Latest Thread Images

Good over ear headphones for under $200. What's the best?
Jun 16, 2012 at 11:28 AM Post #16 of 34
I feel studios are not that bad, just that for the price it's not worth it, I feel the Monster N-tune wipes it out. Yes, the ATH-M50 is a good alternative too, even dre uses them 
wink_face.gif

 
Jun 16, 2012 at 3:22 PM Post #18 of 34
I'm no audio expert, but it surprises me a lot that there are better headphones than beats for HALF the retail price?? Kid me not, so you guys are saying, side by side, beats studio vs. the M50s... the M50s are better overall? bass, clarity, highs, mids, lows? And at $160 on amazon, that's not a bad price at all, but if they are really better than the studios or the beat pros then I think why not? But what's the catch, why are Beats so expensive compared to companies like these that me... a normal non audio expert has no idea about? EVERYONE knows about beats, and A LOT  of people know about Skullcandy, it amazes that these no name (in my mind) companies make better headphones for about the half the price of Monster's... 
 
Jun 16, 2012 at 3:32 PM Post #19 of 34
Quote:
torred charger said:
I'm no audio expert, but it surprises me a lot that there are better headphones than beats for HALF the retail price?? Kid me not, so you guys are saying, side by side, beats studio vs. the M50s... the M50s are better overall? bass, clarity, highs, mids, lows? And at $160 on amazon, that's not a bad price at all, but if they are really better than the studios or the beat pros then I think why not? But what's the catch, why are Beats so expensive compared to companies like these that me... a normal non audio expert has no idea about? EVERYONE knows about beats, and A LOT  of people know about Skullcandy, it amazes that these no name (in my mind) companies make better headphones for about the half the price of Monster's... 
Click to expand...

Large advertising and marketing departments gotta get paid.  That is where the Dre's and Skullcandy excel at.
 
I'll put in my recommendation for the Denon DNHP1000.
 
Jun 16, 2012 at 9:23 PM Post #20 of 34
Quote:
torred charger said:
I'm no audio expert, but it surprises me a lot that there are better headphones than beats for HALF the retail price?? Kid me not, so you guys are saying, side by side, beats studio vs. the M50s... the M50s are better overall? bass, clarity, highs, mids, lows? And at $160 on amazon, that's not a bad price at all, but if they are really better than the studios or the beat pros then I think why not? But what's the catch, why are Beats so expensive compared to companies like these that me... a normal non audio expert has no idea about? EVERYONE knows about beats, and A LOT  of people know about Skullcandy, it amazes that these no name (in my mind) companies make better headphones for about the half the price of Monster's... 
Click to expand...

 
Most customers don't know what they're really paying for, not just for headphones but a lot of things, especially when it comes to expensive sound equipment that you don't buy very often and know little about. Beats, Bose, Skullcandy and Sony are EVERYWHERE!!! If you constantly see something, you think, "everyone sells it or is wearing it, so it must be good." Beats and Bose also advertise relentlessly.
 
Imagine if every time you opened a magazine, all you saw were advertisements for Dasani bottled water. Subconsciously you would think, "Dasani water must be the best, or else they wouldn't have it in this magazine." And then you see Dasani next to Zephyrhills at the store and the Dasani costs twice as much. Now you think, "THIS has got to be the best water." We all know this is ridiculous. However, that's how Bose and Beats have played the game, and they have gained great success from it.

Skullcandy did it by having attractive boxes, multiple color choices and massive market penetration. You can find Skullcandy at Wal-Mart, every electronics store, skate shops, etc. and they are very eye-catching. Plus, they are amazingly cheap. Almost everyone in their teens has a pair (or several pairs due to them breaking all the time) of Skullcandy (while those with more money have Beats). It's hard to show up with some unknown brand that is relatively a lot more expensive, but not as good looking when you're dealing with high school mentalities where kids get made fun of for tucking in their shirts. Bring in a pair of headphones that nobody knows and that don't look so good? Nope. Not happening.

Sony doesn't need to advertise, because who doesn't know about Sony? TVs, cameras/camcorders, computers, cell phones, stereo equipment, Blu-ray players, headphones and (drum roll) the Playstation have made it almost pointless for Sony to advertise at all. People just trust the brand.

Until I came to this site, I didn't know what Sennheiser, Audio Technica, AKG, V-MODA, Audeze, Phiaton, MEElectronics, etc. were, either. I knew Beats, Bose, Skullcandy and Sony and to a lesser extent JVC, Philips, Rocketfish, Sanyo, etc. Oh, and Shure. But I always associated them mad expensive microphones and IEMs that I could never afford. It's like the first time I looked at a college level book about dinosaurs and realized there were a ton more known species beyond T-Rex, triceratops, stegosaurus, brachiosaurus, and velociraptor. There are literally THOUSANDS of dinosaurs you will never hear of or even be able to imagine until you step out of the mainstream bubble and dig a bit. Check out these dinosaurs to see what I mean. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/12/bizarre-dinosaurs/updike-text.html

Side note: Had no idea I would write this much. It was fun. That is all.
 
Jun 16, 2012 at 10:44 PM Post #21 of 34
I understand all the advertising costs and such, i took an introductory macro and micro course so I understand all those costs, but in the end, I'll make it real simple. 
 
 
Should I get beats or one of the other headphones most of you guys mentioned? 
 
Jun 16, 2012 at 11:48 PM Post #22 of 34
Quote:
torred charger said:
I'm no audio expert, but it surprises me a lot that there are better headphones than beats for HALF the retail price?? Kid me not, so you guys are saying, side by side, beats studio vs. the M50s... the M50s are better overall? bass, clarity, highs, mids, lows? And at $160 on amazon, that's not a bad price at all, but if they are really better than the studios or the beat pros then I think why not? But what's the catch, why are Beats so expensive compared to companies like these that me... a normal non audio expert has no idea about? EVERYONE knows about beats, and A LOT  of people know about Skullcandy, it amazes that these no name (in my mind) companies make better headphones for about the half the price of Monster's... 
Click to expand...


Yes, the M50s are better overall. If you have looked at ljokerl's headphone shootout, you would have seen that the M50 slaughters the studios... Also, for the Studio, you're paying for the endorsement, advertising, looks and noise cancellation, so that is why it costs 2x more than the M50 and yet does not sound as good. Well, those companies are not "no name", they are actually very popular, just that the majority of the people are sheep that follow the crowd on what's "cool" or "popular". These "no name" companies that you said can only be called heavily underrated compared to beats and skullcandy... 
 
Jun 16, 2012 at 11:57 PM Post #24 of 34
Quote:
torred charger said:
I want a good noise cancelling headphone... so the m50s don't have good sound cancelling? 
Click to expand...


The M50s have isolation, which is better than the studios WITH noise cancelling turned on. Since the noise cancelling of the beats hardly makes a difference anyway. If you insist on noise cancelling, the ATH-ANC7b is good. 
 
Jun 16, 2012 at 11:57 PM Post #25 of 34
Jun 17, 2012 at 3:13 PM Post #30 of 34
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top