Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Studio High Definition Headphones – Black
Posted by Notcot on May 4, 2010 in Portable Sound & Vision |
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I have honestly owned so many headphones you would think I was mad. Obviously these should only be classed against other over-ear headphones for audiophile/recording/monitoring use. I use mine purely for musical enjoyment, though I have been told they are the headphone of choice in the music industry too – though I cannot vouch for this.
The headphones are well packaged/presented, which means nothing I know, they are also well constructed and feel ‘sturdy’, which means only a little for me. Importantly the sound is exceptional…
I first listened to these in the Apple Store in Soho/NY to Kanye West – Stronger; a song and artist I despise. However, the quality of sound simply blew me away and I spent about 30-minutes in the shop listening to a variety of tracks. I FOOLISHLY did not but them for the $300 they retail for in the US. On returning to the UK and having tried them again in John Lewis, I decided to purchase from Apple Store in Kingston, London. Retail was £279 but I explained I had found them on the web for £229 so they sold to me for £249 and threw in 3-year guarantee.
Sound: Deep Bass, Pleasing treble, not tinny at all. Sounds engulfs you!
What good for: Nearly everything if you appreciate DETAIL – I’ve heard things in Fleet foxes, Beatiful South, Foo Fighters that I cannot pick out through other headphones.
What not good for: Classical – I would recommend Grado for the job here, where detail is in mid-tones, treble regions.
Comfort: 3-4 hours srints are not uncomfortble at all.
Battery: Changed after ~200 hours listening.
Sound cancellation: Not important to me at all, but it seems to cancel out white noise, general background noise well.
Sound enclosure: Not great, sounds will be heard by those around you with iPod volume >60%.
Carry Case: Sturdy and well worth taking on travel.
Summary: If you can get these closer to £200 than £300 do buy them. If you like a powerful sound there is no other choice at all.
Rating: 5 / 5
There really is not much to say about these headphones other than they are excellent.
The sound is just so crisp and clear ive never heard anything like it . If you want a great set of headphones then buy these.
Rating: 5 / 5
As with all audio products, personal preference plays a large part in deciding what equipment is right for you. Always try to demo headphones yourself before deciding, because no headphones are “the best” unless you think so and they give you what you want. These particular headphones are from the US company Monster Cable Products, and are designed with four priorities in mind: extreme comfort; extreme clarity; folding design; scratch-resistant finish. Spending upwards of £200 you will likely expect all of these features. Certainly, the “Beats Studio” headphones excel in every one – they offer premium sound quality in every respect: outside noise is most completely eradicated; the two AAA batteries which fit inside one phone serve a dual purpose – 1. to power the noise cancelling, and 2. to add greater precision amplification to the sound itself. This means that there is a fantastically powerful sound in all frequency ranges, just like you would expect from a top end stereo system. What I like is the way the true original recording is channelled straight to you with no distortion and conveying the intended intricacies across the entire stereo spectrum. It does make listening to all music a genuine pleasure: you cannot appreciate what I mean until you listen for yourself. Comfort is always important, and again the “Beats Studio” by Dr. Dre are as easy to wear and comfortable as you could possibly expect. Also included in the kit is a 1/8 to 1/4″ jack adapter; anti microbial cleaning cloth; two AAA batteries; Monster Cable headphone cable (1.3 metres); Monster iSoniTalk cable for iPhone, Blackberry; touring case.
Rating: 5 / 5
Before you look at a pair of headphones, you have to ask yourself what you want from them. For example, Is noise cancellation more important to me than sound quality? In my experience, for blocking out external noise, sound isolation EARphones are far superior to noise cancellation HEADphones, this is because of their design and the way in which they work. Some people may specifically want cans but great sound quality can be found in earphones too, this shouldn’t be overlooked, I strongly recommend Shure’s se420’s for sound isolation/blocking out background noise in that case. These cans are NOT made for mixing, mixing with a noise cancellation feature wouldn’t be a good idea because of the white noise and so thats the only comment Im going to make about that….. And so onto the review:
Noise cancellation: When putting on the headphones without even enabling the noise cancellation feature, external sounds are definitely dampened. With music playing, they are of course even better. However, the white noise created to block out this external sound can be distracting when listening to your music, especially acoustic/classical but also in breakdowns of metal/DnB. It obviously comes down to the environment that your going to be using these cans in and what kindof music your going to be listening to. But, you should be aware that the white noise is audible at all times and irritating at times aswell, also it CANNOT be turned off.
Sound enclosure: Sound is leaked from the cans with IPOD volume at around 60% – this can be quite annoying for people around you and something worth bearing in mind.
Comfort: As with all noise cancellation cans, a certain pressure is put on your ear drum that I think could make prolonged listening sessions problematic. I found these uncomfortable after an hour because of this but I have no problems with the design or padding of the cans themselves, they are very comfortable in this sense.
Sound: The sound quality is very good and evident from the first listen. I must admit, I bought these because of their `extra large speaker drivers for super deep bass’ and the bass definitely stands out, being punchier in the mix. This could be a good thing if you like bass but a bad thing if you want 100% true original sound. I found the bass to crack/clip in the left ear piece at around 60% volume, I returned these cans and got a replacement and had the same problem which leads me to think its a manufacturing problem. This crackle is subtle and to the casual listener maybe not even noticeable but I analyse music and this bugged the hell out of me. The overall frequency response is pretty good, its fairly well balanced but the bass is definitely emphasized.
On the move: The right ear piece (where you put the batteries) wobbles when walking and is extremely annoying. A major flaw I found with both pairs I owned and returned.
Box/Packaging/Carry case; Cant say anything bad about this, the box is very nice with sections for all your stuff and the carry case is robust and should keep your headphones safe and secure when on the move. The headphones conveniently fold up to fit in the carry case making them extremely portable, for cans anyway.
OVERALL: There are better headphones out there, sure these are good but they don’t justify the price tag because there are too many flaws with them. For a lower price there are just as good as if not better headphones out there, you just have to do your homework and research. Id give them a 7/10.
Rating: 3 / 5
Pros:
* Amazing sound – the best audio quality I’ve heard from headphones
* The handsfree kit for iphone works well
* Noise reduction works reasonably well – though I’m never that convinced about this feature on any headphones
*They come in a nice case and fold down to a manageable size
Cons:
* My whole office could hear what I was listening to which meant I couldn’t really use them in that environment and I became quite self-conscious about using them on the train as I hate disturbing others
* They need batteries to work, which means if you’re on a long flight and they die, they are useless, not a deal breaker but mildly irritating
* They are pretty chunky when on and, perhaps it’s personal taste, but I felt a bit of a prat wearing them outside
Verdict:
For use in the home and in places where you’re not going to disturb others they are a good bet. The sound quality really is great
Rating: 4 / 5