Is it sinful that I enjoyed Monster Beats more than Grado sr-80s?

[mikejungle]

Let me preface this post by saying that although I pursue good sound, I am by no one's standards, an audiophile. I favor strong but clear bass (i'm a bass player and former hip-hop head) and equally clear treble.

So one of my friends walked into lab the other day with a pair of Monster Beat Studios and I tried them with my Sony S series (which has since broken...What) and I was pleasantly surprised. I normally rock a pair of westone UM2's and these were a different experience. The bass was booming, but surprisingly clear and I wasn't missing anything in any of the other frequencies.

This experience ignited my desire for headphones that I could maybe use at home to listen to music. I'd heard many good things about grado's, so I headed over to goodcans.com to read up on some reviews. I decided that the sr-80s sounded like a good deal, so I headed over to a local grado dealer.

The headphones are good. As a non-audiophile I can't quite describe how they were good, but maybe it was something about the open-ness of the sound. The only thing that was missing was powerful bass. I'm not saying it wasn't there and it wasn't clear, it just didn't move me the way the Beats did.

So should I be filleted? Or can anyone make suggestions as to what headphones I might like? Because unless people can tell me (based on their own experiences and not anyone else's) I might go buy a pair of Beats Solos...

And if some of the audiophiles can tell me why the Beats are so hated on by the head-fi community, maybe I can hate too and move onto better things

 

[tdockweiler]

Nope. I think the Monster Beats would probably sound better then the SR-80 for the type of music you listen to. If that's rock or rap/hip-hop. The Monster Beats are super expensive for what you get so I imagine they couldn't sound THAT bad. Maybe at least sound like a $150 headphone.

I doubt Dr Dre would put his name on a piece of junk, but then again it makes me wonder how involved he was with the production process. Not much I'd imagine.

I'd like to see a real quality review of them from a true audiophile. Most people seem to judge them without trying them.

I have not heard them and don't have any interest in them, only curious.

I actually tried in at Best Buy and they didn't sound bad, but they're supposed to sound good in the store!

For you, i'd suggest the Denon D2000 or Sennheiser Hd-600. Both have really good bass and I can almost guarantee they would sound better then the Beats.

I think may people hate them due to the how they market them. They're overpriced for what you get i'd imagine, but i'm not 100% sure.

 

[SillyHoney]

Simply Grado is not your cup of tea.

Based on my audition at BestBuy I can tell Beats is bad. I just don't know how bad Beats really is because BestBuy demo setup and ambient noise may contribute to the performance but I'm pretty sure it's overpriced.

Let's put it this way, for $150-$200 you can buy one of some highly regarded headphones here and right away you will see it outperforms the Beats.

 

[i_love_hina]

When I auditioned the Beats I gathered that they're not terrible sounding headphones, pretty good in fact for Hip Hop, especially compared to the SR80. I think the thing about the Beats that the Head-Fi community takes exception to is that they cost $300, which is a joke to everything else in and even below the price range.

 

[the search never ends]

It's not so much hate (at least for me) it's that for the long term, the thumping bass that's always there grows old. When a set of cans has an artificial hump in the bass, it's always there. Grado, while not the deepest vass can around, provides decent punch for most genres. On another note, I thought the solo's had a more hollow midrange than the regular beats, but the build on the solos seems better. Monster hate is much like the bose hate, it stems more from overpricing than anything else. The bottom line is to decide for yourself, best buy has a 30 day return policy, if you still love your solos after 29 days, maybe thay are for you, plenty of people (despite the hate) love the beats and solos. I just can't get worked up about it. Forget about who hates what and seek what helps you enjoy the music.

 

[Bilavideo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikejungle /img/forum/go_quote.gif I favor strong but clear bass (i'm a bass player and former hip-hop head) and equally clear treble. So one of my friends walked into lab the other day with a pair of Monster Beat Studios and I tried them with my Sony S series (which has since broken...What) and I was pleasantly surprised. I normally rock a pair of westone UM2's and these were a different experience. The bass was booming, but surprisingly clear and I wasn't missing anything in any of the other frequencies. This experience ignited my desire for headphones that I could maybe use at home to listen to music. I'd heard many good things about grado's, so I headed over to goodcans.com to read up on some reviews. I decided that the sr-80s sounded like a good deal, so I headed over to a local grado dealer. The headphones are good. As a non-audiophile I can't quite describe how they were good, but maybe it was something about the open-ness of the sound. The only thing that was missing was powerful bass. I'm not saying it wasn't there and it wasn't clear, it just didn't move me the way the Beats did. So should I be filleted? Or can anyone make suggestions as to what headphones I might like? Because unless people can tell me (based on their own experiences and not anyone else's) I might go buy a pair of Beats Solos... And if some of the audiophiles can tell me why the Beats are so hated on by the head-fi community, maybe I can hate too and move onto better things

First of all, let your ears guide you. You're the one who has to pay for the cans, so get the ones you like. You don't have to impress anyone but yourself.

Second, Beats are a lot of fun if you're looking for throbbing bass. Part of choosing the right headphone is knowing what you want. Some music favors a lot of thump. Some music favors mids. Some music favors a lot of siss. A lot of the migration, from one set of cans to another, is more than economic. You get a pair, enjoy them, and evolve your own set of tastes.

Third, beats provide thump. That's why people like them. They are not, however, the clearest cans on the market. If you're listening to a club mix, you may not appreciate or care about the gap in clarity. Beats and Bose deliver a lot of bass, mostly because of the closed backs and leatherette cushions, which provide more of a seal. That same seal also muddies up the presentation. There's a lot of "resonance" and "standing waves," the jangly audio mud that shreds audio clarity. Again, if you're listening to some club mix, you're not likely to care, but if you try to listen to classical, jazz or some acoustic music where speed and decay (how fast the sound dies) matter, you're going to get tired of Beats.

If you have the coin, buy them now and enjoy them for as long as you can, then sell them to somebody else to fund your next set of cans.

Grados are much clearer than Beats or Bose. They're open. Even the cushions are effective at reducing the amount of resonance you experience. If you're going to be listening to music where you want a crisp presentation, you'll get more out of a Grado than you will from Beats or Bose. On the other hand, no headphone is perfect. Grados have their own issues. Grados have perfect, flat, mids - but they can be light on bass and heavy on high-mids and low-treble. The biggest mistake with Grados is to crank up the volume, expecting the bass to climb higher. Since the proportions favor treble (These cans are bright), this can lead to the conclusion that Grados are "shrill."

In fact, open-backed Grados are best experienced with decent chambers and the right pads. The better Grados use their chambers to capture more bass (short of closing the cans). The choice of pads can also make a huge difference in the sound. Flats have the greatest impact. Comfies rate an intermediate second. Bowls are designed to open up the soundstage but the soft tops, shaped as they are, often leaks bass. Jumbos are designed to maximize soundstage by increasing ear/driver distance and by opening up a wider dispersion for treble. They're used exclusively with Grados' GS-1000 and PS-1000 - both of which employ tweaked drivers and mahogany fronts (to maximize bass).

Open-air cans won't give you the bass you get, in droves, from closed-air cans. You trade away that easy bass for the added clarity. But if you get a decent amp, with bass boost, you can dial up all the bass you could ever want. If you take a pair of $79 SR-60i's and hook them up to an M^3, they'll throb more than the Beats. In other words, you can get Grados to deliver loads of bass. You just can't get Beats to deliver much clarity.

 

[mikejungle]

thanks for the detailed replies

I tried the senn hd-280's and although the bass was thumpier than the sr-80, it was muddy and clearly lacked clarity. haha...
do the 600's improve on that?

and while i'm sure the denon and sennheisers are great suggestions...is there anything else in a lower price bracket that would still satisfy me? You guys say that the beats are way overpriced, so maybe there's something cheaper that sounds great.

questions about amps...
how much is it for a decent one?
how portable do they get? the ones i've seen seem to be for sit-down use and most of my music is listened to on the go. the reason i like sony mp3 players so much is that i like the sound without needing an amp. I tried the cowon d2, but wasn't impressed by the bbe stuff.

 

[Ypoknons]

Well despite the differences between portables, none of them will adequately drive a inefficient headphone like the HD600, and plus they're open as hell and driving everyone around you mad. Even a portable amp won't do the trick, battery power has its limits... There's tons of threads about $100-$200 portable closed headphones around here. Probably suggest you start with the Audio Technica M50's or the Shures... Maybe an IEM if you want portability and isolation...