[yliu]

Quote:

Evidently someone doesn't own the Mercedes GL450...
 
(Referring to Uncle Erik)

Yeah I own the Mercedes S 420

 

[semisight]

     Quote:

semisight, I get the point, but you don't need to buy an Infiniti for a good time. Nothing against them, but Nissan probably loads $20k of profit or more into one. You don't need to buy something expensive for a good time.

I have lots of fun with an $1,500 investment. For two vehicles, that is. My old Comet cost me $800. It has a 302, sounds great and leaves smoky burnouts. I can't drive it around the block without a thumbs up or someone wanting to talk about it. The other is an old Nighthawk I got for $700. Great, very competent bike. It usually goes unnoticed on the road, but lots of people want to talk about it at bike nights - often the oldest bike to show up. You don't have to spend much at all for a good time and a conversation starter.

And hey, more power (and audio money) to you!

 

[yliu]

ok guys, I think it's time to close this thread (if possible, cuz I don't know how)
it is getting a little off topic here

 

[mralexosborn]

I think this is the third thread about this...let's just leave it be.

 

[Lance Campeau]

     Now that you have all made judgement as to my experience and opinion, I suggest the following topics be viewed with an open mind...
 
- product re-branding and marketing
- paid celebrity endorsement & product positioning
- electronics manufacturing & mass production
- product pricing VS advertising expenditure
 
     Monster Brand products mentioned in my video are manufactured using the same sets of standards and tolerances as that of most other headphone manufactures. Their product is made in China. Like the majority of other headphone distributors, Monster buys their headphones from Chinese electronics manufacturers and then re-brands it as a "high end" product (Can someone please post a peer reviewed white paper issued by Monster Brand?) These items are marketed using celebrity endorsements & targeted product positioning. Their advertising is geared toward a youth demographic with large amounts of disposable income... NOT audiophiles. Again... can someone please post a peer reviewed  white paper issued by Monster Brand?
 
     The headphones are then marketed as a "top quality" & "high fidelity" simply by repeating these terms and phrases over and over in every product advertisement. The money required for mass advertising and celebrity endorsements is recovered by inflating the sales price to many times beyond the product's actual manufacturing costs. This is nothing new... but Monster tales it to new levels. The Monster Brand business model is a solid example today's western business philosophy in practice.
 
     Google search "Monster HDMI cable scam" ... same idea, different product. A coat hanger will transmit a digital signal with the same quality and fidelity as Monster's ridiculously overpriced HDMI cable. This is a scientific fact.
 
     The overall point I am making in this video is that the vast majority of the public has little interest or even basic understanding of professional audio production techniques and standards. These people are not audiophiles.  Monster brand has taken full advantage of people's ignorance on this topic buy selling cheaply made foreign product as "high end"... If you can tell the difference, that's a good thing, but Monster makes HUGE profits selling junk to people that use price as a measure of quality.
 
I know audio, I know it very well.
 
     Outside of my more recent profession in the video and photography industries, I have worked as a radio broadcast tech, pro audio tech and a recording engineer since 1992. I play 6 musical instruments, sing lead vocals and have been producing and recording music for myself and others for more then 25 years. I understand the math behind how sound is created, propagates and is detected by the human ear. 
 
     Monster Brand is over-hyped, re-branded junk that is marketed with buzz words and purchased by chumps.  
 
www.LanceCampeau.com
 
 
 
UPDATE: Monster now has Lady Gaga headphones.

 

[mralexosborn]

What you just said summarizes what Head-Fi thinks, but with less vulgar language. 

 

[commandercup]

I love how he turned off commenting and rating and how he also compared all earbuds/IEMs to a 99c pair from a dollar store! 

 
I do understand his main point/idea about how companies mark prices up because of name brands.

 

[DJGeorgeT]

I actually disagree with Lance Campeau. I bought some Monster cables a while back to replace some cheap RCA cables and they made my system sound so much better and more detailed. I know a lot of people on these boards hate Monster, but my experience has shown me that this hatred is uncalled for. Maybe the cables are too expensive. OK, yes that sucks.

 

[rank08822]

Well that may be true of many of their products their Monster Turbines, Monster Turbine Pro Gold, Monster Turbines Pro Copper, and Monster Turbine Miles Davis Tributes have been exceedingly well received on this forum despite costing even more than the "earbuds" you referred to in the video. And those are by people with thorough experience in IEMs and who are if anything biased against Monster. Do some searching on this forum and you will see what I mean. Or look at Joker's famous thread:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/478568/multi-iem-review-138-iems-compared-meelectronics-cx21-cw31-added-01-26
Quote:

     Now that you have all made judgement as to my experience and opinion, I suggest the following topics be viewed with an open mind...
 
- product re-branding and marketing
- paid celebrity endorsement & product positioning
- electronics manufacturing & mass production
- product pricing VS advertising expenditure
 
     Monster Brand products mentioned in my video are manufactured using the same sets of standards and tolerances as that of most other headphone manufactures. Their product is made in China. Like the majority of other headphone distributors, Monster buys their headphones from Chinese electronics manufacturers and then re-brands it as a "high end" product (Can someone please post a peer reviewed white paper issued by Monster Brand?) These items are marketed using celebrity endorsements & targeted product positioning. Their advertising is geared toward a youth demographic with large amounts of disposable income... NOT audiophiles. Again... can someone please post a peer reviewed  white paper issued by Monster Brand?
 
     The headphones are then marketed as a "top quality" & "high fidelity" simply by repeating these terms and phrases over and over in every product advertisement. The money required for mass advertising and celebrity endorsements is recovered by inflating the sales price to many times beyond the product's actual manufacturing costs. This is nothing new... but Monster tales it to new levels. The Monster Brand business model is a solid example today's western business philosophy in practice.
 
     Google search "Monster HDMI cable scam" ... same idea, different product. A coat hanger will transmit a digital signal with the same quality and fidelity as Monster's ridiculously overpriced HDMI cable. This is a scientific fact.
 
     The overall point I am making in this video is that the vast majority of the public has little interest or even basic understanding of professional audio production techniques and standards. These people are not audiophiles.  Monster brand has taken full advantage of people's ignorance on this topic buy selling cheaply made foreign product as "high end"... If you can tell the difference, that's a good thing, but Monster makes HUGE profits selling junk to people that use price as a measure of quality.
 
I know audio, I know it very well.
 
     Outside of my more recent profession in the video and photography industries, I have worked as a radio broadcast tech, pro audio tech and a recording engineer since 1992. I play 6 musical instruments, sing lead vocals and have been producing and recording music for myself and others for more then 25 years. I understand the math behind how sound is created, propagates and is detected by the human ear. 
 
     Monster Brand is over-hyped, re-branded junk that is marketed with buzz words and purchased by chumps.  
 
www.LanceCampeau.com
 
 
 
UPDATE: Monster now has Lady Gaga headphones.

 

[maverickronin]

As much as I hate monster for their cable scamming and fraudulent demos they actually do seem to make a few good IEMs.

 

[Inks]

Monster does rip off with their prices and marketing, this is specially true of the Beats line. The Turbine line proved to be the best value but even then, everyone in this forum knows that they're a much better value second hand, open box, on sale,  or refurbished as their msrps and even "regular" prices are ridiculous. But not every "earbud"  that is priced over 5$ is a ripoff  as it was said in the video, not even close.  Some of the smaller companies like Fischer provide much better value for the money with the DBA02 priced at 150$ for example, but using well tuned ba technology and the price of the drivers themselves are known to the public. All in all it's a product that proves its worth and their margin of profit is much less than Monster. Now even though Lance has extensive experience, it is not and it doesn't seem to be headphone based and he seems to lack interest in them. Having said that I agree with his opinion on the beats, but he's not a person I'll go to when it comes to headphones. 

 

[SteeleW]

Love my Miles Davis' by Monster.
 
I know marketing. I don't really care. I've done my research, bought and sold many IEMs. I enjoy my only Monster product though...they're fun.
 

 

[Jackquelegs]

Quote:

I love how he turned off commenting and rating and how he also compared all earbuds/IEMs to a 99c pair from a dollar store! 

 
I do understand his main point/idea about how companies mark prices up because of name brands.

Any reviewer that refuses to accept feedback gets a giant F in my books

 

[ElcomeSoft]

From the sounds of it, this reviewer has been listening to Meatloaf too much. His life is a lemon and he wants his money back.
 
 
Every item has a value and that value is what people are prepared to pay for it. We, of Head-Fi, are lucky (or unlucky if we honestly ask our wallets) to do some research into what earphones represent the best 'value for money to us' and we mainly come back satisfied.
 
Most people buy based on brand, advertising or flashy images (one reason why I believe the iPod/iPhone are so popular. They aren't really the best tech, most customisable and probably not the easiest to use either). I confess to doing so in certain things in life but technology is an area where I avoid doing so, most of the time.
 
If this YouTuber does not think that earphones are worth more money then all the power to him. Let him purchase cheap earphones and be happy. It is not something which should really concern us.

 

[Rmccullo]

 
At the end of the day, we all spend. What we don't spend our money on, will be spent on something else. I spent $330 for my um3x. My friend couldn't believe that I've spent that much on a pair of earphones; he just spent $5,000 drinking and gambeling in Vegas. It's all about what's worth it in our own eyes. To me, this guy got ripped of because his $5 dollar buds sound like crap, will break in a month, and will probably damage his hearing. I feel like I got the bargain cause I can hear music as Ive never heard before, and won't have to worry about because of the warranty and reputation.