When the news broke that Monster cables are working together with Dr. Dre to make a line of headphones, most of the response I’ve heard were not positive. Sure, having Monster Cable and Dr. Dre’s name on the product will guarantee its success with the mass-market crowd, but Monster Cable actually have gained quite a reputation as an overpriced product, and Dr. Dre’s name imply a bass heavy headphone. These factors definitely don’t work with the audiophile and the headphone enthusiasts crowd. Likewise, I didn’t have the slightest interest in the Beats Studio Headphones.
I was travelling to Shanghai a few months ago, when I sat next to this guy who wears the Dr. Dre Studio Headphones on his neck. The Beats Studio headphone is very slick and looked really cool. At first impression I thought that this is one of the few headphones that won’t make you look like a nerd in public, and it actually goes pretty well as a fashion accesssory.
I started talking to him about headphones, and I told him that I am a headphone enthusiast, and I’d like to have a look at his Beats. The Beats studio headphones have one of the best craftmanship I’ve seen on a headphone. The build quality definitely ranks on the top of the chain, and I thought that a non-headphone enthusiast would probably put the Beats at the same level as the Sennheiser HD800 just purely by its looks. The high gloss finishing, the red colored cable, the small anodized aluminum accents, and the leather pads really make you feel you’re holding a high-end, even luxury, headphone. This is far in contrast with Grado headphones and their pizza boxes packaging. Monster had created a really fancy packaging design to make complement the luxurious feel of the headphone. It even supplied a really fancy headphone box perfectly suited with the Beats Studio Headphone.
Accesories wise, Monster included everything you would ever need for headphone use: a standard red colored headphone cable, a black color headphone cable with microphone, a custom glossy finish 1/8″ to 1/4″ converter that goes with the design of the Beats headphones, an airline adapter, and even a microfiber cloth to clean up the headphone.
The Beats Studio Headphones is the most comfortable headphone I’ve ever worn, short of the Sennheiser HD800. For Monster Cable’s first attempt into headphones, they really have done a superb job. The headphone not only felt comfortable on your head, it also felt luxurious. A feeling that I’ve only gotten with the Sennheiser HD800 headphone. The cable is single entry, and though that might raise a few eyebrows with the cable purists, single entry is much more practical and doesn’t get tangled up. A well-thought design. What’s more, the cable is detachable, using 3.5mm connectors on the headphone end, as well as on the other end. Very practical, and yet it works. You can opt to use a standard, red color, 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable, as well as an iPhone compatible iSoniTalk adapter cable with mic and call answer button. Sweet.
The Beats Studio Headphone employs a full time active noise cancelling feature, accessible through a switch on the housing. Again, noise cancelling is normally not desirable if you’re looking for a pure Hi-Fi experience, but given the target consumers of these headphones, it’s a nice feature to have. What’s regrettable is that the headphones don’t work unless you turn on the switch, meaning you can’t use the headphones without having the active noise cancelling on. I think this is an impractical design decision.
Please keep in mind that the Beats Studio headphones were made for the mass market and not the audiophile crowd, so I will try to review its sound quality from that perspective. My first impression was that this is a good sounding headphone. Before I put on the Beats, I was listening to the Sennheiser HD25-1, one of the most neutral and detailed portable cans. Of course the Beats wasn’t as neutral as the HD25-1, but it definitely wasn’t a bad sounding headphone. As a matter of fact, the neutral HD25-1 may sound flat to the average listener, while the Beats has an air that makes it sounds “hi-fi” to the average joe.
Surprise, surprise! The Beats Studio headphones is definitely not a bassy headphone. It has a nice round bass with good impact when played with some Black Eyed Peas, but I really wouldn’t call it bassy. The bass is nice and just right, it doesn’t overpower the other frequencies, and it is not muddy. The sound is refined and smooth, not in a Grado HF2 kind smooth, rather an Audio-Technica ESW-9 kind of smooth. The refinement and the nice punch in the bass gives a pleasant listening experience.
The presentation is fairly laid back, definitely in-sync with the entire RnB attitude. The treble is boosted a little, to give excitement and sparkle in the music. It also helps to make RnB vocals sound more intimate. This kind of treble boost is always good for the mainstream listeners, because a neutral headphone often sounds dull and boring to the untrained ears. However, to the discerning listener, the treble boost may become an annoyance, like a small bump in the frequency curve. This reminds me of the comparison between the Westone 3 and the UM3x, where the W3 is more consumer oriented, and it also have a treble boost as oppossed to the neutral UM3x.
Overall, the Beats Studio headphones have a very enjoyable sound that is easy to appreciate by the average consumer. It definitely is not an audiophile headphone, and it never tried to do so. If you feed it complex classical music, the Beats simply cannot handle them. However, it does a great job playing mainstream genres such as Pop, RnB, and Hip Hop. Add that to a great looking design that you can actually wear on the street while not looking weird, active noise cancelling, and its superb comfort, the Beats will definitely please a lot of people.
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