashy. Their sound is god awful, i don't care what your listening to with them, they just don't sound good. The bass is very 'clumpy' as in, the bass isn't defined, and they seem to 'clump' certain frequencys into a 50hz fart. into from my experience, while at the same time not reaching good low-bass. Also, especialy on the solos, their trebble is nearly non-existent. Looking at a frequency response graph of ibuds vs solos, the highs portion is almost identical. They are very 'slow' and un-detailed, and unlike any good headphone, they only get worse after listening to them more. (by this i'm not talking about burn in, im just talking about noticing flaws in the sound) 
 
Well, what gets me most is that a decently competent company like monster can in good conscience put out a product so horridly terrible.
Jimmy Iovine+Dr Dre=Epitome of all evil.
 
There are no redeeming quality's (in my mind remember) about the Beats by Dre.

 

[whtge8]

I feel as if certain people bash beats simply because it's the cool thing to do on these forums. I wonder how many of those people have honestly listened to a set with an open mind. I may not have as keen an ear as some people on here, but I do not believe they sound bad at all. It just seems people want to rebel and be against anything mainstream. Some people seem so smug about their choice of headphones and on a daily basis seek out beats owners to simply put them down and establish your superiority. I have only seen about one or two non-biased reviews. They are over-hyped, over priced, and over marketed, yes I get that. But it feels as if some people are just riding the anti-beats bandwagon. I can't tell the difference in sound between the studios and my M50's, but the studios are a HELL of a lot more comfortable...

 

[Llloyd]

Quote:

I feel as if certain people bash beats simply because it's the cool thing to do on these forums. I wonder how many of those people have honestly listened to a set with an open mind. I may not have as keen an ear as some people on here, but I do not believe they sound bad at all. It just seems people want to rebel and be against anything mainstream. Some people seem so smug about their choice of headphones and on a daily basis seek out beats owners to simply put them down and establish your superiority. I have only seen about one or two non-biased reviews. They are over-hyped, over priced, and over marketed, yes I get that. But it feels as if some people are just riding the anti-beats bandwagon. I can't tell the difference in sound between the studios and my M50's, but the studios are a HELL of a lot more comfortable...

To me there's a world of a difference in sound signature between the m50s and the beats studio.  No idea what you are talking about.

 

[mbd2884]

Quote:

No, beats aren't bad, until you look at the price tag. They offer the performance of $150 headphones in a $300 package.
 
Edit: I do have to admit the Beats studio pros does look tempting.
 

My Shure SHR840 cost me $120.  I've listened to the Beats many times, over the past year living with a roommate who owns them.  I can say confidently, my $120 headphone is in another league for critical listening than the Beats.  
-  I can also say confidently my $120 headphone is built much better, and the pads are more comfortable.
-  I can also say confidently my $120 headphone isolates better and sound better compared to his weak noise cancelling.
-  I can also say confidently the cord and plug and connections are of much higher quality on my Shure which is ironic since his are made by Monster, supposed industry leader in audio cables, his cable is pitiful and his plug is falling off.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

sad that a company that makes such great IEMS like the turbines makes crappy headphones like the beats. 

 
 
i love my pro golds, really good. and the 1/8 to 1/4th adapter  it came with is really cool too.

 

[MrTwyst]

The Beats Pro headphones are the best sounding headphones...
 
...On display at Best Buy.
 
They're $400 selling price ($500 retail) and barely sound better than the $140 Sennheisers sitting next to them. In my opinion, they aren't "bad" headphones. However, as far as sound quality and value are concerned, I'd (being generous) give these some added value for sound quality over the Sennheisers, and some added value for build quality and aesthetics. My gut puts the value of these headphones at about $200-$225.
 
They have a very nice build quality. They have a very nice, modern style. But $400 for something that barely sounds better than another headphone for $140? I don't think so.
 
For just over $300, you can get Ultrasone 900s, have headphones with a boosted bass signature that doesn't bleed into other frequencies. And they blow the Beats out of the water. 
 
Unfortunately, places like Best Buy is where so much product is sold, and headphones dovetail into that category. If places like Best Buy carried higher-end headphones, the Beats wouldn't receive as much exposure.

 

[pufftissue]

In full seriousness, when the most unethical company in the free world, Monster, decides to produce headphones, beats are what you get. 
The phones are worth less than half of what the asking price is.  Buy them if there is a 66% off sale, then no one would be complaining.

 

[tedkalaw]

Quote:

The Beats Pro headphones are the best sounding headphones...
 
...On display at Best Buy.
 
They're $400 selling price ($500 retail) and barely sound better than the $140 Sennheisers sitting next to them. In my opinion, they aren't "bad" headphones. However, as far as sound quality and value are concerned, I'd (being generous) give these some added value for sound quality over the Sennheisers, and some added value for build quality and aesthetics. My gut puts the value of these headphones at about $200-$225.
 
They have a very nice build quality. They have a very nice, modern style. But $400 for something that barely sounds better than another headphone for $140? I don't think so.
 
For just over $300, you can get Ultrasone 900s, have headphones with a boosted bass signature that doesn't bleed into other frequencies. And they blow the Beats out of the water. 
 
Unfortunately, places like Best Buy is where so much product is sold, and headphones dovetail into that category. If places like Best Buy carried higher-end headphones, the Beats wouldn't receive as much exposure.

The build of the Pros is really fantastic for a mainstream headphone.
 
Shame that they're so pricy...especially with the HE-400 around the corner.
 

 

[mbd2884]

Another great reason to bash and boycott the Beats.  Monster really is a terrible company.  I've supported a few companies in the local area here who were taken to court by Monster because they use the word Monster in their company name.  They all won their cases thankfully.  Monster is terrible.
 
Quote:

In full seriousness, when the most unethical company in the free world, Monster, decides to produce headphones, beats are what you get. 
The phones are worth less than half of what the asking price is.  Buy them if there is a 66% off sale, then no one would be complaining.

 

 

[Allforheather]

Quote:

I feel as if certain people bash beats simply because it's the cool thing to do on these forums. I wonder how many of those people have honestly listened to a set with an open mind. I may not have as keen an ear as some people on here, but I do not believe they sound bad at all. It just seems people want to rebel and be against anything mainstream. Some people seem so smug about their choice of headphones and on a daily basis seek out beats owners to simply put them down and establish your superiority. I have only seen about one or two non-biased reviews. They are over-hyped, over priced, and over marketed, yes I get that. But it feels as if some people are just riding the anti-beats bandwagon. I can't tell the difference in sound between the studios and my M50's, but the studios are a HELL of a lot more comfortable...

 
1. The judgement we made on how good a particular headphone sounds is based on their price tag, not being accurate to the pennies but the price range a headphone belonged to matters a lot here. So most of our hatred towards the beats is based on their price, which is ridiculous as we have established long ago. If you took the discussion out of the context, then nothing we have said here is valid.
 
2. And this is not a game of showcasing superiority, because most of them couldn't care less about the existence of beats, and we gave advice to people who seek them on this forum simply because we don't want them to spend their money unwisely and that's called being helpful community. When you started this thread trying to justify how the beats sound, most of us were simply delivering our opinions, and here we are. 
 
3. Talking about going against the mainstream, you see, mainstream doesn't work in the audiophile community, and similarly it doesn't work in some other interest groups such as some of the photography community and this is due to a simple reason. The truth of these matters are not exactly exposed to the mainstream consumers, and they probably never will be, because people don't really care in the first place, although we're not daring to say that we hold the definite truth, we do have a much better understanding of how some thing should sound to be categorised as a decent headphone.
 
4. The problem that the beats have is beyond the the explanation of a different sound signature. I can, and I've listened to the headphones with a very open mind before, and to my ears, they sounds awful for what they are trying to represent. IMHO, the one that is not being open minded here is you, really and I'm sorry, you seems to be so smug about us not giving the beats some justification. Bad sounding headphones are bad sounding headphones, head-fi is not a community that the trend of things could be altered by the words of a few authorities, this is a free thinking community that general acknowledgements are formed by the will of the majority. When majorities considers the beats to be a bad sounding headphone, then they are (always remember, for the price they are selling), there is no conspiracy here. 
 
5. Let's talk about the studio. It is a pair of ANS can, with a very poorly implemented system. The bottom end is overpowering without real resolution and deep bass is nowhere to be found. The mid is recessed as lots of people have suggested, and personally I think it is lifeless as well, try listen to some music without any bass, you will know what I mean. The treble is somewhat emphasised, well compare to the mid that is. but doesn't really go very high and I hear some subtle distortion on the highest end, which could be due to the ANS system. I really don't have any comments on the soundstage and imaging...sigh. And detail wise, for an ANS can, you shouldn't expect too much in the first place. 
In terms of comfort, just like my last post on this thread, which sounds kind of harsh and I apologise for it, you can do better with other headphones, try more of them, and you will know what I mean. And I'm serious about the D2K business, I don't own one at this moment, but I've heard them on multiple occasions and did spent a fair amount of time with them. Although sound wise they are not my favourite so far, but comfort wise they are great, if you don't mind the rather hot leather pad. If you are in the UK, go find them in HMV, and try them on. If you are in the states, depends on where you are, but B&H should have them. I haven't been on that continent for quite sometime, so don't quote on me.
 
Again, if I offend you in this tread, I'm deeply sorry, I'm just getting kind of annoyed by all the beats threads around the forum. 
 
Happy listening,
 
Chen.