[FatalSylence]

Well, I don't have experience with the HD598 in particular, just the HD595, and I thought they were really lame sounding coming from bassy headphones. Even now, my auditory memory says that they're technically decent, they don't have the "wow" effect most people like when they first use a pair of headphones. Unless the HD598 is drastically more interesting (which it doesn't seem like), your friend might not be too impressed at first listen--maybe by the 3rd he'd learn to appreciate them. Although I've tried every Skullcandy headphone model <$100 produced before this year and they weren't incredibly bassy either. The Skullcrushers were especially disappointing. They had no impact, just mush.
 
A pair of D2000's would suit him better. Now if only they weren't so expensive lately. A modded pair of RX700 might suit him nicely though. 

 Well, if he's willing to get past the fact that they're JVC (which apparently isn't "high end" enough. Psh. The DX1000 has some qualms about that.) and slightly unattractive.
 
Regardless, your friend is pretty gullible. 
 

I think he'd probably like the M50 too, even. I certainly liked it better than the Beats I tried. And now I own the M50's. After the burn in, after the pad removal mod, and with my amp and LOD, it sounds amazing. Love it. 
 
But, if these people want to believe the lie of the Beats, I guess that's their decision. Sure, winning a free pair would be cool, but only because I could sell them. Profit. And then buy another pair of headphones or a nice DAC for my computer. 
 

 

[Ishcabible]

Quote:

I think he'd probably like the M50 too, even. I certainly liked it better than the Beats I tried. And now I own the M50's. After the burn in, after the pad removal mod, and with my amp and LOD, it sounds amazing. Love it. 
 
But, if these people want to believe the lie of the Beats, I guess that's their decision. Sure, winning a free pair would be cool, but only because I could sell them. Profit. And then buy another pair of headphones or a nice DAC for my computer. 
 

Amped Beats aren't as bad as you'd think. With a warm vintage receiver, I actually thought they were passable at the $130 they were going for at the Monster outlet. In fact (and I'm going to get chewed out for this), I liked them more than the M50's--I've demoed at least 3 different pairs in the past month and I still can't get myself to like their sound sig. Maybe I'm deaf, but the bass tightened up when given some power, and it ends up being a respectable headphone. But when I go back to unamped, they go back to "meh".
 

 

[FatalSylence]

Amped Beats aren't as bad as you'd think. With a warm vintage receiver, I actually thought they were passable at the $130 they were going for at the Monster outlet. In fact (and I'm going to get chewed out for this), I liked them more than the M50's--I've demoed at least 3 different pairs in the past month and I still can't get myself to like their sound sig. Maybe I'm deaf, but the bass tightened up when given some power, and it ends up being a respectable headphone. But when I go back to unamped, they go back to "meh".
 

Yeah, I wouldn't know. I haven't listened to the Beats amped. Just my M50's. They sound great amped. I agree with you. Although they still sound good unamped, I MUCH prefer them amped.
 

 

[WoahReQQuiem]

One guy with an HD201, a couple of fake Beats, and the ubiquitous (real) Beats. Some iBuds, but what's really popular here are $10 black Sony earbuds. They make up of more than 60% of what I see around here.

 

[prabha71]

At my work place. A TV station,
some Phillips SP1900 ( kinda crap sounding) for camera work.
and I've seen (so far) an AKG K-141 Monitor Headphones used in the editing suites..

 

[Lurkumaural]

HD202 and MDR-V150 on 2 different trains yesterday.

Beats Pro, PortaPro, and PX100 in and around the Ferry Building today. Jogger in Cow Hollow with silver Flats.

Also saw a Sony ANC model, the kind that's at Radio Shack and Walgreen's and everywhere else. It then occurred to me that any time in the past that I thought I saw a K81, it was probably this Sony.

EDIT: Also saw XB500 yesterday.

 

[LegendaryLvl1]

Haven't seen anyone in my uni wearing beats in a while. I'll take this as a good thing. But when I do see people wearing beats. They're almost always the kids with 'fashion sense', so in my school this is (AKA'd, 'hip' asian kids, 'trendy' white kids etc etc).

However, I did see a person on the bus this morning wearing some Senns and was much delighted : )
 
Quote:

Amped Beats aren't as bad as you'd think. With a warm vintage receiver, I actually thought they were passable at the $130 they were going for at the Monster outlet. In fact (and I'm going to get chewed out for this), I liked them more than the M50's--I've demoed at least 3 different pairs in the past month and I still can't get myself to like their sound sig. Maybe I'm deaf, but the bass tightened up when given some power, and it ends up being a respectable headphone. But when I go back to unamped, they go back to "meh".

 
 
I've tried amped beats, and believe they don't sound as good as the M50's.
Of course, this was at the local headphone store, so I didn't exactly have an eternity to test them out.

But even amped, I couldn't help but be reminded of their company slogan/motto/mission statement:
 
Quote:

 
Beats™ by Dr. Dre™ Studio™ High Definition Powered Isolation Headphones
Artists and producers spend countless hours fine-tuning and mixing music to get it exactly how they want their fans to hear it: Muddled with bass with no sense of clarity or thought for mids and highs
 
But the vast majority of headphones can’t accurately reproduce the intricacies produced in the studio. Simply put,Studios can. With precision-engineered, advanced speaker design, powered amplification, and powered noise cancellation, you hear music the way today’s top artists and producers want you to hear: Overpowering bass to account for 'artful' productions, done by those on the same footing as Dr.Dre

Might have edited a bit of it though : )

 

[Arbite]

Interesting seeing the difference in heapdhoens in various parts of the Uni. Was having lunch at the cafe near the arts school and its like watching a parade of ibuds/Beats Solos/Dre's. Walked to the music school later that day to take advantage of their record players and I saw a pair of SR60i's, 2 m50's and a pair of KSC75's. I didn't feel like such an idiot wearing my SRH840's there either, no awkward stares.

 
Closest I've seen to audiophile headphones in college is a set of 448's and a few 428's around. Oh, and a pair of HD555's, but they're on loan to the girlfriend until she upgrades from laptop speakers.
 
Just a pity that my fellow engineers let the team down with all their ibuds.

 

[LegendaryLvl1]

Quote:

Interesting seeing the difference in heapdhoens in various parts of the Uni. Was having lunch at the cafe near the arts school and its like watching a parade of ibuds/Beats Solos/Dre's. Walked to the music school later that day to take advantage of their record players and I saw a pair of SR60i's, 2 m50's and a pair of KSC75's. I didn't feel like such an idiot wearing my SRH840's there either, no awkward stares.

 
Closest I've seen to audiophile headphones in college is a set of 448's and a few 428's around. Oh, and a pair of HD555's, but they're on loan to the girlfriend until she upgrades from laptop speakers.
 
Just a pity that my fellow engineers let the team down with all their ibuds.

I once thought of wearing my LCD-2's to uni..... But then thought otherwise
 
 

 

[sn4ke1]

Military bases all over... beats/skullcandy all day
saw one guy with sony xb500's in iraq
 

 

[LegendaryLvl1]

.

 

[KitarP]

In my med school I've seen a pair of KSC75, a ton of people of Beats, and about 5 or 6 people with M50s, someone with Ultrasone headphones (dont know the exact model), and a few sennheiser's (don't know the exact models either)

Last semester I was the only one with M50s and now there are quite a few people with 'em.  I want to believe I'm the reason... even if it's not haha.

 

[chinesekiwi]

Quote:

Military bases all over... beats/skullcandy all day
saw one guy with sony xb500's in iraq
 

Surely you can educate your fellow soliders !!!

 

[Wingstrike]

Saw a pair of more "stylish" lower end sennheisers on the bus the other day. HD418 i believe?

 

[sidel]

Quote:

Surely you can educate your fellow soliders !!!

Beats double as a tactical weapon though.  Plastic shrapnel from a good smack can kill a man.  You didn't think they made them so cheaply for no reason, did you?