[flight567]

alright, i'm sitting at school and i've got my senns with me. a lot of people here have beats, so i was wondering what you (being the general concensus) is of the beats vs my senns. everyone who has auditioned my senns sais that they arn't as good as the beats. what do you think?
 
i'm willing to accept that the beats are better as far as sound quality (reluctantly) but are the senns a better value? thought? comments? thanks!

 

[Pulse14]

With the beats you are paying a >100% markup in price for a name and advertising campaign.
The bass is muddy and the mids and highs have a hard time standing ground to even the most value minded high quality cans.
So sit there with your 428s knowing you paid less than a quarter of what they paid and are experiencing the music better than they could dream of.
But if your after bass, the 428 isn't really that kind of monster (pun intended). 

 

[yd2zhang]

I like the beats better than my HD428's. They are by no means worth $350 however. The HD428's are well worth the 50 dollars I paid for them. Compare the beats to something from their own price range (or even something 100-250 dollars short of their price range) and you will see why people dislike them so much.

 

[flight567]

i've done some modding to the 428's, i've done the tape switching mod. and i've done asorta botched dime mod (if i'm thinking the right thing) and my friend actually said that these have a better bass than his beats. he didn't like the highs and he found the mids recessed?????? he also commented on how colored they are compared to his beats ?????? ugh oh well, such is life.) and one thing that one guy was amazed by was the soundstage. he couldn't think of the word but that's what he was thinking. 
 
the tape mod thing really brings the base out, it's not a bad kinda bass but it's there, more present but at very high volumes it leaks ever so slightly into the mid range. however at regular listening volume (for me, not my friends who like listening to music at incredible volumes......) the difference between bass,mid, and highs is nearly tangible on very deep notes, the base rides in on a pressure wave that sends my ears into the hospital. while leaving the highs crystal and the mids full.
 
the dime mod thingy brought the sound closer, and gave just a hint more detail. while keeping the soundstage very broad.
 
 

 

[koolkat]

The HD428 isn't a bassy can. The HD418 and the HD438 are the bassier cans in the line.
 
I'm not sure what you mean by the tape mod.. but if you did remove the tape that covers all the
three holes, it will give the bass a fuller sound. Some call this bloated and muddy, some like the
"bloated and muddy" bass sound, lol.
 
What I do is tape the hole towards the front of my HD438 and leave the back two open.
I get more bass without making the sound too muddy.
 
You won't get better extension by doing the mod, you'll get a louder or fuller bass sound. In other words,
if your cans aren't that bassy (428/448), the mod will give you more bass, but it won't give you deeper bass.
The dime mod won't make a big difference in the sound, since the gauze that covers the drivers are rather 
thin. 
 
Anyways, don't let others put you down. Some people don't like the HD4*8 cans because they've tried various
other headphones, some exceeding 300-400 bucks but I like my HD438s. Comfortable, not clampy and imo,
very good sound for the songs I listen to. 
 
What I would do is bring your friends over to your house and let them listen to the HD428 and the Beats in a
dead silent environment. If they're total bassheads, they'd probably still prefer the Beats but if they appreciate
detail, I'm sure they'll find that the HD428s a good pair of cans, for a lot less. 
 
 
 

 

[mak2675]

I would not buy the hd428's if are even remotely interested in the beats (unless u get them off ebay for cheap refurbished then maybe). They are very unimpactful headphones. The bass, though nice and tight, is just plain weak. You are better off getting the rx700s for a nice and balanced all-round experience at legendary value, which I feel are better in nearly every way. Hd428s you get for a strictly neutral, laid back, calm experience. If you are obsessed with neutrality and you are looking at less than $50, then you pretty much must buy the hd428s.