[FiioforMeOh]

sQuite frankly I don't see what's with all the hate of beats. Yes, they're overpriced (the studios are now 50 dollars cheaper, almost a more justifiable price.) I own the studio's and I'm satisfied with them since I only paid 200 for them. Are beats great? Not exactly, but are they horrible? No. They're decent headphones and if each product was 50-100 dollars cheaper, then I think they'd be worth the price you pay. But please don't join the bandwagon or judge from the old monster ones (those were terrible) since then sound has improved significantly as well as durability.

 

[Winegums]

I can agree with Zombie here, I started out with skull candy then moved on to Beats tour and once those broke I found out about V-Moda. I've been moving up with audio equipment ever since, I'm now waiting for JHaudio to ship me my JH16's. The important thing is that beats sounded much better than what I had heard before so I suddenly realized that there was a whole world of audio I hadn't even seen. So as far as a product to introduce someone to higher end audio I think beats has it's place in the market. I have no doubts that their product is terrible value for money, but it sounds better than skull candy and iBuds which makes it a stepping stone,(an expensive one though). The fact that beats are flashy fashion items isn't so bad either, it opens people up to the idea of spending more than $20 on a pair of headphones.
 
I'm disappointed that I didn't do more research before buying my beats, but I don't think I'd be where I am now if I hadn't bought them.

 

[PanamaHat]

I've been on head-fi for over a year now and I still haven't brought myself to pay more than $250 for a single headphone. Honestly, if I had bought beats then found head-fi and bought a headphone like the momentum I'd be very upset with my beats purchase. 

 

[reeltime]

I've auditioned a number of Beats headphones-- the two most popular (read: cheapest) headphones are the Solo and the Studio.  Both sound fairly awful, though stylish, if you're into that flashy look.  
 
The Pros are much, much better.  Still way overpriced, but they at least sound decent.  Of course the bass is tuned way up, but that's to be expected, given the target audience.  But they are clear, and they have decent imaging.  The problem is-- they're in that $400-$500 dollar range where you can get into some serious audiophile gear.  
 
I've stated-- I own and enjoy the Beats Tour (In-ear).  They are terrific for watching movies and I use them as a back up when my ears need a change.  I also use them to work out.
 
Finding a real pair of Beats can be a real problem.  Almost anything you buy on the internet will be fake.  And they are such good fakes-- right down to the packaging-- you would never know just by looking at them.  The only difference from the real Beats is sound quality.  The fakes sound like the free headphones they pass out on airplanes.  

 

[Winegums]

Quote:

I've auditioned a number of Beats headphones-- the two most popular (read: cheapest) headphones are the Solo and the Studio.  Both sound fairly awful, though stylish, if you're into that flashy look.  
 
The Pros are much, much better.  Still way overpriced, but they at least sound decent.  Of course the bass is tuned way up, but that's to be expected, given the target audience.  But they are clear, and they have decent imaging.  The problem is-- they're in that $400-$500 dollar range where you can get into some serious audiophile gear.  
 
I've stated-- I own and enjoy the Beats Tour (In-ear).  They are terrific for watching movies and I use them as a back up when my ears need a change.  I also use them to work out.
 
Finding a real pair of Beats can be a real problem.  Almost anything you buy on the internet will be fake.  And they are such good fakes-- right down to the packaging-- you would never know just by looking at them.  The only difference from the real Beats is sound quality.  The fakes sound like the free headphones they pass out on airplanes.  

Some of the fakes are so good there was a market for buying real beats from best buy and futureshop then returning the box with fake beats in it. Copy right laws don't translate well into chinese hahaha.

 

[Frosty3258]

I would just like to thank head fi and the community. If not for this site I would still be on amazon looking at the fq range to find the "best" cans. And then what would I do with all the new spare time and money?

 

[krismusic]

I would just like to thank head fi and the community. If not for this site I would still be on amazon looking at the fq range to find the "best" cans. And then what would I do with all the new spare time and money?

Ha ha.

 

[Spyro]

Reminds me of Nike.  Generally crappy products but the public doesn't care....it's about fashion and status.
 
$90 pair of Nike gym shoes cost about $8 to make.   The other $82 is to pay for the billions $$ is advertising and $100 million contracts they pay athletes to wear the products.

 

[Koolpep]

  Reminds me of Nike.  Generally crappy products but the public doesn't care....it's about fashion and status.
 
$90 pair of Nike gym shoes cost about $8 to make.   The other $82 is to pay for the billions $$ is advertising and $100 million contracts they pay athletes to wear the products.

Ahem, there is a huge amount going into R&D, product development etc. production and material costs are only a tiny bit of the overall costs of producing a product. In the textile business profit margins are the highest, any Jeans can be produced to the highest standards for $10-15 and sell for $250...
 
What about software? How much does one copy of Microsoft Office costs to "make" - next to nothing, these gangsters are ripping us off.
 
But I get the point you are trying to make.
Cheers,
K

 

[PugetSoundNW]

This reply truly expresses how i feel about Dr Dre Beat and music accessories alike...the willingness to pay $200-300 sometimes upwards of $500 for a compact amplifier to make what is boastfully an earphone that sounds amazing even without the amplifier is an oxymoron at best

 

[MrRodriguez]

SkullCandy was my stepping stone. I was originally going to "upgrade" to Beats after the SkullCandy's... But I couldn't drop that kind of money blindly. Researching Beats alternatives/competitors is what brought me here to Head-Fi, and informed me of Beats shortcomings for their price. So in a way, I should thank Beats for being here as well.

I wholeheartedly agree that the Beats by Dre marketing campaign is very misleading. I wonder if that is Beats/Dre's doing, or Monster/Noel Lee's doing... Either way, it is deceptive, yet pretty convincing.

That being said, despite the hatred they seem to get here, I don't completely write them off just yet. They do offer some good looking products. Though overpriced, if the sound quality continues to improve like the Studio 2.0 vs original Studio, I can still see myself eventually picking up a pair at a discount. Perhaps on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

 

[elvergun]

That being said, despite the hatred they seem to get here, I don't completely write them off just yet. They do offer some good looking products. Though overpriced, if the sound quality continues to improve like the Studio 2.0 vs original Studio, I can still see myself eventually picking up a pair at a discount. Perhaps on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

Hmmm...but don't they also have a problem with build quality?  Sure, they might be pretty...and they might be able to improve the sound...but what good is better SQ and great looks if they fall apart after a couple of months?

 

[Spyro]

not 75 or 80 but 100% marketing.  Bose is for old people or the business man in a suit that goes on plane trips.  Dr. Dre's are for young people.  Just give it some bass and a sleek color and it will sell, period.
 
The IEM's or headphones here on head-fi basically have 0% marketing.  It's all about the sound and appearance and heresay/reviews from fellow head-fiers.

 

[Gilly87]

Ditto! Bought Beats Tours and felt ripped off; 10 hours of internet research later, Head-Fi.
 
Quote:

  I understand there is alot of hate for dr dre headphones but to be honest I only found out about head-fi searching for dr dre alternatives. I also bet alot of other users came here because the dr dre's were their first pair of headphones. The dr dre headphones are one of the first mass market products that have been a success, thus making the headphones 'cool' again due to thier advertising stratergy. And at the end of the day dr dre headphones has been good to the headphone community, as it has brought exposure to new markets and made headphones more profitable and made companies step up thier game.

 

[zunehdrocks]

Celebrity endorsement + False claims + ignorance = ...