[Ishcabible]

Quote:

Problem is that, the bass of Beats sucks!!!

EDIT nvm

 

[chinesekiwi]

Quote:

 
I fully know the problem with the beats. Cheap pastic material and flimsy hindge construction. THAT being stated, HOPEFULLY the Solo HD's are going to be much more durable. I talked to five different Monster Reps and they all said that the Solo HDs are made from "improved" material. Whatever that means. Instead of a matte finish, they will have a glossy one like the studios. As for having too much bass, SUPPOSSEDLY these HDs are going to be less focused on the lows and more balances out between the mids and the highs. As for style, its ur opinion whether you think they look good. I think they have a slick design with an alienesque kind of futuristic look.
 

 
Style is much more subjective than audio. Anyway, ya much better off buying the Monster Pro Coppers if you want to buy Monster than their full-size headphones.
 

 

[yashu]

I HATE the Shure 440s. Talked up here, had a chance to get them without auditioning. I have them, have not been able to sell them yet.
 
I love love LOVE my AT m50s. I often forget they were a bit expensive. I have other phones, DT880s, which are my favorite open phone I do not have to EQ with the hardware parametric on my Mackie. (sr325s being my favorite that i DO, I guess? Original AKG k271s being favorite closed cans I have to work for... but hey sometimes it's worth it.)
 
Back to the issue at hand. There are many closed cans for a lot less than the Shure 440s I would take. I bought both the Denon 1001s and the Creative Aurvana Lives! I loved the former, was just curious about the latter, and both sound better, than the Shure 440s. Except, the rub is how I am judging. The Shures are going to give me the most accurate presentation if I was in a studio recording *certain* instrumentation and voices. The Denons have no place in the studio. I modded the Creatives. They sound really really good, don't need a ton of power, but are a little picky about source, but can create a headstage, in some cases, a foot or more in front and back. The Denons themselves, could do the same thing, but since the cans were soooo close to each other, I took the ones I thought looked better and sold the Denons to a very happy classical composer. The joy on his face when he could hear things he forgot about as he listened, it was worth every penny I paid for the two, plus the Shures. The thing is, I look back on that moment and do not see the beats offering such joy, and they cost twice as much! The Shures won't even hardly work with the source he was using, granted, and the beats would, but I am 100% sure that without some odd event, the Denons are going to be offering up musical melody long after the beats would have fallen apart.
 
My taste in style, my taste in music, gear, it just... I can't... It doesn't matter. Would I trade the Shure 440s that I HATE!!!! for some Beats HD? Nope. Not even if they sounded better on my Sansa than the m50s, or even the XB700s (call me a sucker, but the XBs use this stuff called metal, they sound good too, but you know... it's all about the style right? The massive earpads are stylin' and I take no other position!) I will find someone that has a small studio with the right voices and instrumentation that wants a, basically, brand new set of Shure 440s, and guess what, That could be 10 years from now, because the things are made like tanks, and I would say for something I don't like, they are fairly impressive, certainly if I don't like them and still think they are worth the money I paid for them. I would get the beats home, and a couple weeks from now get angry at the hairline cracks, or some plastic creaky sound that wakes my wife up if the sound leakage doesn't. I would look cool right? All out there advertizing for Dr. Dre. So uh... Since when was the producer who could rap and control the meistro so out of money, he needed all that free advertizing? Is he going to eventually pay me for wearing his name around, or am I buying the right to wear his name around? How does that work. Beyerdynamic is a company, hell, Grado, they fell into making headphones really... if you are good at making cartridges, you might experiement with making a carefully wound voice coil in a very delecate driver for some headphones, maybe, even to test the product that you make, or just to offer to customers a way you might think it could be enjoyed. The Good Dr. When was the last time he rocked the wheels of steel? You know, my guess is, if he has, his income level has allowed him a step up from the ak1200s. Do you think he voices the beats or just signs off on the design and color of that nice shiny B, or b, I guess.
 
Which is fine. Seriously, this is the USA, where it is tight to be that successful, but lets be honest, and within this discussion, understand that a far as audiophiles go, and their money, there are a hell of a lot more sincere ways to approach their music collections, whether hand wound delecate drivers or exceptionally accurate German tech, or maybe even the acoustic musician's friends from Austria. Even Shure, which, Dre may have even had an inter-wax relatinship with back in the day, are still getting people really freaking close, maybe even too close, but that is a debate, to music, at least with headphones. It would make sense to charge the price everyone else does for something that does what he may have really looked up to when he was younger. We all chase our youth. I just wish he remembered stuff used metal and was durable, even in the 80s and 90s. If we have been taught anything it is that materials are just about everything, just about. I'll bet not half assing the beats would probably have them sounding pretty good, maybe even, worth 300 bucks.

 

[commando]

I have the beats, given to me by Monster to review. I've also owned or extensively used the CD3000, AKG271, A900, the Beyer bassy ones (770s?), Ultimate Ears 5EBs, HD595s, and i've tried who knows how many others. The beats are my current favorite headphones for work. The bass is great, the mids and highs are good, and the noise cancellation hugely reduces rid of air conditioning noise - or plane noise. I don't think they're worth $400, which was retail last time I looked, but $250 sure, $300 probably still not bad.

 

[.Sup]

Quote:

look at these sexy beasts

wow very sexy

 

 

[StyleAddict]

Quote:

I HATE the Shure 440s. Talked up here, had a chance to get them without auditioning. I have them, have not been able to sell them yet.
 
I love love LOVE my AT m50s. I often forget they were a bit expensive. I have other phones, DT880s, which are my favorite open phone I do not have to EQ with the hardware parametric on my Mackie. (sr325s being my favorite that i DO, I guess? Original AKG k271s being favorite closed cans I have to work for... but hey sometimes it's worth it.)
 
Back to the issue at hand. There are many closed cans for a lot less than the Shure 440s I would take. I bought both the Denon 1001s and the Creative Aurvana Lives! I loved the former, was just curious about the latter, and both sound better, than the Shure 440s. Except, the rub is how I am judging. The Shures are going to give me the most accurate presentation if I was in a studio recording *certain* instrumentation and voices. The Denons have no place in the studio. I modded the Creatives. They sound really really good, don't need a ton of power, but are a little picky about source, but can create a headstage, in some cases, a foot or more in front and back. The Denons themselves, could do the same thing, but since the cans were soooo close to each other, I took the ones I thought looked better and sold the Denons to a very happy classical composer. The joy on his face when he could hear things he forgot about as he listened, it was worth every penny I paid for the two, plus the Shures. The thing is, I look back on that moment and do not see the beats offering such joy, and they cost twice as much! The Shures won't even hardly work with the source he was using, granted, and the beats would, but I am 100% sure that without some odd event, the Denons are going to be offering up musical melody long after the beats would have fallen apart.
 
My taste in style, my taste in music, gear, it just... I can't... It doesn't matter. Would I trade the Shure 440s that I HATE!!!! for some Beats HD? Nope. Not even if they sounded better on my Sansa than the m50s, or even the XB700s (call me a sucker, but the XBs use this stuff called metal, they sound good too, but you know... it's all about the style right? The massive earpads are stylin' and I take no other position!) I will find someone that has a small studio with the right voices and instrumentation that wants a, basically, brand new set of Shure 440s, and guess what, That could be 10 years from now, because the things are made like tanks, and I would say for something I don't like, they are fairly impressive, certainly if I don't like them and still think they are worth the money I paid for them. I would get the beats home, and a couple weeks from now get angry at the hairline cracks, or some plastic creaky sound that wakes my wife up if the sound leakage doesn't. I would look cool right? All out there advertizing for Dr. Dre. So uh... Since when was the producer who could rap and control the meistro so out of money, he needed all that free advertizing? Is he going to eventually pay me for wearing his name around, or am I buying the right to wear his name around? How does that work. Beyerdynamic is a company, hell, Grado, they fell into making headphones really... if you are good at making cartridges, you might experiement with making a carefully wound voice coil in a very delecate driver for some headphones, maybe, even to test the product that you make, or just to offer to customers a way you might think it could be enjoyed. The Good Dr. When was the last time he rocked the wheels of steel? You know, my guess is, if he has, his income level has allowed him a step up from the ak1200s. Do you think he voices the beats or just signs off on the design and color of that nice shiny B, or b, I guess.
 
Which is fine. Seriously, this is the USA, where it is tight to be that successful, but lets be honest, and within this discussion, understand that a far as audiophiles go, and their money, there are a hell of a lot more sincere ways to approach their music collections, whether hand wound delecate drivers or exceptionally accurate German tech, or maybe even the acoustic musician's friends from Austria. Even Shure, which, Dre may have even had an inter-wax relatinship with back in the day, are still getting people really freaking close, maybe even too close, but that is a debate, to music, at least with headphones. It would make sense to charge the price everyone else does for something that does what he may have really looked up to when he was younger. We all chase our youth. I just wish he remembered stuff used metal and was durable, even in the 80s and 90s. If we have been taught anything it is that materials are just about everything, just about. I'll bet not half assing the beats would probably have them sounding pretty good, maybe even, worth 300 bucks.

Dude, you need to chill. At the end of the day, phones are phones. I'm sorry you hate the beats with a passion. You hate it but you love it...
 

 

[yashu]

Did they fix the battery goes dead tyou lose the use of your 'phones problem? Or was that only on the studio beats?
 
I am saying that 300 bucks is a hell of a lot of money for some people, it may be all the money they can put towards a pair of headphones for a while. I feel that the truth is the beats, like Bose, charge more to have a name associated than the actual performance. Poor price/performance ratio, is what I am saying.
 
This is not just a "best buy" problem, since big box stores do carry the Denon 1001s, the Sony XB700s and the v700s, (of course the v700s have their own problems, at least you can buy two of them for 3 bills so when the plastic breaks, you have another pair and spare parts).
 
The OP does not like the Denons, granted, they need more than the average source to sound their best, and the Aurvanas, at 50 dollars less, IMHO are so fing worth it, if you are after budget hifi, plus, they do mate a bit better with a DAP. I don't know why, as I have extensively studied both inside and out, the only difference being ear cup shape and the pads on the Aurvanas are actually better, a bit thicker, more comfey. The wires on the Denons are better, but both suck in the grand scheme, I would still prefer the Denon wires and adapters. I digress.
 
Back to the beats. One major problem I see is that the amount of attenuation, noise cancellation, basically. M50s win, and they are 100% passive, just good engineering. Why do I bring these up against the beats? The m50s are way better than they have a right to be at their price point. It is hard to find a dealbreaking flaw really. I might nod to M-Audio and their headphone effort, as I do not know the price I cannot say if they should be considered here, but... anyway, 300 dollars. I am thinking about this and the new designed DT770s hit my mind as a way to go. You can't complain about the bass output on those guys, and the new style is nice. I have an older set, but damn are they nice for the money. I think the DT880s can even be had close to this price.
 
Why put an LCD TV on the head rests of the very back seats of your ride? How else are the people behind you supposed to see em'? 
 
What exactly are we paying for with Bose and Monster Beats? The name, Dr. Dre. Amar Bose. Now, the beats ARE better than a 300 dollar Bose effort, but they DO leak sound, If the NC is not passive, you are automatically adding distortion, but I thought the NC was in the studio beats, which makes no sense to me, since well, how can one get an accurate presentation with NC headphones to earn the title "studio"?
 
Stylish, maybe, in the same way apple is. Apple is one of the worst US companies, so it is interesting how close Monster gets to them, to have the sleek plastic beats in their store filled with sleek stuff that apple wants you to buy even though they offer no user replacable anything, and they add features here and there, artificially restricting certain features to certain models even though there is no hardware limitations, or engineering a product so that they can just release a new one a year later so you can toss your last one and buy another.
 
My bias against apple does not affect my view of the beats. To be honest, out of all the things sold in the apple store, the Turbines may be the most honest product, followed by the Studio Beats. They are expensive because they are sold in the apple store, but at least you can change the batteries!
 
For 300 dollars you can do so many things in the headphone world it would be a futile attempt to name them all, so I will boil it down to, if you like how they sound and you feel the style is worth 300 bucks, then buy them. This is head-fi, the land of you can do what you want with your head and your money. All we do is offer some advice, opinions, tips, maybe based on experience, or even more, but we aren't forcing Sennheisers down your throat. I saw the positive speak about the Shure 440s, but buying them was my choice. Hating them is my choice. I am sure someone else will love them. 
 
What I feel is special about this place is not that we talk about what we like or hate, but that even if we do hate it, we can appreciate what about it others may like, or, how something that doesn't work for me, might work for you. I get stuck when I try to find a logical constant on the Monster Beats. I am trying to figure out what is it about them that others may enjoy more than I, like I did with the Shure 440s. I am aware they have their merits. What are the merits of the beats? They sound ok, but the sound doesn't seem, to me, to match the price, fine, so what does that leave: The style. When I arrive at a conclusion like this I feel strange because people buy Bose for their home theater because... it's Bose! Monster can charge a lot for an HDMI cable, because it's Monter cable, man... the best right?!? The Beats don't exactly fit that screw in the ass catagory, because they don't sound terrible. They, are ehem, more musical than the Shure 440s, of course, apples and oranges, but it seems the beats have a purpose, unlike some other examples, but I cannot help feeling like they are just a younger, trendier, da chronicier, version of the typical apple model. Add some curves, set them up with the right lighting inside the store, make a sleek website and sleek graphics/layout, for their setup in the apple store, maybe throw in some trendy words in the ad copy, make a special thingie controller for your trendy ipod. (your friends will be in awe).
 
I can't help feeling apple and monster are taking cognitive dissonance a bit too far lately. They have some hits and some real duds, but alltogether, if feels like we are back at the "copy and paste is an awesome new FEATURE" point in time where someone needs to snag a set, do a real battery of tests, including wear them for a while to see if they hold up. If they are falling apart like my friend's 3Gs battery life, then maybe that information could be put up here, and people can do what they want with their heads. I will not look down on anyone wearing Dre's beats. I understand wanting to be cool. I have spent money on stuff that probably wasn't worth it in my past. Eventually I kindof came to the idea that Headphones are personal. What do I care what I look like if I am enjoying the music? I do crack a smile when someone wants to see one of my headphones because they haven't seen stuff like it before, so I get it.

 

[StyleAddict]

Haha good point. Many of us know that beats are over priced. That they have mediocre sound. Yet like you said, style. Not trying to be "cool." Just think they are sexy. Why do people buy gucci or LV? Its OP right? Well, it's sexy. LOL! Thanks for trying to save me some $ though!

 

[Rockford]

Quote:

Save your money, don't fall for the hype.

 
Quote:

( My Audio Setup ):  HiFiMAN HM-801

 
Irony just follows you around doesn't it?

 

[yashu]

I meant to say: Why put an LCD TV on the head rests of the very back seats of your ride? How else are the people behind you supposed to see em'!!!!!
 
But you got the right idea anyway. I am just saying head-fi presents the information and you do with it what you want and we won't look down on you as long as you can take the heat, you know? A lot of people hate the HD800, a lot of people hate ALL Grados, a lot of people look at the xb700s and laugh when they don't know they are probably the closest thing to deep *controlled*, not flabby, bass that you can possibly get from a portable without an extra amp. My Sansa Fuse, I cannot turn the volume past 60-75%, it blows my damn ears off, but the interesting thing is while reaching down into bass that is better to be felt, there is little to no distortion of the mids and the HF. In fact, those cans have one of the sweetest top ends you can get without doubling your money. People look and see monster truck tires, and I see a well designed metal band and some of the most interesting earpads to come along in a long time.
 
My m50s were a happy accident. After the Shures, I was a bit concerned, but damn, they sound good in just about anything you plug them into and they can do passive isolation better than many can do with active. The hype turned out to be true, so that is why I am not dismissing the beats, I just look at them with a skeptical eye.
 
Right now I am on my k271s, not the mkIIs, and I also own the k240s from the same era, but those are so soft, they are too soft, i have fallen asleep with them on, and rarely wear them anymore, but there are genres where they do shine.
 
Grados pour out pure bliss when I am listening to early 90s shoegazer stuff and some of the newgaze out today. All the lush guitars and sounds dripping with reverb and overdrive, or dark ethereal... but they won't be plugged in when I am listening to powernoise.
 
I get that you buy more than the sound when you buy the beats, but what irks me is this: I am from the dirty south, so I have no shortage of good low down dirty south crunk beats from screw tapes to the UGK(bun b, pimp c) and Z-Ro, fat pat, yeah... and right after a very well recorded album by Philip Glass called Agua de Amazonia, and then maybe some acid jazz, and then some real jazz, so from DJ CAM and Amon Tobin to Miles and Trilok Gurtru, Mahavishnu Orchestra (alright, fusion there), JJohn Scofield, Bill Frisell, MMW, The Bad Plus, Soulive, Ry Cooder. Hell, i have listened to 16 Horsepower, a band that defies the word genre, Virgin Black's Requiem Mezzo Forte' too on just about everything I own and nothing beats those grados for that organic vintage sound...  Anyway, When it comes to music, I am way out there, probably farther than most, maybe that is why I have so many different phones, but a little story before I go away:
 
We all know the m50, and we all know the EMU-0202 or 0404... great work setup right? I took in my DT880s and plugged them into that little 0202, and enjoyed UGK's Dirty Money, or Big's Ready to Die, and I am going to tell you, something about that combination made those dt880s hit the sub bass without the HF ripping my ears to shreds, which it could do with other genres, you never know (I love those Beyers!). I never saw them as a hiphop phone, but it just worked. They also can resolve everything I wish to hear in a symphony.
 
What I am saying is it don't need to look street, it don't need to have a street name, it just needs to sound good and handle the punishment an urban life can put on a pair of headphones. The beats, in my opinion, fail in this area. Jordans didn't need to be 150 bucks and these don't need to be 300. Back in the day, I remember a lot of guys could ball in Jordans, sure, but they usually didn't! It would scuff em. It was form over function. Off went the Jordans and on went the adidas.
 
Here you will get a lot of opinions, but filter out the BS and the facts are facts, there are way better cans for half the price that can easily stand the test of time. Now, will they look cool to you? Is that worth the price? That stuff is subjective, my friend. Few people on here lie. Some may not like the truth, but i have seen lots of honesty. My honest opinion is the beats are a pass, mass market stuff for people that worship at the altar of Jobbs, or just want to wear those Jordans down the street, take them off, toss on the adidas from wallmart and play ball.
 
I *wish* there was more promotion on the true values in headphones today, especially in a mass market store like the apple store, or best buy, but aside from a couple nice budget sets at best buy, there isn't much, and they certainly aren't being promoted or hyped like the beats. Once you walk into the apple store, it *all* about style.
 
This site is the lifeblood of the headphone world, really... I would not know anything about models other than Senn, Sony and Denon if it weren't for this site. I am not a "scene" guy so in a way, this site introduced me to the beats before i ever saw them and had a listen. This site has put a lot of phones on my list of what i wish to test out. (and yes those AKGs in the pic back there were sexy)

 

[rhythmdevils]

I wonder how many people would jump off a cliff if the advertising industry made it look sexy

 

[yashu]

I would love to find out.
 
It depends on what kind of sexy, though... heh. But seriously, that is the issue I have here, there seems to be more effort into making them look good in an apple store than making them sound good. They certainly cost enough to sound great, but the glowing reviews are not a flowin'

 

[xmarks08]

does anyone in this thread own a mac? just wonderin after all this discussion haha

 

[StyleAddict]

Ok so yashu, care to give some cans that are half the price of beats and sound just or even better? 

 

[Ra97oR]

Quote:

Ok so yashu, care to give some cans that are half the price of beats and sound just or even better? 

D1001, M50, ES7, HD25, SRH440, SRH840, XB700... I can go on forever.