Alright, I will give my story as well
And my opinion afterwards.
STORY BEGINING
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My journey into hi-fi began last May. We were playing football on the pitch. After a while my "friend" (no really sure about that status... I hate his personalities so "used to be" perhaps) appeared on the pitch wearing the Studios. I looked at them and tey really looked nice, partially lid up, basically a stylish pair of HP. I had a short listen and I was wowed by the deep, thumping bass.
I asked him about them and he said tey are great and sound really good.
Well I was decided I want to buy them too. He said he bought them off ebay for 300 pounds I think so I processed there to bu them right away because I really thought they were really sexy and they played some good music.
Luckily, I have decided before buing them, I should probbly check the web first just to be sure. Many websites, incl. some "adiophile ones" gave them 9/10 but then I ve stumbled across a random website where the Beats gained some infamy.
They were criticised for their sound presentation and overly present bass.
The next link took me here and this is esentially what saved.
After a very lengthy research and impressions (these were solely from our beloved head-fi community) I thought the Pro 900 were for me.
They offered the same great bass gooness but a better overall balance and pomised much better listenin experience, albeit slightly more expensive.
My Beats friend tried to convince me but I started to realize there might be something fishy in all this. And I wanted to diferentiate from the masses.
(Also, do understand that there was and still is no advertising for them here. I would think its an American thing and that simply EU was mostly avoided)
So I bought a pair of the Ultrasones Pro 900 in a local store, roughly for 500 bucks and even later bought the Fiiio E11 for it.
Of course they blew his out of the water, in literally except for the thumpiness in bass, but the bass had much better texture overall. It aso blew out his future and most recent purchase, the Beats Pros and these are in the same price range (smaller soundstage, still less balanced and very uncomfortable for me)
He was desappointed and I was happy. This is exactly what he deserved for being a sheep (he is quite an evil person too so he deserved it...)
At the beginning I was very satisfied with the Pro 900. But eventually I started to delve into audioplile stuff deeper and realized they were not what I seek)
Back then I wanted strong bass, which I was given in spades but I started to find flaws with the HP. The higs were still very aggresive and the mids recessed.
So I steered away from my previous criterias. Now I wanted solid bass, but not necessarily that strong but I also wanted a flat neutral natural and less fun, if you will, headphone. With good non harsh highs and full balanced mids.
After months of looking and asking for help/impressions (again right here
I changed opinions many times. From Denons (which were originally meant to be substituted for the Pro 900 but unfortunately just turned to discontinued and the new line was in no sight back then(which brought dubious results, but I wont comment on that)) all the way to HifiMAN.
I considered the HE-500 then HE-5LE and finally the HE-6. A fellow headfier here did extensive listening comparissons for me and therefore I had to mention him as without his help I woudnt probably be where I am now)
And here I am with my newly bought HE-6. Do I feel lik I ve gone through a lot? Definitely. Do I think it was all worth it? Absoluelly. I am fully happy with the HE-6 as it offers everything I ve craved for (review coming soon
) Now this is a HP I believe every audiphile should hear at least once in his life, but I will leave that up to you guys
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STORY END
Now what I think about Beats (courtesy of Monster cable) now?
I really think one might admire them from a business stand point. What they did marketing wise is pretty formidable. Although I did not notice the promotions here. My Beats friend as a celebrity adorer (footbl, modern music,etc) suer noticed and I reall believe he was one of the affected by this marketing.
From the other pow, I think it did more worse than good. This friend now dont really want to know the truth and he wont admit the ear-clear results and I am sure he also doesnt want to give up his accessory HP.
It affected more people here. Here n there I still meet people wearing Bs and they all seem to be really proud about it and I dont think you can change that in them or only in a few. They wont listen.
In conclusion, I believe the deal is off now and that Monster cables are back to making cables and non-Beat headphones, which are much better sound wise in my experience. They look similar but sound much better and more blanced.
All in all, I hate Beats for all the bad things it has caused or the misinformation it tells... and the thanks to them spreading opinion that bass is above all... please I used to think that too but I now know that deep, detailed yet not overpowering bass is much better than that thumpy, bloaty bass that completely ruins the whole FR and thus the whole song as well... House parties being the only exception
Hopefully this whole Beats obsession/bias will end one day and those people would eventually want to find something beter sonically when the hype will be gone.
Oh well, one can dream but probably some other brand will take its place and we ll be at the beginning again. BUT one can hope, no?
Just my story and two cents
