[obobskivich]

The issue is that the average person in the street goes Into a store and sees floor space being dominated by Beats, et al and assumes they are th best available. So when I talk to friends and mention Sennheiser or Beyer Dynamics they have no idea who they are.

I have no idea what "Beyer Dynamics" is either. :wink_face:

I'd also add that (and I know this is massively offtopic) - who cares what "the average person" thinks about, knows, etc? On average I would say I meet a few thousand people a year, and I've yet to meet this guy "Joe Average" in all of my travels. Sure, my sample size is only around 100k, so maybe it's skewed, but still. I guess there's a reason youth is for the young, and all that.

Anyways, your friend probably won't be ill-served by these if he/she wants them, but make sure they triple-check that L/R is wired in properly, out of the box (and the headphones themselves are not symmetric front-to-back, so you can't just ignore the L/R silk and flip them). And I think it should be safe to assume they will be happier with something they want, than something they're told to want. *shrug*

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

The issue is that the average person in the street goes Into a store and sees floor space being dominated by Beats, et al and assumes they are th best available. So when I talk to friends and mention Sennheiser or Beyer Dynamics they have no idea who they are.

 
If it were not for massive product placement at events and television, of non-music figures, wearing Beats, no one would know or care about Beats.
 
All of this is due to very intelligent marketing and advertising.
 
It's so bad now, everyone is jumping on the money wagon, and trying to cash in as well, even the bigger older audio companies are doing it because if they don't, they lose massive revenue. Some are "sticking it out" and may sink or swim as they've survived recessions and trends already. But it's also a different market. Beats are 100% marketed towards casual consumer use. They don't sell anything that actual studios, governments, schools, facilities, etc, use. That's the kicker. And that's why other companies are surviving without having to trash out their line ups. You won't find some Beats in NASA mission control. You'll only find beats on the head of some kid who has parents that are ok with $300 plastic toys, or random people who specifically have iphones and only buy whatever is hot at the apple store, and finally people who basically only shop at Best Buy and saw the Beats on TV while watching basketball/football one day.
 
Very best,

 

[obobskivich]

If it were not for massive product placement at events and television, of non-music figures, wearing Beats, no one would know or care about Beats.

All of this is due to very intelligent marketing and advertising.

It's so bad now, everyone is jumping on the money wagon, and trying to cash in as well, even the bigger older audio companies are doing it because if they don't, they lose massive revenue. Some are "sticking it out" and may sink or swim as they've survived recessions and trends already. But it's also a different market. Beats are 100% marketed towards casual consumer use. They don't sell anything that actual studios, governments, schools, facilities, etc, use. That's the kicker. And that's why other companies are surviving without having to trash out their line ups. You won't find some Beats in NASA mission control. You'll only find beats on the head of some kid who has parents that are ok with $300 plastic toys, or random people who specifically have iphones and only buy whatever is hot at the apple store, and finally people who basically only shop at Best Buy and saw the Beats on TV while watching basketball/football one day.

Very best,

I'd agree with this more or less. I will add that every Best Buy I've been into, the sales people tend to deride Beats products. I think there is a certain level of understanding that quality isn't implicit here - sort of like Nike shoes or Coach luggage, I would assume that people know they're over-paying for the same bologna. But I think it's along the lines of an old S&S advert: "Of course it costs more."

 

[Morat]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HU6NDY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
 
Except for obobskivich did anyone else actually listen to these?  All the comments seem to bash celeb endorsed headsets but not actually review the product.  They are now on sale for $60 on amazon.  Worth it at THAT price?