Monster Cables and products are nothing but overpriced garbage. Do yourself a favor and hit up www.monoprice.com if you want cables. My $5 set of HDMI is 50x better then any cheaply made monster cable. I used to purchase that crap years and years ago until I woke up and learned that their cables are junk. The ends come disconnected from the cables, they frey everywhere and they are just poorly made...not to mention OVERPRICED! Everyone, everywhere should completely ban Monster Products...lets put these scumbags out of business.
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Apple Investigating Issue With Monster Headphones
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Glad to hear that Apple officially recognizes this problem...
I have a pair of V-Moda headphones that cause voice control to freak out. There is quite an extensive thread going on about it too on the Apple Support forums.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2058354&start=0&tstart=0
Basically I plug in the headphones, and voice control randomly activates and causes the controls to go crazy, constantly skipping, pausing, playing songs. It did it on my iPod Touch 2G, and my 3G as well. It especially messes up if you twist the headphone jack while it's plugged in.
It's been incredibly frustrating, I have 2 pairs of headphones that work fine on my older iPod Mini, but make the iPod Touch unusable. They are really nice headphones too, with microphone and remote support on the cord.
I have a pair of V-Moda headphones that cause voice control to freak out. There is quite an extensive thread going on about it too on the Apple Support forums.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2058354&start=0&tstart=0
Basically I plug in the headphones, and voice control randomly activates and causes the controls to go crazy, constantly skipping, pausing, playing songs. It did it on my iPod Touch 2G, and my 3G as well. It especially messes up if you twist the headphone jack while it's plugged in.
It's been incredibly frustrating, I have 2 pairs of headphones that work fine on my older iPod Mini, but make the iPod Touch unusable. They are really nice headphones too, with microphone and remote support on the cord.
to allow the headphones to control the iCrap device there is a chip in there that apple buys for about a penny. it accepts signals on some frequency that i forgot what it is.
the headphones in turn have a little mechanism that transmits a signal to this chip to control music playback.
in order to sell this functionality i think that you have to be officially licensed with apple which means you have to send 20% of sales to apple. At $150 to $400 for a set of headphones plus other licensing fees that's a lot of money for Monster to send to apple so they just didn't put the functionality in there the right way. but a cheaper way that apparently doesn't work.
i bet apple was getting a lot of genius bar appointments and people wanted replacements and they took the issue up with Monster and were told to go away. so I bet Apple leaked this
Garbage headphones from a garbage company. I love people who walk around and think theyre trendy with their Beats/Monster/Skullcandy headphones. 
Protip: Do some research on a site like Head-Fi before you buy your next pair of headphones.
Protip: Do some research on a site like Head-Fi before you buy your next pair of headphones.
My studio beats by Dr Dre have this problem. It's very annoying, but happens intermittently. Really unpredictable.
I agree, they are fairly overpriced compared to other brands and not that great either.
I own well over 20 pairs of headphones, not sure why or how i've accumulated so many pairs, i guess i've become a little obsessed. I admit i had once owen a pair of Dr. Dre Studios, when they first came out, but i didn't really like the style of sound they produced. I've got many other supposedly high end headphones/earphones/in ear you name it all, for different purposes. When listening to Music at Home i use Grado SR-225's, which sound pretty damn good actually, although i personally think they could use a little extra bassweight to even out the bright mids and highs. For general listening to iPhone iPad etc i use the B&W P5's and they really sound great, and the build quality really helps justify the £250 asking price. For in ear phones i have a pair of Sennheiser IE8's, which to be honest have never really liked since the day i got them, compared to the other earphones i own they just sound dull and lifeless. I did own the Shure SE530's for a short while but i couldn't get on with the ear tips, now you can get the Comply Comfy tips i wish i'd kept them..oh well you live and learn.
However for those who don't have such a high budget for headphones, i have two recommendations which i also own, these are: iGrado's, i use these at work, they really are impressive headphones, they aren't the most comfy headphones around and they leak a lot of sound, BUT the sound they produce is phenominal for such a low price. you can pick them up for circa £35.
My other recommendation for people on an ever lower budget are the JVC Marshmellow headphones. I use these when commuting as they manage to block out a lot of exterior/ambient noise. I was so impressed with these as they have a nice balanced and fairly lively sound. Admittedly you aren't going to get amazing sound quality and not going to hear every single piece of detail on all your music but for less than £15 they really do some magical stuff. I much prefer the sound of these than my Sennheiser IE8's...so thats saying something.
Another suggestion is that there are mods you can do to the iGrado's and JVC marshmellow headphones to make them sound even better without spending any money. If you google headphone mods, you should be able to find this. If anyone is interested i can find the page for you.
My last recommendation is make use of the feature built in to the latest apple headphone cables and that is to do the iPhone headphone cable mod. I have modded both the iGrados and JVC marshmellow's to use the iPhone 4 headphone cable with built in Mic and ipod remote functionality. The cables that are supplied with the Apple headphones are perfectly fine, the actual earbuds themselves are what lets the sound down.
Anyway i've waffled on enough about headphones, as you can tell i am a little obsessed but if your like me you realise that you don't have to spend a small fortune to get decent sound quality.
I own well over 20 pairs of headphones, not sure why or how i've accumulated so many pairs, i guess i've become a little obsessed. I admit i had once owen a pair of Dr. Dre Studios, when they first came out, but i didn't really like the style of sound they produced. I've got many other supposedly high end headphones/earphones/in ear you name it all, for different purposes. When listening to Music at Home i use Grado SR-225's, which sound pretty damn good actually, although i personally think they could use a little extra bassweight to even out the bright mids and highs. For general listening to iPhone iPad etc i use the B&W P5's and they really sound great, and the build quality really helps justify the £250 asking price. For in ear phones i have a pair of Sennheiser IE8's, which to be honest have never really liked since the day i got them, compared to the other earphones i own they just sound dull and lifeless. I did own the Shure SE530's for a short while but i couldn't get on with the ear tips, now you can get the Comply Comfy tips i wish i'd kept them..oh well you live and learn.
However for those who don't have such a high budget for headphones, i have two recommendations which i also own, these are: iGrado's, i use these at work, they really are impressive headphones, they aren't the most comfy headphones around and they leak a lot of sound, BUT the sound they produce is phenominal for such a low price. you can pick them up for circa £35.
My other recommendation for people on an ever lower budget are the JVC Marshmellow headphones. I use these when commuting as they manage to block out a lot of exterior/ambient noise. I was so impressed with these as they have a nice balanced and fairly lively sound. Admittedly you aren't going to get amazing sound quality and not going to hear every single piece of detail on all your music but for less than £15 they really do some magical stuff. I much prefer the sound of these than my Sennheiser IE8's...so thats saying something.
Another suggestion is that there are mods you can do to the iGrado's and JVC marshmellow headphones to make them sound even better without spending any money. If you google headphone mods, you should be able to find this. If anyone is interested i can find the page for you.
My last recommendation is make use of the feature built in to the latest apple headphone cables and that is to do the iPhone headphone cable mod. I have modded both the iGrados and JVC marshmellow's to use the iPhone 4 headphone cable with built in Mic and ipod remote functionality. The cables that are supplied with the Apple headphones are perfectly fine, the actual earbuds themselves are what lets the sound down.
Anyway i've waffled on enough about headphones, as you can tell i am a little obsessed but if your like me you realise that you don't have to spend a small fortune to get decent sound quality.
Hmm. In my parlance, "fairly reliable" and "well designed" are near opposites. I would regard Monster wires as "fairly reliable", their power products as "well designed".
And all of them friggin' overpriced.
I use a lower end Sennheiser headset and its price now rivals many $$$ Megabuck models!
Just stick to Sennheisers.
True that! I bought a pair of HD-280's 5 years ago and they still work perfectly. Well constructed, amazing range, fairly priced. I used to buy new $30-$50 headphones all the time and then took a friend's advice and invested in the 280's and some Shure in-ear headphones that also have stood the test of time.
I wouldn't tar all the monster line with the lines overpriced junk. I normally find that the majority of people who say that haven't listened to the products they are describing.
Yes, their cables are hideously expensive, but some of the IEMs mentioned here have some great reviews, including on sites like head-fi.
In particular the MTPC, MTPG and Miles Davis are all top quality phones and in the same league as some of the others mentioned in this thread - senn's ie 8, shures se530 and 535's, ortofon and klipsch. Although I do agree that skull candy is generally just tat.
Yes, their cables are hideously expensive, but some of the IEMs mentioned here have some great reviews, including on sites like head-fi.
In particular the MTPC, MTPG and Miles Davis are all top quality phones and in the same league as some of the others mentioned in this thread - senn's ie 8, shures se530 and 535's, ortofon and klipsch. Although I do agree that skull candy is generally just tat.
My Shure ear buds (blanking on model #) also exhibit erratic behavior. On my iPhone 3G it was in the form of stopping, starting, fast forwarding through songs. I was hoping it was the phone, since they are like 150 dollars and I knew I would be replacing the phone soon. iPhone 4 also has issues but in the form of calling up the 'voice control' screen.
I'd love a fix for this as it becomes really annoying in the gym.
I'd love a fix for this as it becomes really annoying in the gym.
I haven't noticed any problems with my Beats by Dr. Dre Tours. I've had them for almost a year so I used them on a 3GS and 4, and no problems what-so-ever.
Thanks dude, might check out the Grados. It's amazing the difference between a decent set and a crap set of headphones. I remember listening to an Interpol record on a new set of Sennheisers and couldn't believe the amount of extra instrumental tracks in the background that I'd been missing because of crap equipment.
That said, I've never been impressed with Monster cans, but my judgement might be tarnished by the fact that I know 3 absolute knobends who all walk round with their Monster cans on, even though they're not even plugged in to anything. Utter losers.
Edit: Sorry, it was actually an LCD Soundsystem record, but the point stands.
Most people in here posting about headphones dont seem to have actually listened to Monster headphones.
I dont own a pair, but I have access to Studios and Solos every day, and they blow away anything Sennheiser or Bose have come up with.
As for overpriced, well they are expensive, but value for money is very subjective.
Agree about Skullcandy's though, they are truly garbage.
I dont own a pair, but I have access to Studios and Solos every day, and they blow away anything Sennheiser or Bose have come up with.
As for overpriced, well they are expensive, but value for money is very subjective.
Agree about Skullcandy's though, they are truly garbage.
lol i had the apple earplugs that came with the iphone 3gs (with mic) and after a year they started pausing-changing the volume-starting the music on their own when i moved a little bit the connector pin. fix your products apple! not only they produce a low-quality sound, they don't even last long AND they are expensive. the only reason i bought a new pair is because they have a mic and control keys for iphone :/
That's the point of Dr Dre Beats. It's perfect for electronic dance music but everything else sounds low on it.
I love the sound of Dr Dre beats but most of my music on my iPhone is D&B
Indeed, I used to have access to a lot of headphones and own a Beats Solo. That's the sound i've been looking for for 20years now. It's a specific sound, one you only experience in recording studios. They sound like the Sentry Studio monitors i had years ago.
I would like to add koss porta pro II to the mix. Great for around home if you are not too worried about sound leakage. For around town with the iphone or ipad I use shure SE155 m+ with the foam inserts. It completely blocks out noise and has the remote and mic which works great with my iphone 3GS.
Not really, Apple does "market more than the second coming of JC" and sell products that are overpriced. So....you're wrong
Thanks for your recommendations. I've spent over $100 on two different pairs of Shures that have lasted less than a year without having troubles. Last year, they cheapened their E350 cables and made them lighter and less durable without lowering price. I'm fairly done with them, but I do like the conical, flanged in-ear tips for their noise-cancelling abilities and the way they fit and stay in my ears without falling out. I don't know other producers who make that kind of tip.
I would be interested in your suggestions of mods, etc, as I agree that the apple headphones work quite well except for the uber-annoying heads. So please post any more links or suggestions you have.