[Ak-Boss]

There is a lot of hate for the beats by dre headphones on this site, but many don't realise what these headphones are actually doing for the music industry.
 
Take the average iPod/iPhone consumer for example; upon purchasing their device they will be perfectly happy to spend their future listening to music through the standard issue iBuds. Now not only are they losing out on enjoyment by listening through such basic earphones but they will also never discover how much more there is to music. Sure they will be aware of all them expensive headphones out there such as Sony, Sennheiser etc but why would they want to go out and spend so much on headphones, nothing wrong with their iBuds eh? Plus they would look a bit stupid walking around with their huge cans in public, not trendy at all! This is how your average consumer thinks (not me). They have no incentive to ditch the standard iBuds and splash out on some superior gear.
 
But then suddenly Dr.Dre brings out his new line of headphones with Monster; beats by dr.dre. From here everything is about to change. Their intelligent marketing scheme has made it "cool" to wear these big, full-size headphones around, and let's face it; they look fantastic! They are starting to see celebrities wearing them and they are also showing up in all their favourite music videos. Now they want some beats by dre headphones. There will be no denying that part of them wants the headphones as some kind of fashion accessory however they will be in for a great shock. Since all they have ever known is standard cheap iBuds they will be completely blown away by the sound, they will be convinced that these headphones are the best in the world, music has never sounded so good! This is an audiophile in the making, someone that has discovered what more there is to music. Sure for a while they will be happy as ever with these headphones but sooner or later some will become curious as to what else there is out there, they will have developed an interest for sound quality. With so many people saying how you can get better headphones than Beats for cheaper and much better headphones for the same price, they will eventually go on to do just that and get themselves some high end headphones by a respectable brand aimed at the more serious music-lovers.
 
Now purely because of beats by dr.dre, we have taken your average iBuds wearer who would have never dreamed of spending hundreds on a pair of good headphones go and do exactly that. This benefits the music industry in many ways, with them now enjoying music much more they are likely to buy more music than they would have originally done and now they know what great sounding headphones there are they will spend money on multiple pairs of headphones in the future. As any audiophile will know, over time you will always seek even better sound quality. You could have one of the best sounding pairs of headphones in the world but if you knew you could buy even better and had the disposable income to do so; you would.
 
I am in no way trying to say that beats by dr.dre headphones are good here, not saying they are bad either. My honest opinion is that the Solo's (HD) are poor sounding and really not worth the money, the Beats Studio are decent sounding but they are still heavily overpriced, then the Beats Pro do sound quite good but are as per usual overpriced. I'd say the Beats Pro have the best value for sound quality though, the build quality and design on them things is also remarkable.
 
So please do continue to educate those with the beats headphones (perhaps leave those with the Pro's alone though haha) as they will appreciate it when they have their high end Grados in the future!

 

[wdahm519]

Someone else posted this almost verbatim a few months ago... 
 
I still don't quite agree with it.  The logic is good but the percentage that will join the ranks is so low.  Most kids just want to look cool and will keep buying into marketed crap.  Its the sad truth.

 

[n-phect]

i totally agree, but i have backed off a little with that explanation once i put myself in a teenager's shoes.  They have to deal with high school or a new college and deal with people that think they have the best headphones and that someone that may be wearing m50's or something don't know anything about audio. That does sound aggravating.   
 
If i person is out rightly telling someone that they are dumb for wearing beats, i think that is not right.
 
If a person says that beats are the best and that other headphones more "audiophile friendly" are worse, he is obviously not right, also.
 
you know that levine guy is probably just pissed everyone listens to earbuds, and thought, overcharge their asses.

 

[zero7525]

Yeah, that's what I thought too. Though, I believe that while the beats will definitely lure some people in here, I think that it also creates a subculture in consequence. A subculture that thinks that the beats are the best headphones in the world, and nothing beats them. These people didn't learn their lesson obviously, before when they thought that their ibuds were the best. I'm just hoping that the introduction of the beats bring more good than harm. 

 

[BotByte]

The reasoning behind this is like the Apple idea.
 
Get a player that is popular and affordable.
Add some new stuff to it, touch screen ect.
Market them like crazy
 
But then people get greedy:
 
Market then by themselves
Sell products that are only compatable with product
Fight people off in marketing - Where Beats are at the moment.
Start a monoploy - Apple now.
Create a god

 

[MetaLicca]

I don't think this is the case for a lot of people (although it was for me), but I guess they can act as a gateway to high end audio. 

 

[zero7525]

Quote:

The reasoning behind this is like the Apple idea.
 
Get a player that is popular and affordable.
Add some new stuff to it, touch screen ect.
Market them like crazy
 
But then people get greedy:
 
Market then by themselves
Sell products that are only compatable with product
Fight people off in marketing - Where Beats are at the moment.
Start a monoploy - Apple now.
Create a god

I was gonna compare the beats followers to mac followers but I didn't want to start another debate/all-out-war
 
 

 

[bcasey25raptor]

well when i got my first real headphones (shure srh750dj) i was originally going for the beats solos for the same price. so yeah beats lead me to higher headphones. but before i bought the beast i did research on them and found out they were terrible. every 2nd person was saying they snapped on them. it didn't really have anything to do with sound quality at the time though thats what i was aiming for. i went to purchase the shures after doing research. i asked the guy at future shop what he thought of them and he said they were among the best he sold. i asked how they compared to the beast and he said they were better so i bought them. i never bought the beats but i was a bank card away until i asked the guy at future shop. if the guy said beats were better i just may have bought them. though now i know not to always trust them as they are on commission.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
It's true that exposure is a very good thing for higher end music enjoyment equipment. I'm not so sure it's going to be good for the music industry itself. But creating more of a demand for higher quality equipment, like headphones, could potentially lead to some competition which may drive prices into a little lower brackets, which would be a good thing. I for one would buy a lot more headphones more often for the sake of being adventurous and testing them out if they were a bit more affordable for such a venture (though I have bought a few, listened, and returned them to Amazon.com since they don't care why you return and give full refund heh heh).
 
I for one wear my big cans around all the time. The exposure is good. It's fun to strike up a conversation randomly with people. I get a lot of "those are some big headphones" comments which just strikes up the subject and we go from there and it's a lot of fun. I usually offer for them to have a feel and listen too. Exposure is what it's all about, just like any hobby which is what this is. A lot of people cannot be bothered by wearing big headphones when they're out and about and use IEM's. This doesn't show up to anyone. No one really can recognize them without getting close. Only other hifi hobbyists will notice them in close proximity.
 
The current marketing of the Beats is simply that wearing headphones is a stylish thing to do. It doesn't show or market sound quality. It simply shows it as a fancy, expensive, music-related item which is hip and will get attention. It's the same as wearing a big gold chain, or wearing huge obnoxious rings, or simply dressing in a manner that scream money. That's all the Beats are actually doing. They're a means to represent your financial ability. They in no way represent high quality sound or the idea that someone likes high quality anything other than image.
 
Also, every time you find someone wearing Beats, especially celebrities and anyone else who is involved with marketing them, one should consider their source material. I bet you they're not listening to FLAC or lossless audio at all most of the time. A lot of the marketing of the Beats, again, is focused on image and not quality. Ask someone the bit rate of their source and they probably just answer "MP3" or that it came off iTunes. Beats don't attract audiophiles. Beats attract fashion seekers.
 
There's a huge difference. Beats are just a fancy new fashion statement. Nothing more.
 
If you want to see more awareness, wear your big cans that no one has heard of, that don't look flashy and actually listen to them, not just have them around your neck.
 
Very best,
 
 

 

[flyingbangus]

Here's another angle........If someone buys Beats because of marketing and availability, what are the chances that that someone will end up researching headphones versus just buying another known and highly available brand like Sony or Bose.
 
When my skullbrokens broke for the third time, my first move was to check out Bose headphones. If it weren't for the thought of researching first, I wouldn't have ended here.
 
(No, did not buy Beats, but have tested their offerings.)

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

Here's another angle........If someone buys Beats because of marketing and availability, what are the chances that that someone will end up researching headphones versus just buying another known and highly available brand like Sony or Bose.
 
When my skullbrokens broke for the third time, my first move was to check out Bose headphones. If it weren't for the thought of researching first, I wouldn't have ended here.
 
(No, did not buy Beats, but have tested their offerings.)

This is quite true actually. A lot of people instantly recognize and go for brands that have been marketed to them. When's the last time you saw an add for AKG, Sennheiser, Shure, Grado, BeyerDyanmic, AudioTechnica, etc? Let alone the truly high end stuff. Everyone see's on the other than plenty of Bose, JVC, Skull Candy and Sony. So when you see the mass populous and what headphones they have, it's clear why they have more of what's in front of them and being fed to them at stores and on TV.
 
Marketing makes it.
 
If AudioTechnica went on a marketing rampage, everyone would be wearing a pair. Not just the gamers.
 
Very best,
 

 

[Chris_Himself]

I honestly don't mind the way they sound that much. They kind of rubbed me as portable HD-555's with worse build quality

 

[crinacle]

I thought AudioTechnica was doing a great job in marketing. 'Cause 1) it's cool to own one (almost or just as cool as owning a pair of Beats) 2) Everyone seems to own one if they don't have the money to pay for Beats.

Of course, this is from te perspective of my country, don't know about yours.

 

[185717]

??? this is seriously deviating from the thread name...

 

[pavoo]

i rather use audeo pfe than beats, beats too popular in my country, i can see them wear all around in my college to show off that they have bought one of the shitties product ever made