Beats By Dre, Are they worth it?

They are very nice, but I'm not sure I would say they are $300 nice. For that kind of money I would probably check out some sennheisers or some of the other reputable brands. I actually listened to a pair of HD 515s tonight and they sounded amazing. They are the lower end of Sennheiser's audiophile range, but you can get them for a little over $50 on amazon, and even with my limited experience they would be worth the price. However, they are pretty big, and they are open style, so everyone else can hear what you are listening to.

alust2013 said:

They are very nice, but I'm not sure I would say they are $300 nice. For that kind of money I would probably check out some sennheisers or some of the other reputable brands. I actually listened to a pair of HD 515s tonight and they sounded amazing. They are the lower end of Sennheiser's audiophile range, but you can get them for a little over $50 on amazon, and even with my limited experience they would be worth the price. However, they are pretty big, and they are open style, so everyone else can hear what you are listening to.

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+1

They're really a lot like the Bose brand. Probably decent, but not worth the price. Sennheiser is a good recommendation. I'd recommend you look into Audio-Technica and Denon as well. I have an rebranded pair of the Denon D1001 and they're fantastic. If you want to really get pulled into all of this, check out Head-Fi. Your wallet may not appreciate that link though

alust2013 said:

They are very nice, but I'm not sure I would say they are $300 nice. For that kind of money I would probably check out some sennheisers or some of the other reputable brands. I actually listened to a pair of HD 515s tonight and they sounded amazing. They are the lower end of Sennheiser's audiophile range, but you can get them for a little over $50 on amazon, and even with my limited experience they would be worth the price. However, they are pretty big, and they are open style, so everyone else can hear what you are listening to.

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+1 for Sennheisers

Q: Beats By Dre, Are they worth it?

A: Absolutely not

Nothing by Dre is worth it.

They're nice, but not $300 nice. I currently own the Beats by Dr. Dre Studio for myself, and bought the Beats by Dr. Dre Solo for my girlfriend, and both are nice looking, but they're definitely not worth the price.
So I just stick with my trustworthy Klipsch X10i when I really want to hear my music, but it's nice to wear a headphone sometimes when it's umm.. cold out or something.

So, if looks are what your'e looking for, then they're quite decent headphones. If sound is what you desire, no, the Dre isn't for you.

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They're nice and cool looking, but definitely not worth $300. It sounds artificial in the high frequencies.

I find it hilarious

I find it quite funny that people are in here saying that you are simply paying that much money for a name. YOU PEOPLE ARE POSTING IN AN APPLE FORUM. What the hell do you think you did for that dumbass MacBook your all sporting? Why is it that I can buy a brand of computer that simply is not apple that has twice the power and speed and pay less than half the price?
The bottom line is that the dr. Dre lineup of headphones are a very good line. All these damn hipsters in here are just clouding the facts. I will give it to you that the beats are pretty expensive. However, they absolutely blow most of their competition out of the water. I had 2 different kinds of sennheisers. They both had muddy sounds and broke in less than a year. Same with klipsh. I've had a pair of shure studio headphones for awhile but they are severely uncomfortable so all they do is sit on my dresser. I just bought the beats tour in ear monitors. They kick ass all the way ad sound better than anything I've used. INCLUDING ALL THE DUMB BRANDS MENTIONED HERE. By the way I had the 550's by sennheiser so nobody can say I had cheap ones. You could hear more of what was going on around you than the crackily bad music coming out of them. Quit being psycho audiophiles. Just because the cans were created by dre and built by monster doesn't mean they are bad. Never forget how bill gates bailed apple out in late 90's because they sucked. The iPods made apple popular again so it is the same thing everyone is talking about here. The beats are worth it. Only thing I can say is that it's a pain in the ass to change the batteries. So I returned the studios for the tours. I love them.

HarryCaray3000 said:

I find it quite funny that people are in here saying that you are simply paying that much money for a name. YOU PEOPLE ARE POSTING IN AN APPLE FORUM. What the hell do you think you did for that dumbass MacBook your all sporting? Why is it that I can buy a brand of computer that simply is not apple that has twice the power and speed and pay less than half the price?
The bottom line is that the dr. Dre lineup of headphones are a very good line. All these damn hipsters in here are just clouding the facts. I will give it to you that the beats are pretty expensive. However, they absolutely blow most of their competition out of the water. I had 2 different kinds of sennheisers. They both had muddy sounds and broke in less than a year. Same with klipsh. I've had a pair of shure studio headphones for awhile but they are severely uncomfortable so all they do is sit on my dresser. I just bought the beats tour in ear monitors. They kick ass all the way ad sound better than anything I've used. INCLUDING ALL THE DUMB BRANDS MENTIONED HERE. By the way I had the 550's by sennheiser so nobody can say I had cheap ones. You could hear more of what was going on around you than the crackily bad music coming out of them. Quit being psycho audiophiles. Just because the cans were created by dre and built by monster doesn't mean they are bad. Never forget how bill gates bailed apple out in late 90's because they sucked. The iPods made apple popular again so it is the same thing everyone is talking about here. The beats are worth it. Only thing I can say is that it's a pain in the ass to change the batteries. So I returned the studios for the tours. I love them.

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You forgot the...

/rant

And wow, seems like there is some latent (or maybe not so latent) hostility against Apple.

Yikes.

And spacing is a bit easier on the eyes. I would think your fancy PC would alert you to that fact.

I kid...though it is entertaining when someone comes on here and rants about how much Apple sucks. Umm, FYI, you're posting on an Apple forum also. Can't be that bad.

I don't know where you're looking... $300? I can get a pair for $149.99 at my local Staples. (Yea, STAPLES - of all places...)

And they actually sound hella good. (At least the can version)

RiverFox said:

I don't know where you're looking... $300? I can get a pair for $149.99 at my local Staples. (Yea, STAPLES - of all places...)

And they actually sound hella good. (At least the can version)

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Probably saw the Solo or the Tour. The lowest I've seen in Canada for Studio was $249 at the Future Shop.

They don't sound bad but they definitely don't even come close to studio monitor headphones which cost half the price.

Too much bass and low mids, not enough hi mids, fuzzy, overextended highs.

For half the price you can get a set of Audio Technica M50s which sound much better

I just got a pair of the studio for $97.50 with an additional 25% off coupon I had and after listening to them for less than an hour I knew I wasn't keeping them...even for the price I was able to get them for.

You really need to listen to any phones that interest you and decide for yourself!

HarryCaray3000 said:

I find it quite funny that people are in here saying that you are simply paying that much money for a name. YOU PEOPLE ARE POSTING IN AN APPLE FORUM. What the hell do you think you did for that dumbass MacBook your all sporting? Why is it that I can buy a brand of computer that simply is not apple that has twice the power and speed and pay less than half the price?
The bottom line is that the dr. Dre lineup of headphones are a very good line. All these damn hipsters in here are just clouding the facts. I will give it to you that the beats are pretty expensive. However, they absolutely blow most of their competition out of the water. I had 2 different kinds of sennheisers. They both had muddy sounds and broke in less than a year. Same with klipsh. I've had a pair of shure studio headphones for awhile but they are severely uncomfortable so all they do is sit on my dresser. I just bought the beats tour in ear monitors. They kick ass all the way ad sound better than anything I've used. INCLUDING ALL THE DUMB BRANDS MENTIONED HERE. By the way I had the 550's by sennheiser so nobody can say I had cheap ones. You could hear more of what was going on around you than the crackily bad music coming out of them. Quit being psycho audiophiles. Just because the cans were created by dre and built by monster doesn't mean they are bad. Never forget how bill gates bailed apple out in late 90's because they sucked. The iPods made apple popular again so it is the same thing everyone is talking about here. The beats are worth it. Only thing I can say is that it's a pain in the ass to change the batteries. So I returned the studios for the tours. I love them.

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Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

But seriously, I'd like to know more about how I can get a gig defending a headphone line - I've got plenty of free time to join forums and make rambling posts like the *two* (both rants about the Beats headphones) you've made here on MR. Does it pay cash, or just lil' bags of chronic?

HarryCaray3000 said:

I find it quite funny that people are in here saying that you are simply paying that much money for a name. YOU PEOPLE ARE POSTING IN AN APPLE FORUM. What the hell do you think you did for that dumbass MacBook your all sporting? Why is it that I can buy a brand of computer that simply is not apple that has twice the power and speed and pay less than half the price?
The bottom line is that the dr. Dre lineup of headphones are a very good line. All these damn hipsters in here are just clouding the facts. I will give it to you that the beats are pretty expensive. However, they absolutely blow most of their competition out of the water. I had 2 different kinds of sennheisers. They both had muddy sounds and broke in less than a year. Same with klipsh. I've had a pair of shure studio headphones for awhile but they are severely uncomfortable so all they do is sit on my dresser. I just bought the beats tour in ear monitors. They kick ass all the way ad sound better than anything I've used. INCLUDING ALL THE DUMB BRANDS MENTIONED HERE. By the way I had the 550's by sennheiser so nobody can say I had cheap ones. You could hear more of what was going on around you than the crackily bad music coming out of them. Quit being psycho audiophiles. Just because the cans were created by dre and built by monster doesn't mean they are bad. Never forget how bill gates bailed apple out in late 90's because they sucked. The iPods made apple popular again so it is the same thing everyone is talking about here. The beats are worth it. Only thing I can say is that it's a pain in the ass to change the batteries. So I returned the studios for the tours. I love them.

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/rant

Anyhow. I am aware that apple is expensive, and no, I don't think their computers should be that expensive. But I very highly prefer not having to deal with Windows' shenanigans all the time. I don't think Apple makes a perfect product, however I feel that it is superior.

In regards to the headphones, I'm not saying the Beats are bad, because they are far from it, however they are very average for the price, and not worth it IMO. You must have been listening to a bad pair of the sennheisers, because the ones I listened to were extremely clear. And no, they're not designed for use in loud environments, that's just a drawback of that type of design. They are also one of the more respected names when it comes to headphones, and can be had for less.

Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro are the best studio headphone s I've ever used. They sound great with everything. Cost at Guitar Center is about $83 (they sell for for $199). So, if you bundle them with another purchase from their store you're likely to be able to get them to give you quite the discount.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016MNAAI/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000F2BLTC&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=052KFHVH268J8N7Z319G

J&JPolangin said:

You really need to listen to any phones that interest you and decide for yourself!

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Best reply in the entire thread. You need to listen to them with *your* music and then decide for yourself.

The last time I bought home speakers I took my entire CD collection to the store (and yeah you have to find an actual audio/home theater store) and listened to my music on nearly every pair of speakers they had. It took close to 4 hours, but the speakers I ended up buying really do sound great to me.

weckart said:

Nothing by Dre is worth it.

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That's what I hear. $300 opens up a lot of options. I'd suggest that you audition the B&W P5's if you want to spend $300 on headphones. Whatever you read here, let what you hear for yourself guide your final decision. Good luck!

You're paying a premium because of the brand name on Beats by Dre. It's almost like a fashion accessory. If you want to spend that money on an ok pair of headphones that are great as a trendy fashion accessory (I'm saying that as an objective statement, not a judgement), then go for it.

If you're after audio quality and reliability, I'd go with Sennheiser. Hell, even the HD280's (you can easily find a paird for $89) would be better than the beats. $300 with Sennheiser would get you way more, plus their products come with a two-year manufacturer's warranty.

mdatwood said:

Best reply in the entire thread. You need to listen to them with *your* music and then decide for yourself.

The last time I bought home speakers I took my entire CD collection to the store (and yeah you have to find an actual audio/home theater store) and listened to my music on nearly every pair of speakers they had. It took close to 4 hours, but the speakers I ended up buying really do sound great to me.

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This.

I listened to the in-store demo models at the Apple store (Solo HD, some sennheiser, Bose and Bowers and Wilkin). The Solo HD beats came out on top for me and the rest of the models, whilst reputed to be amazing, really didn't make any kind of impression. They all came off really flat. The Beats look awesome too. The other headphones were plain as hell, not to mention leaking out my music. It annoys me when I can hear people's music so I try not to be a hypocrite. But yes, this is a +1 for the Beats. Take your iPod to the store and listen to your own music collection. Make up your own mind.

I've been using the Ultimate Ears Triple.fi 10vi - they are absolutely amazing and after getting used to these, all other headphones inear or over sounds crap.

The short answer seems to be no. When shopping headphones a while back, I read reviews on them and the general consensus by audiophiles seems to be that they are overpriced and that better options exists for the same or less money.

I'm not a hip-hop afficionado, but I suppose if you are they might be an attractive proposition as a fashion statement.

To me, people who buy Apple products aren't exactly looking for the value to equal dollars spent. In other words, we all pay because we feel the OS is superior. But how do we explain sitting in front of over-priced displays, mice, and other accessors?

If you want good looking headphones that have mediocre sound then Beats are for you. I've yet to see a true self-proclaimed audiophile admit to the sound quality being above-par.

I'm not a fan of Beats and hear they also break easily.

Of course, I really like B&W cans on the go, and they have a number of detractors too.

Really you have to listen for yourself, but beware about the plastic Beats breaking on you. I've read it a lot here.