Monster's The Beats by Dr. Dre Headphones

[admin]

The Beats by Dr. Dre headphones from Monster claim to be designed for today's digital music. And you know that product with Grammy Award- winning artist and producer Dr. Dre should handle Hip Hop and R&B with aplomb. These headphones make a statement with their styling, features, and Monster price tag. Are they worth it?

Discuss "Monster's The Beats by Dr. Dre Headphones" here. Read the article.

 

[Haoleb]

Up to -14db of isolation.

Thats a good thing? My Sennheiser HD280 claim up to 32db and they are entirely passive.

If those phones are designed for todays digital music than I assume that they also have some kind of miracle decompression circuitry as well then?

 

[FirstReflection]

Whelp - I'm certainly one person who fell into the "hated them" category. I bought them from Apple Online. Got them. Tried them. And promptly returned them! Anyone who listens to AVRant will have heard my phone-in review of them (Rob, from Vancouver...that's me )

J and I seem to mostly agree - except that I absolutely could not get past the background hiss. For $350, having a constant noise floor/low level hiss is totally unacceptable IMO. And as J said, there is nothing "studio quality" about these headphones what-so-ever, so I find the marketing to basically be a flat out lie.

One thing that J did not touch upon in his review though is using The Beats with a home theater A/V receiver. One of the primary reasons I wanted to try The Beats was because I thought the promised strong bass response would be great for home theater.

What I got though was overwhelming hiss when I connected The Beats to my Onkyo TX-SR705 receiver. I'm not talking about a low level hiss or a mere noise floor. I'm talking about a massive, overwhelming buzz/hiss that made them totally useless.

J didn't really stress that The Beats include a digital headphone amp built into them. I'm assuming it is some small op-amp based unit, similar to a cMoy design. But this is NO cMoy. The digital amp is noisy and it also amplifies any noise coming from the headphone output of your connected source device.

So some devices result in more hiss than others. My iPod wasn't too bad. My CD player wasn't too bad. But my laptop was very hissy and, like I said, my A/V Receiver was totally unacceptable.

In the end, J says that he liked the colored and inaccurate sound. And since there do seem to be quite a few glowing reviews out there (many of which read like a press release), I have to assume that he is not alone in liking the sound. But I hold the opinion that any speaker or headphone as inaccurate as The Beats is only doing a disservice to every recording and if you use them, you're really only doing a disservice to yourself.

 

[birdonthebeach]

Thanks for the input Rob. You are correct, I did say I enjoyed the sound. I hope it is clear that I enjoyed the sound for what it is - a colored, inaccurate sound (think BOSE speakers). I would not purchase these for myself, certainly not for this much money. While it is fun to listen to a product such as this, it is not my choice for critical listening.

I try to review from an unbiased position, covering a product from the perspective of it's intended audience. I think the intended audience, (maybe Dr. Dre fans?) will like the product. But I also think I have been fair in pointing out it's shortcomings. I am confident a true audiophile will try a product such as this before purchasing, and I hope the fact that I clearly point out the coloration of the sound speaks for itself.

 

[jamie2112]

I would not buy them because its monster.....

 

[FirstReflection]

That's a good point, J - about how the intended audience may and probably will like the sound of The Beats. But certainly for critical listeners or home theater enthusiasts, these are not a good choice.

It's just my own, personal opinion that gets in the way Basically, I guess I'm just an audio/video "snob"

My whole thing is that preference really should not override "right and wrong". I know it's pretty much futile to try and say that to the folks who like to crank the subwoofers in their car to atrocious levels and probably just as futile to say it to the people who would think The Beats are the greatest thing ever and worth twice their price.

But never-the-less, J and I are in agreement. I can totally see how some people would like The Beats. It's just that I don't think they should.

 

[WmAx]

It really is incredible that something like this even has a market and can be sold, when for less than 1/3rd the price, a Sony MDR-7506 is a true reference studio monitor headphone and has far superior EVERYTHING in comparison. But of course, it's not in style, is it? It's an industrial tool designed for professional application in the early 80's and it has not changed one bit in design/style/function.

-Chris

 

[birdonthebeach]

It really is incredible that something like this even has a market and can be sold, when for less than 1/3rd the price, a Sony MDR-7506 is a true reference studio monitor headphone and has far superior EVERYTHING in comparison. But of course, it's not in style, is it? It's an industrial tool designed for professional application in the early 80's and it has not changed one bit in design/style/function.

-Chris

Those are great cans!

 

[Haoleb]

It really is incredible that something like this even has a market and can be sold, when for less than 1/3rd the price, a Sony MDR-7506 is a true reference studio monitor headphone and has far superior EVERYTHING in comparison. But of course, it's not in style, is it? It's an industrial tool designed for professional application in the early 80's and it has not changed one bit in design/style/function.

-Chris

All they have to do is rebadge them to say "lil boom booms" designed by Soulja Boyeeee and they would probably sell millions.

 

[gene]

Back in my telcom days I was doing telephoney work developing POTS splitters to work with ADSL over phone line transmission. We tested 100s of headphones in a quiet room to determine the audio quality of multiple passive filter devices installed in typical home environments. The Sony's referenced here were amoung the best sounding and lowest priced. Good recommendation WMAX.

 

[yettitheman]

It really is incredible that something like this even has a market and can be sold, when for less than 1/3rd the price, a Sony MDR-7506 is a true reference studio monitor headphone and has far superior EVERYTHING in comparison. But of course, it's not in style, is it? It's an industrial tool designed for professional application in the early 80's and it has not changed one bit in design/style/function.

-Chris

I will attest that the 7506 is great for the price and IMO has strong bass.
They really are exceptional for the money.