[kevinrj]

I would just like to get some clarity on the Beats Studios. I bought them because I wanted some "fun" sounding headphones, and was just curious to what they actually sounded like (with the Beats website claiming they are the best). I have read a lot of forums about Beats on Head-Fi, and the general feeling about them are negative, mainly because they have overpowering bass which drowns out the clarity of the mids and highs.
 
But I am experiencing something completely different with my pair. The bass is not overpowering at all. It is still there, but it is nowhere near as big and overpowering as described by others on Head-Fi. I would describe it more as tight bass than booming bass. (I listened to the solo hd's in store, and they had very boomy overpowering bass).
 
I am listening to them on my phone with the equaliser off. My HP laptop has beats audio which I cant really turn off, but I must say the beats audio makes the bass better. 
 
So I would just like some clarity on these. Are they suppose to have huge bass like the solos, or are they a more flat sounding headphone? Am I suppose to be listening to them with the equaliser off? Are you guys only complaining about the overpowering bass when they are being equalised? Or is my pair just defective? (They are real by the way. Paid full price and they came with sealed Duracell batteries.)
 
Any answers will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[GREQ]

Forgive me if I'm way off on this, but I'm guessing you havn't heard many good quality headphones.
 
The Studios sound tighter and less boomy compared to the Solos - as a stand alone statement this is true and undeniable. 
But compare either of them to highly reputable headphones in almost any price range and they both sound muddy and boomy. 
 
The word 'overpowering' is a subjective term and if you're accustomed to heavy subwooferish bass and the musical genres associated with it, you may find the bass quantity from a Beats Studio to be perfect for your taste and genres - and there's nothing wrong with that.
Try putting on some classical music or jazz next time you hear the Studios, and the music will sound bass heavy and unnatural - meaning it won't sound anything like live classical or jazz - but more like you've hooked up the double bass' and cellos to sub-woofers. 
 
What you read around here is always relative to where you're coming from, your experiences and preferences and how vastly different they can be to everyone else's. 
 
 
Well... that or you've got the only good beats headphone in the world.

 

[NA Blur]

From the charts the Studio is not that bad as far as raw frequency response:
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/MonsterBeatsStudio.pdf
 
The 30Hz square wave response on this measurement is so bad that I wonder how the measurement was taken.
 
The Solo on the other hand is pretty imbalanced from bass to treble so perhaps that is what you are thinking of.
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/MonsterBeatsSolo.pdf
 
The Solo HD is even worse of an imbalance.
 
All of these have their advantages and disadvantages, but for the money there are better headphones.
 
Examples:
 
Philips Cityscape Downtown
Denon AH-D2000
AKG K550
Shure SRH840
V-Moda M100

 

[seanfisher5]

I assume you bought the recently released, redesigned Beats Studios, which has are a massive improvement over the old Studios and other Beats headphones for that matter. However, as was stated above, they are nothing when compared to a higher quality headphone.

 

[kevinrj]

Thank you all for your replies!
 
It is true, I haven't heard many good quality headphones. But I would like to hear some. I already think my Studios (They are not the recently released, redesigned ones) sound decent enough, so I can only imagine what more reputable brands sound like. But I do have a Good quality headphone I can compare it with. My brother has the Sennheiser HD 429 headphones. When I compare them both, the highs and vocals are louder and more clear on the Studios. The mids are better on the Sennheisers, but the bass quantity is almost exactly the same.
 
That is what I don't understand. I thought Beats were known for bigger bass, but they have the same amount as good midrange Sennheisers. Maybe these specific Sennheisers are considered bass heavy as well?
 
I am listening to both on a flat eq, but when I up the lower frequencies on my equaliser, the studios suddenly become more boomy and less tight than the HD 429's. Is this the overpowering bass everyone is talking about? That the bass becomes boomy and muddy when lower frequencies are upped on an equaliser? If so, that would explain why my Studios have decent, tight bass on a flat eq.
 
As I said, I would like to get a good pair as well. Thank you NA Blur for your suggestions. I am looking for headphones that have a similar sound signature to Beats, but are overall better quality. I like big bass, but dont want it to be muddy and drown out the rest of the song. Are the headphones suggested anything like that? I was looking at the Sony XB500's or even the XB920's. Are they any good for what I want?

 

[GREQ]

If you've got the NEW beats studios, then you do actually have best headphone beats have ever made, which has better bass than previous incarnations and is somewhat bearable by comparison to the old stuff.
 
If you want more quality bass and keep some sense of street style (which is of course subjective), have a look at Ultimate Ears UE9000 and. Sennheiser Momentum on-ears. (i have no experience with M-100)
 
The Sony XB290's have A LOT of bass - one of the bassiest I've ever heard in a headphone, but it bleeds into the mids and dominates the sound.... they are a lot of fun though for electronic music.
The bass is quite boomy, but it's fairly well controlled boom... I know that's sort of a contradiction in terms, but it's the nicest boom I've ever heard. For rock and acoustic music you can totally forget about them though. 

 

[techboy]

FYI mids and vocals are the same.

 

[techboy]

FYI mids and vocals are the same.

 

[GREQ]

Quote:

FYI mids and vocals are the same.

Sorry, but this statement is false.
Vocals appear in the mid-range of the frequency spectrum of our ears, but when we refer to these two words we talk about different things.

Usually when talking about mids, we talk about how prominent (forward or recessed) they are. Adjectives that accompany the description of mids usually include words like lush or thin, warm or analytical, as it's a general description of the type of midrange the headphone produces.
When talking about vocals, we usually refer to specific things like timbre and texture; the actual qualities of the sound specific to how well the headphone reproduces the sounds of the voice in all it's intricacies.
 
For example, my AKG K241 has a neutral, slightly warm and detailed midrange. Classical music sounds airy, expansive and natural. Vocals however can sound a bit thin and unnatural on the very same headphone.
Therefore I cannot agree 'mids' and 'vocals' are the same thing.

 

[blueangel2323]

Quote:

If you've got the NEW beats studios, then you do actually have best headphone beats have ever made, which has better bass than previous incarnations and is somewhat bearable by comparison to the old stuff.
 
If you want more quality bass and keep some sense of street style (which is of course subjective), have a look at Ultimate Ears UE9000 and. Sennheiser Momentum on-ears. (i have no experience with M-100)
 
The Sony XB290's have A LOT of bass - one of the bassiest I've ever heard in a headphone, but it bleeds into the mids and dominates the sound.... they are a lot of fun though for electronic music.
The bass is quite boomy, but it's fairly well controlled boom... I know that's sort of a contradiction in terms, but it's the nicest boom I've ever heard. For rock and acoustic music you can totally forget about them though. 

This. Most of the negative comments on here about Beats are based on the older models. The new Beats Studio, while far from great for their price, are a dramatic improvement over the previous version.

 

[dfsfgasdfgasdfg]

What about Bang and Olufsen H6? What do you think about them?

 

[GREQ]

  What about Bang and Olufsen H6? What do you think about them?

Awesome headphones. Easily one of the best portable closed backs on earth right now.
If I had the money I would upgrade from Momentum and buy it right now.
 
It's tonally very well balanced, almost neutral.