What's the Deal With Beats By Dre?

[kyuuketsuki]

I'll be honest... I read your synopsis and didn't believe it... I watched it, and I still don't believe it. I only wonder, what that sequence had to do with Beats at all? It was basically a long music video (a horrible one at that) that had some product placement. If I was thinking about buying Beats, simply seeing that would deter me. I respect good advertising, but that was just... I don't know what that was, but it certainly wasn't advertising... It was like I was watching one of those drug commercials and the sequence was the effects of wearing the Beats line. Only I need a doctor because my ears are currently bleeding from listening to that.
 
OK apparently it was Dr. Dre's new music video. That still doesn't explain why it was on the front page, right when you open it. They did it right AFTER it ended with a link saying what it was, and presumably to the video. 
 
Btw, was it me or did those "weights" fall like weighted pieces of foam rather than solid metal? 
 
Quote:

Ok I just watched the whole thing... and here's my synopsis:
 
Dr. Dre is at a cliff, watching the waves hit the rocks below. He has glimpses of his life, which are mainly some of his music videos and racial insurgence. Some gunfire and stuff like that. Then what appears to be either his or his son's childhood. Then he gets into his Porsche (bought thanks to all the Beats he sold), starts speeding up on a bridge, has a huge flip and crashes, nearly dead.
 
Cut to him in a steampunk-like operation room.where he is hanging dead by some steel wires (normal medical procedure), connected through some tubes to some machines and with an oxygen mask. Some half-naked greek Goddess-like woman is contorting above him. Eminem comes in, and starts rapping in the middle of the place, expressing his platonic love for Dre, showing clips of them being BFFs, and gets accompannied by the hot contortionist in the chorus.
 
While Dre is dying, Eminem is singing and the stripper is dancing; the doctors are showing around their gadgets, including iPads (with the HP logo in full view on the screen) and cellphones. Because it's not like they have better things to do, since that rap song is much more efficient than anything they could do.
 
Next the guy is submerged in a tank, with no breathing mask, while Eminem keeps rapping, so it's safe to assume he's pretty dead. More product placement: Eminem is wearing a white G-Shock, pratically rubbing it in the camera's lense. Dre moves his fingers, even though he's submerged with no oxygen available. What a guy.
 
Cut to another steampunk hospital room. Dre is waking up (apparently being hanged by wires and depraved of air really works) and Eminem is there. The doctors make motor tests on him, with a weird torture-like contraption plugged into a Beats laptop - stuff you can find in any hospital, really. Next it's Dre's turn to rap while he lifts weights, because he can't stop working out just because he was dead and stuff. Even more product placement: some energetic drink my mind failed to recognize, but must be available somewhere for 49.99$ a bottle. By now, he's just insulting people who let him down, with a lot of racial slur and homophobia mixed up. He also mentioned that Eminem is the only person he needs (I can't wait for these love birds to be on the cover of a Holywood magazine asthe new Jolie/Pitt couple).
 
Finally he exits the horror-house/medical facility and goes visit the grave for someone I didn't bother to research.
 
So all in all, a great example of what music has become. Ah, Cobain, your predictions hold true.

 

 

[LizardKing1]

Dr. Dre has his own weights, made out of Comply foam tips.

 

[bbqc123]

Do you know how annoying it is to see people who always listen to crappy pop musics wear Dr.Dre headphones and act like some kind of professional musician?
 
 
Well, Actually not just Dr.Dre headphone.
Actually, there are some worse kinds.
The kind that buys headphone from Marshalls or Tjmaxx and call themselves 'A true music lover'
Yeahn
A true music lover listens music with Skull Candy headphone.
Ooh..... AWESOME!

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

I'll be honest... I read your synopsis and didn't believe it... I watched it, and I still don't believe it. I only wonder, what that sequence had to do with Beats at all?

 

What do you mean?  It has everything to do with the Beats.  It is explaining the Beats lifestyle.  And that's all the Beats are is a way to buy into the Dr Dre lifestyle.  They're not really headphones.  They are a portal to a beautiful yet meaningless world full of expensive crap, racism, homophobia, bad drivers with nice cars, swear words, big bicepts, famous people, Dr Dre laptops and hot babes who live underwater.

 

[n-phect]

i have to admit i like my beats by dre solo! got lots of punch. best thing is i can always sell them for more than i bought them for. they have grown on me though. depends on the track though.  sometimes they are godaweful.  i agree that they bring people's awareness about good sound, but those people are probably turned off when they hit head fi and someone is like BEATS , WHAT YOU FAIL. then they go kick their dog.  
 dre video = EPIC FAIL.
 

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

The video on their homepage is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen.  A bunch of serious looking people doing and saying things that seem serious plus a bunch of expensive crap.  Yowzers.
 
http://beatsbydre.com/Default.aspx

If they weren't raking in the cash I accuse them of being poes...
 
Also, my sick sense of humor makes me follow all these threads to their conclusion.  They're just fun for some reason.
 
PS:  If Monster made some steampunk headphones based on that hospital scene I might be compelled to buy them and probably give them an ortho transplant.  Assuming they don't have a tendency to break while still in their packaging anyway.

 

[LizardKing1]

Quote:

If they weren't raking in the cash I accuse them of being poes...
 
Also, my sick sense of humor makes me follow all these threads to their conclusion.  They're just fun for some reason.
 
PS:  If Monster made some steampunk headphones based on that hospital scene I might be compelled to buy them and probably give them an ortho transplant.  Assuming they don't have a tendency to break while still in their packaging anyway.

Oh Lord yes! Please Santa!

 

[BETEP 9]

I own the beats tour .  What can i say...
I'm a bass head... But sorry... In this IEMs is too much bass!!!
And the bass is covering everything... Voice with mids are far away...
I find them good only for hip-hop...
But i find Beyerdynamic dtx-100 as a far better solution in terms of SQ and price!
Beats are only about style

 

[jayboogie]

I actually have a pair of Studio's and the only reason I have them is I needed a pair of headphones that were comfortable to wear for long periods of times.  I have other headphones that sound way better like the DT-770's, ATH-ES7, ATH-OR7 and etc, but none are as comfortable to wear.  In this area, I think Monster and Bose do an excellent job.  They really do make very comfortable to wear headphones.  For the price of $350, they are nowhere near worth it.  I ended up getting a used pair for $130, which I think is not bad and at least a little bit more in line with what they should be priced at.

 

[Andrew_]

Beats by Dre are a marketing ploy, nothing else. You're buying a headphone that you could get for half the price in return for a super-stars endorsement on it. People hate the "Beats" line because, like Bose, it takes advantage of those who are unfamiliar with audio equipment, and impresses them with fancy visual commercials (what this has to do with audio is as good a guess as mine). But apparently if you beat something into someone's head enough times they'll sell. That is why the Beats are so popular. Not because they are the best in quality, not because they are even near the best. No their overpriced pieces of garbage that are all too fragile that most will pay for. Why? Name recognition. That's why.  While AKG may be doing something with Quincy Jones, exactly who under the age of 40 knows who the hell Quincy Jones is? Ex-friggin-actly. It's a race to the bottom with increasingly higher profit margins, and Monster is playing us hook, line, & sinker.

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

I actually have a pair of Studio's and the only reason I have them is I needed a pair of headphones that were comfortable to wear for long periods of times.  I have other headphones that sound way better like the DT-770's, ATH-ES7, ATH-OR7 and etc, but none are as comfortable to wear.  In this area, I think Monster and Bose do an excellent job.  They really do make very comfortable to wear headphones.  For the price of $350, they are nowhere near worth it.  I ended up getting a used pair for $130, which I think is not bad and at least a little bit more in line with what they should be priced at.

...and now you're just another guy wearing beats....

 

[AyeVeeN]

Quote:

Hey Head-Fi, 
I am a noob that's just starting out. I want to ask you all why every single person here hates Beats By Dre and Monster. What's the deal with them. I'm just very cuious, because every punk in my school has them, and they actually sound pretty good. Thanks
Sam

Contradiction?
 
Anyways, comparing to the M50s (~$90~$120), they do sound like junk for being $200/$300/$400, and also that all of them are made of extremely cheap plastic (besides the $400 model).
 
Even more-so compared to the HD25s (which can be had for ~$160 new).
 
Reasons = bass distorts mids, muddy, dunno what else cause I don't remember.

 
Quote:

I actually have a pair of Studio's and the only reason I have them is I needed a pair of headphones that were comfortable to wear for long periods of times.  I have other headphones that sound way better like the DT-770's, ATH-ES7, ATH-OR7 and etc, but none are as comfortable to wear.  In this area, I think Monster and Bose do an excellent job.  They really do make very comfortable to wear headphones.  For the price of $350, they are nowhere near worth it.  I ended up getting a used pair for $130, which I think is not bad and at least a little bit more in line with what they should be priced at.

DT770s uncomfortable to wear for long periods.. really? I loved those with their velour pads. Looks insanely stupid though in public .
 
For $130, that's still pretty bad considering the build quality. M50s for that price > Studios. Then again you'd prob find M50s uncomfortable (clamp is pretty high, pads roughen up with wear due to sweat, and there's no velours or anything for them but you can use other headphone earpads w/ some mods, like the SRH840's).
 
All in all, the only ones I thought the sound was half decent on were the Pros, and I believe they're made out of like titanium or something (or so I heard, never researched it up myself, but when I felt it, it sure felt like metal), but $400.. no. Tax in california = ~440 = hell no.
 
Another thing. If you're a person like me who does a crapload w/ tech / computers and doesn't believe in all this cable crap (though I've yet to try, all I want is a short copper cable to replace my steel HD25s to see if they sound different, and for cheap), then look at the Monster cables. $100~$1000 for a premium HDMI cable.. you srs? For HDMI, it's pretty much it works or it doesn't work (unless you get the extremely cheapass ones that just don't work at all).

 

[MikoLayer]

Actually I don't hate on the Beats, just that I am all too indifferent to them to really care. Would I buy them? No, I have burned enough cash on my other phones... Would I wear them if someone gave me a free pair? Maybe, but not out in the public. I am against the idea of adopting tech appliances as a fashion statement, and wearing them would make me look silly knowing how they are perceived among audio enthusiasts. But no, I don't really have any hard feelings about them either way.
 
Quote:

My main gripe is that they've become more of a fashion statement than anything. You're not cool unless you have the beats because all the celebrities have them..I find that to be complete and utter nonsense. It saddens me that headphones in today's society are becoming more a fashion item than an audio tool. Most people wouldn't be caught dead with something that's dull or non colorful because apparently that "hurts their image". As for me, I'm rocking out at college with my grado sr60's, a headphone that most people consider ugly (which is surprising cause i like their looks).

 
 
 
Quote:

It's very annoying to have people tell you that your own headphone suck, and that their beats are way better...
They refuse to listen to reason, and there is nothing left to do but to hate the Beats (and Bose) and everyone who listens to them =p

 
To me the above findings hold true about the technologically challenged masses and many, many apple fanboys. Sure there are some completely reasonable-minded genuine aficionados too, except for every one of the latter type, I see dozens and hundreds of the former. Some of the girls I personally know aren't shy enough to reveal that they got their macbooks mainly for the looks (or better yet how elegant they look themselves being a proud apple owner and all).

 

[AyeVeeN]

Quote:

It's very annoying to have people tell you that your own headphone suck, and that their beats are way better...
They refuse to listen to reason, and there is nothing left to do but to hate the Beats (and Bose) and everyone who listens to them =p

 
To me the above findings hold true about the technologically challenged masses and many, many apple fanboys. Sure there are some completely reasonable-minded genuine aficionados too, except for every one of the latter type, I see dozens and hundreds of the former. Some of the girls I personally know aren't shy enough to reveal that they got their macbooks mainly for the looks (or better yet how elegant they look themselves being a proud apple owner and all).

@Quote-in-a-Quote
 
Let them try your headphones, then see what they say. If people say mine suck, I just offer to let them try it on and then they (normally) shut up about it after I mention how much I got mine for (and I currently have the HD25s, which I bought for $168 w/ no tax and free shipping. Previously had my M50s and I'd say the HD25s beat the M50s in all departments besides.. "DJbility (aka both earcups swivel 180 degrees)," bass rumble, and soundstage. Bass is just so much more.. prominent . Both these 'phones made people stop bothering me about Beats.
 
@Quote
 
IMO, all the people who want Macs are the people who care about their social status in say, school and crap. They all want to be known as rich / popular, and those are the people who want Macs and / or Beats . Macs are good for some things, don't get me wrong, but the specs.. are crap for the price, and there's so much more you can do on Windows.

 

[sidel]

Quote:

What do you mean?  It has everything to do with the Beats.  It is explaining the Beats lifestyle.  And that's all the Beats are is a way to buy into the Dr Dre lifestyle.  They're not really headphones.  They are a portal to a beautiful yet meaningless world full of expensive crap, racism, homophobia, bad drivers with nice cars, swear words, big bicepts, famous people, Dr Dre laptops and hot babes who live underwater.

Haha I can't stop laughing.  That really is the idea behind celebrity endorsement though.