[MICHAELSD]

Some of the "Beats Hate" is on full display and people don't even realise it. For all the dyed in the wool Beats lovers, you do know that some of it is just winding you up (i.e. taking the piss)?

For me no headphone is perfect. Luckily I have enough disposable income to own what suits me and not have to try and justify my purchase to complete strangers.

Let me preface this by saying that Audio Technica's house sound suits me just fine. For portables I use the ESW-990h when I want to listen to strings or other such music and look super stylish with beautiful wooden cups whilst doing it. If I know that I'll want to have some headbanging good fun out and about the W1100 fulfill the bass itch and are still not muddy. A noisy environment that precludes a low end has me dragging along the ES88 for their awesome mid and polite highs as they can take a lot of power and are seemingly indestructible.

Don't like my choices? That's OK; don't buy them. Everyone having their preferences and buying from different manufacturers pumps money into the overall market causing the manufacturers to invest in new designs and technology that makes all headphones better.

I think the problem with Beats haters is that Beats could theoretically release a $399 wireless headphone that measures as well as $999+ headphones and there would still be people coming out to say “but you could get this for $49...” It’s like, we get it.

By the way, watch out because Apple might just do that.

 

[lostinthesauce]

I think the problem with Beats haters is that Beats could theoretically release a $399 wireless headphone that measures as well as $999+ headphones and there would still be people coming out to say “but you could get this for $49...” It’s like, we get it.

By the way, watch out because Apple might just do that.

There's no way that Apple is going to release any product that close to production cost. Full stop.

Rightly or not they have positioned themselves as a premium manufacturer. The race to the bottom would remove any cachet they have and in the long term negatively impact their brand's value. Stocks would plummet and offshore money would have to be repatriated with any tax liabilities that entails. Right now they are in an enviable position that allows a charging of premium prices for commodity parts whilst simultaneously having enough cash reserves to be able to weather most market downturns and not have to dilute their brand's mindshare by lowering prices.

Of course I may be misreading what you intended. If you were not saying they would release a $49 pair of phones (what I was previously replying to) but rather a $399 pair that measures as well as the $999 pairs I would still call you crazy. I'd simply ask you to list any Apple product that performs as well as their competitors products that cost 3x as much. And you can't because every product that Apple sells is the same or more for similar or less performance as their competitors' products.

 

[MICHAELSD]

There's no way that Apple is going to release any product that close to production cost. Full stop.

Rightly or not they have positioned themselves as a premium manufacturer. The race to the bottom would remove any cachet they have and in the long term negatively impact their brand's value. Stocks would plummet and offshore money would have to be repatriated with any tax liabilities that entails. Right now they are in an enviable position that allows a charging of premium prices for commodity parts whilst simultaneously having enough cash reserves to be able to weather most market downturns and not have to dilute their brand's mindshare by lowering prices.

Of course I may be misreading what you intended. If you were not saying they would release a $49 pair of phones (what I was previously replying to) but rather a $399 pair that measures as well as the $999 pairs I would still call you crazy. I'd simply ask you to list any Apple product that performs as well as their competitors products that cost 3x as much. And you can't because every product that Apple sells is the same or more for similar or less performance as their competitors' products.

HomePod has been compared to $1000++ speakers based on their FR in r/audiophile. To be fair, this next-generation headphone would probably be released as an over-ear Pod product and not under Beats. But I think if they take the same R&D that went into Solo3 and double down they can continue innovating with fun, detailed sound.

 

[vantt1]

Which Beats headphone is that?

The top one is the Solo2 Wireless Active Collection in Shock Yellow, bottom one is the Studio 2.0 (wired)

 

[MICHAELSD]

Pretty cool, thanks for posting that teardown photo. Knew Beats invested real R&D into Solo2/3. There’s something special about that driver.

 

[MICHAELSD]

P.S. that’s the bass port, so there are doing something special on the Solo series rather than simply blindly tuning a generic driver.

 

[MICHAELSD]

P.S. I checked and the Studio 2.0 driver housing looks much more generic than this photo of the Solo2 driver housing that @vantt1 posted on the previous page. There’s magic in that housing/venting .

 

[Roderick]

Tyll from InnerFidelity literally bought the Solo3 for his retirement in his “ultimate review.” If Beats toned down the bass a tad, I think snobby audiophiles would appreciate the excellent imaging and Total Harmonic Distortion

he bought it mainly for it's Bluetooth capabilities. Not because of it's imaging or thd measurements. Also I persoonally have no problem with boosted bass. My favorite headphones have More bass than Solo 2!

just because it says Beats doesn’t mean an audiophile brand will be automatically better. Solo3 is best-in-class. Let’s deal with it instead of being biased.

sure, Solo 3 might well be best on-ear bluetooth headphone. I have no interest in bluetooth so I have very limited experience with bluetooth headphones so I have no basis to argue about Bluetooth related matters.

My initial question was that are you people really content with beats build quality? Beats EP does look like a improvement but even those look like they're rigged to explode. Parts over and under the metal slider are not connected properly so if bend wrong those will break.



Excuse me for my mad Photoshop skills. Parts combining the plastic parts would add close to nothing to production cost. Have Little impact on looks but would increase durability alot. They CHOOSE not to build them durable.

They made similar strange design choices with Solo 2 headband. It's just strips of plastic without any reinforcement in case force is suddenly applied to the structure.

Many companies do it but with mechanical parts it is too obvious. Make sure the product doesn't last forever so customer has to buy a new one. Thats how it goes but in beats do it such an arrogant way that it is crazy how they can get away with it. If year after year amount of broken headphones on eBay reflects your market share manufacturer has a problem. ..or is it "the way artist intended it"?

 

[Roderick]

I think the problem with Beats haters is that Beats could theoretically release a $399 wireless headphone that measures as well as $999+ headphones and there would still be people coming out to say “but you could get this for $49...” It’s like, we get it.

well... If they were build like $49 headphones there is no shame pointing it out. People have a right to buy whatever they want it's just that beats as a market leader needs to be talked about for good and Bad.

I'm a headphone enthusiast. I wan't better headphones. I wan't better value headphones on the market. I compliment beats for making expensive headphones acceptable for general consumer. One is no longer considered crazy for spending $300 on a pair of headphones. I'm also Happy they have improved sound quality of their headphones.

Bad thing is that with beats people are accustomed of lower standards. Whether I like it or not beats are a reference of a good headphone for average person.

People think it is ok If your headphones fall apart in normal use. They think it is ok to have non serviceable (glued on) earpads. They think metal hinges are something special or that bass vent on a magnet is some super engineering. That is lowered standards in action.

Imagine if beats had become what they are today by building better products than anyone else instead of becoming popular by clever marketing. What impact it would have on a headphone world If it were more important to develop better headphones instead of having LeBron James seen wear them in public.

 

[vantt1]

he bought it mainly for it's Bluetooth capabilities. Not because of it's imaging or thd measurements. Also I persoonally have no problem with boosted bass. My favorite headphones have More bass than Solo 2!
sure, Solo 3 might well be best on-ear bluetooth headphone. I have no interest in bluetooth so I have very limited experience with bluetooth headphones so I have no basis to argue about Bluetooth related matters.

My initial question was that are you people really content with beats build quality? Beats EP does look like a improvement but even those look like they're rigged to explode. Parts over and under the metal slider are not connected properly so if bend wrong those will break.



Excuse me for my mad Photoshop skills. Parts combining the plastic parts would add close to nothing to production cost. Have Little impact on looks but would increase durability alot. They CHOOSE not to build them durable.

They made similar strange design choices with Solo 2 headband. It's just strips of plastic without any reinforcement in case force is suddenly applied to the structure.

Many companies do it but with mechanical parts it is too obvious. Make sure the product doesn't last forever so customer has to buy a new one. Thats how it goes but in beats do it such an arrogant way that it is crazy how they can get away with it. If year after year amount of broken headphones on eBay reflects your market share manufacturer has a problem. ..or is it "the way artist intended it"?

Those two plastic halves are connected internally. See this pair of broken EPs (from Amazon’s one-star review page):




The Solo2/3's headband is reinforced internally with a crisscross structure like so:



It is not a common point of failure. The pair pictured above was sat on and the hinge broke, actually. I rewired them and replaced the hinge.

To answer your initial question, yes I'm content with the build quality of Beats, save for the inline remote of the cable.

 

[Roderick]

Ok. Thanks @vantt1 . Design on EP looks good then. I should Look into those. If sound quality is comparable to Solo 2 it might be a really good value headphone.

I'm not content with solo's build though. That crisscross structure doesn't do much good. The Part where headphones fold is still weak and plastic used is so hard it can't take much of abuse. Atleast not as much one would hope for a portable headphones.

 

[vantt1]

Ok. Thanks @vantt1 . Design on EP looks good then. I should Look into those. If sound quality is comparable to Solo 2 it might be a really good value headphone.

I'm not content with solo's build though. That crisscross structure doesn't do much good. The Part where headphones fold is still weak and plastic used is so hard it can't take much of abuse. Atleast not as much one would hope for a portable headphones.

As with all things, if you treat them with reasonable care they are unlikely to break on their own.

 

[MICHAELSD]

They’re wireless headphones. They’re designed to only last so many years until a better pair comes along. It’s like a smartphone business model. More lucrative for headphone manufacturers, but I feel like many of us upgrade every few years anyway. Even if I do still have decade-old headphones that haven’t aged.

 

[vantt1]

They’re wireless headphones. They’re designed to only last so many years until a better pair comes along. It’s like a smartphone business model. More lucrative for headphone manufacturers, but I feel like many of us upgrade every few years anyway. Even if I do still have decade-old headphones that haven’t aged.

Well then Beats/Apple should've thought about that when they designed the Solo 2/3 Wireless to still work even when the battery's dead. /s

---

This was my other cable whose inline remote fell apart:



The top half is only held on by four flimsy little clips. I sure hope the new ones fixed this, although they look the same.

 

[Philimon]

Ive broken denon and stax headphones from accidentally dropping onto carpeted floor. Beats EP looks like a futuristic stealth tank next to a Grado. Not a fair example.