[MorrisL]

I used to trust Consumer Reports on my electronics purchases and always felt like I was making smart decisions based on their recommendations. I recently decided to look up and see what they say on headphones. I was really surprised at what I saw. They were recommending audiophile headphones but it looked like an advertising leaflet for Beats. The name Beyerdynamic didn't appear anywhere on their lists and the occasional decent recommendations always took a back seat to the Beats Solo, Studio and whatever Dr. Dre inspired gem they had.
 
And they claim these recommendations came after they bought a bunch of headphones, tested them and chose the best among them, based on sound quality.
 
Am I being unreasonable for losing my trust in Consumer Reports?

 

[jmills8]

I used to trust Consumer Reports on my electronics purchases and always felt like I was making smart decisions based on their recommendations. I recently decided to look up and see what they say on headphones. I was really surprised at what I saw. They were recommending audiophile headphones but it looked like an advertising leaflet for Beats. The name Beyerdynamic didn't appear anywhere on their lists and the occasional decent recommendations always took a back seat to the Beats Solo, Studio and whatever Dr. Dre inspired gem they had.

And they claim these recommendations came after they bought a bunch of headphones, tested them and chose the best among them, based on sound quality.

Am I being unreasonable for losing my trust in Consumer Reports?

They are focusing on Normal non addicted people.

 

[ionengine]

Come on this is B.S.bunch of beats fanboys working there.

 

[willowbrook]

Haven't heard beats in a long time, but I'd stay away from articles praising beats...

 

[ranfan]

Complete non-sensical

 

[MorrisL]

It's just sad because I used to subscribe to their stuff and bought all my cars and electronics based on their advice. Turns out they're basically fake.

 

[InsTwin]

  I used to trust Consumer Reports on my electronics purchases and always felt like I was making smart decisions based on their recommendations. I recently decided to look up and see what they say on headphones. I was really surprised at what I saw. They were recommending audiophile headphones but it looked like an advertising leaflet for Beats. The name Beyerdynamic didn't appear anywhere on their lists and the occasional decent recommendations always took a back seat to the Beats Solo, Studio and whatever Dr. Dre inspired gem they had.
 
And they claim these recommendations came after they bought a bunch of headphones, tested them and chose the best among them, based on sound quality.
 
Am I being unreasonable for losing my trust in Consumer Reports?

I mean, what were the criteria for the report? Best headphones as driven by your iPhone?  Did they provide any criteria for how or what they were listening to?
 
If not it sounds like it was a report for the common consumer who can't hear the differences between a pair of headphones for themselves.

 

[Cry Havoc]

It's literally called "Consumer Reports".  Not "professionals do scientific analysis of a product" reports.

A huge part of what makes CR work is satisfaction ratings.
 
A customer buys Beats or Bose because a huge part of that is what they want to see and hear from their product.
 
Almost everyone I've ever talked to who goes from owning Apple iBuds and upgrades to Beats feels like it's a whole new world of sound.  The sound sig of Beats is pretty friendly to younger, hipper audiences -- lots of bass and rolloffs everywhere.  If they recommended something like AKG702s to the average Tom Dick or Harry, I don't think the reception would be very warm.  CR can't make money if their consumers don't like what they buy.

Let's face it, a huge component of consumer satisfaction is what they see when they look at the logo or outer shell of a product.  Beats have been marketed well enough to be a pseudo status symbol among average buyers -- that's why they're still selling like crazy.  That's also probably 70% of why people like them so much.
 
It's definitely concerning that they're recommending Beats, but it's also understandable.  People who want something shiny that sounds somewhat better than their $3 headphones that were included with their phone are going to be thrilled by Beats.  Meaning they're going to be happy with Consumer Reports.

 

[DonS1000]

Consumer Reports is great at detailed reviewing of most things. Audio equipment has never been one of them going back many years. They can only test a small subset of brands and don't usually go for the smaller company's.

 

[BIG Dave]

CR believes they're experts on everything under the sun. One month it's automobiles, next month it's washing machines, the following month it's headphones. How can any one group have sufficient knowledge to judge everything? And, why would I trust the ears of the CR when it comes to judging sound equipment? I would put more trust in producers of albums I like, or mastering engineers of LP's or CD's I like. Trust the ears of the CR staff? Unlikely.

 

[DonS1000]

They have a very bad track record for Audio equipment.