Beats Headphones, that bad?

[bigjim83]

People here love to trash beats headphones because it's trendy, made popular by a rapper who will now be associated with Apple and have a seat at the board and some people here can't handle that so they lash out at the product so they can feel better about themselves. Performance wise, the headphones are fine. People use the price of the headphones sell at as an excuse to bash the headphone because they believe for the price beats headphones sell for the quality should be on par with mixing headphones used by recording engineers worldwide.



You can also tell from reading a lot of the posts online a lot of apple users get their self esteem from their Apple products, they identify with it, it makes them feel good, they can look down on other people, such as those who wear beats headphones. Now that beats is going to be associated with Apple that is a threat to them because Apple is special, as a result of the beats acquisition they will no longer be so special, beats will tarnish the Apple brand and their self worth.

Totally........disagree. Long drawn out nonsense. Are beats bad? No. I also doubt people are hating on beats because of Dre. I'm sure 60% of the people who have beats don't even listen to his music or even really know who he is.

The price tag has everything to do with it. Take 100 bucks off the price and you'd be dealing with a pretty sweet pair of headphones that are still way bass heavy.

Apple people looking down on people who wear beats headphones? What do you base this on???

 

[bigdog5142]

I understand the argument that they are overpriced. However, I've always liked them, could never afford them. I got a pair of urBeats at Christmas and that was good enough. However, Woot just had the black Executives for $180 and I snagged a pair. I LOVE them! Now my urBeats are my workout headphones and my Executives are for everything else.

 

[Truefan31]

I got my kids the new solo hds for Christmas. Got them for 90 bucks a piece from target, great deal. I like how they sound. And they look good.

Wish they made some wireless earbuds

 

[Jalopybox]

I got my kids the new solo hds for Christmas. Got them for 90 bucks a piece from target, great deal. I like how they sound. And they look good.

Wish they made some wireless earbuds

Same thing. I have many headphones of varying prices. Always heard the negatives on Beats. Had the Beats Tours, very poorly made, not great sound.

Got my kids the Solo's for Xmas also at Target. They love them. Sound is decent, bass heavy, but decent. The mic/volume control is nice. For $100, they are good headphones.

 

[Truefan31]

Same thing. I have many headphones of varying prices. Always heard the negatives on Beats. Had the Beats Tours, very poorly made, not great sound.



Got my kids the Solo's for Xmas also at Target. They love them. Sound is decent, bass heavy, but decent. The mic/volume control is nice. For $100, they are good headphones.

Yup. And they look good. Something a lot of others seem to neglect

 

[C DM]

Audiophiles hate Beats because they're bass-heavy, unbalanced in their sound signature and flashy...

Personally, I'd happily own a pair of beats on-ears if they didn't have such a high pricetag.

I have a pair of beats in-ears and they sound great...for me.

My preference is to listen to metal, hard rock and the ocasional bit of hip hop or pop/dance. For that they are perfect.

My on-ears are SOL Republic Tracks HD. They have a similar sound to the equivalent Beats product, but at less than half the price. Just as flashy, just as cool, less popular (probably due to a smaller marketing budget) and they really do rock my world.

Audiophiles also bag the SOL's...again, flashy, bass-heavy, etc etc.

It's just the way that sound snobs are.

Beats are over priced, but there's not a lot wrong with the quality or the sound, if they suit your personal taste.

I don't like beats because they are far and away too bass heavy, and I'm someone who only listens to a bit of rock and a ton of audio podcasts.

I think some of it is that the heavy bass and everything else that "audiophiles" bash is meant to sound best when listening to hip hop. Incidentally, I suspect a lot of audiophiles are not hip hop fans so they don't really get that experience with what they're listening to.

And honestly from some of the comments I've seen on here I think some MR users are just afraid to have an African-American man sitting on Apple's board.

Looks like they might be addressing the whole "bass-heavy"/"unbalanced" aspect of it all: https://www.macrumors.com/2014/05/29/beats-solo2-headphones/

 

[NT1440]

Looks like they might be addressing the whole "bass-heavy"/"unbalanced" aspect of it all: https://www.macrumors.com/2014/05/29/beats-solo2-headphones/

That IS good news!

 

[tkwolf]

.
You can also tell from reading a lot of the posts online a lot of apple users get their self esteem from their Apple products, they identify with it, it makes them feel good, they can look down on other people, such as those who wear beats headphones. Now that beats is going to be associated with Apple that is a threat to them because Apple is special, as a result of the beats acquisition they will no longer be so special, beats will tarnish the Apple brand and their self worth.

Something I have noticed in this forum, indeed. A lot (not everyone) here seem to have that issue, feeling as if they are being attacked when something unpleasant is being said about their product. I appreciate Apple, and as someone who relies on their ecosystem (for the most part of my daily grind) I'm happy with the products, but there is no need for other people to sound like their life is being ruined by someone else's opinion. But aw well, we all have issues, no is perfect right? Lol

 

[Ronin317]

I'll save you getting a sound engineering background: Grado SR60i for much less money are the best headphones for _any_ money when connected to a portable device. There are better headphones if you connect to your HiFi equipment at home or use a headphone amplifier, but without these, nothing beats them.

And strange enough, I don't care how much people think I paid for my headphones. I couldn't care less if I tried. I care about how they sound.

Good advice...especially the last part. The thing that I feel most people miss is the sound - they're either concerned with the design or the price tag. I've got a pair of (the head-fi legendary) $30 Panasonic headphones that destroy $200 beats all day every day on sound quality. But that is also my sound preference. (and yes, I've listened to the beats for a few days...borrowed a friends. they're good, just unbalanced and not worth the coin)

People need to visit a store or two, listen to 1-2 of their fave songs on a few different pairs of headphones, and chose based on sound signature first, then price and looks. The Grado's are pretty solid, as are the Audio-Technica ATH-M50, VModa's, and for some reason (to me at least), the Incase Sonic. In fact, I use the Sonic's almost every morning on my commute, and they're very well-balanced for an array of music (I listen to everything from classical to death metal to synth pop to classic rock), and comfy as hell.

 

[sophiamendezzz1]

I've personally never used beats headphones because I think it's a lotttttt of money to be spending on headphones. I listen to music all day and I do notice differences in sound quality depending on what kind of headphones I use. Maybe I'm just not that picky about it but I don't think headphones that run for hundreds of dollars could be that much better than let's say 30 dollar headphones.

With that said, I do think beats are priced because of the brand and because of Dr. Dre and that's completely fine! Some people like paying for the brand and its undeniably fashionable compared to a lot of headphones.

 

[Ronnoco]

Agreed. I own a pair of their earbuds and another pair of their over-ear headphones. Both are great in terms of fit, durability and great sound across the whole audible range.

I've worked in the broadcast/recording industry for 30 years and have worked on projects from commercial music albums, live concert recordings to film and tv scores and even radio/tv jingle packages and I can tell you from first hand experience that rare is the time that I don't see the best recording and mixing engineers or radio/tv announcers in the world using Sennheiser headphones while working in the studios or broadcast centers. I've worked at Capital Recording's legendary Studio A, Abbey Road Studios, Sky Walker Sound, The BBC Television Centre, The Record Plant and Electric Lady Studios just to name a few. Sennheiser's rule in the world of professional Audio.

 

[brucecottonmout]

yes, they are bad

 

[osofast240sx]

Every blog post and forum thread about Beats headphones I read, always refer to the products as "Stylish without substance."

What gives?

What am I missing?


I don't personally own a pair, but my cousin has a pair, and I think they're phenomenal. They drown out noise when music is playing, and the sound quality is awesome.


I'm just curious why the popular sentiment is "Stylish without substance," because my experience using them has been totally different.

just demoed the new solo 2 i love them. I'm torn between them and the Bowers and wilkins.

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yes, they are bad

which model?

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Sennheiser's rule in the world of professional Audio.

yes but they entered into the crap game.

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Maybe I'm just not that picky about it but I don't think headphones that run for hundreds of dollars could be that much better than let's say 30 dollar headphones.

you will fatigue a lot faster with $30 headphones.it the equivalent of having a 7.1 surround sound vs. your tv speakers

 

[torana355]

Put simply beats headphones are extremely overpriced. They are a bit like Bose, they sound ok but you can get much better for price. For example my V-Moda M-100's cost $250au, beats studios are $399au and still don't sound as good as the M-100's. I think most people buy them for the looks and because they are very bass heavy (not in a good way, very muddy and boomy bass)

 

[burgman]

Put simply beats headphones are extremely overpriced. They are a bit like Bose, they sound ok but you can get much better for price. For example my V-Moda M-100's cost $250au, beats studios are $399au and still don't sound as good as the M-100's. I think most people buy them for the looks and because they are very bass heavy (not in a good way, very muddy and boomy bass)

Makes me laugh when someone reviews bass as muddy on headphones, that usually is your crap source equipment driving the headphones. I could be wrong but "boomy bass" is the desired effect in hip hop and similar music.

 

[osofast240sx]

Makes me laugh when someone reviews bass as muddy on headphones, that usually is your crap source equipment driving the headphones. I could be wrong but "boomy bass" is the desired effect in hip hop and similar music.

Good point
99% of the users on here Are not using external DAC's which is really necessary to get the most out of your headphones.

 

[Harmonious Zen]

Put simply beats headphones are extremely overpriced. They are a bit like Bose, they sound ok but you can get much better for price. For example my V-Moda M-100's cost $250au, beats studios are $399au and still don't sound as good as the M-100's. I think most people buy them for the looks and because they are very bass heavy (not in a good way, very muddy and boomy bass)

This. It's a classic case of marketing might prevailing. Beats are decent, but they're definitely making a healthy margin.

 

[torana355]

Makes me laugh when someone reviews bass as muddy on headphones, that usually is your crap source equipment driving the headphones. I could be wrong but "boomy bass" is the desired effect in hip hop and similar music.

I use decent gear to run my headphones. Boomy bass is not desired in any music genre. Having deep punchy bass is desired in hip hop, not boomy bass with zero definition or texture.

 

[osofast240sx]

I use decent gear to run my headphones. Boomy bass is not desired in any music genre. Having deep punchy bass is desired in hip hop, not boomy bass with zero definition or texture.

What kinds of gear?

 

[torana355]

What kinds of gear?

For my portable needs i use a Fiio E17. I use a Schiit Bifrost and Asgard combo for my desktop to run my HE-400's.

 

[RiddlaBronc]

I recently bought some power beats to take running with me. Was honestly expecting more out of them for the price. Ill just keep them due to the fact that they dont fall off like the earpods do

 

[brucecottonmout]

just demoed the new solo 2 i love them. I'm torn between them and the Bowers and wilkins.

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which model?

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yes but they entered into the crap game.

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you will fatigue a lot faster with $30 headphones.it the equivalent of having a 7.1 surround sound vs. your tv speakers

To the question addressed to me: all of them.

 

[MikeVera]

Couldn't have said it better myself!

People here love to trash beats headphones because it's trendy, made popular by a rapper who will now be associated with Apple and have a seat at the board and some people here can't handle that so they lash out at the product so they can feel better about themselves. Performance wise, the headphones are fine. People use the price of the headphones sell at as an excuse to bash the headphone because they believe for the price beats headphones sell for the quality should be on par with mixing headphones used by recording engineers worldwide.

You can also tell from reading a lot of the posts online a lot of apple users get their self esteem from their Apple products, they identify with it, it makes them feel good, they can look down on other people, such as those who wear beats headphones. Now that beats is going to be associated with Apple that is a threat to them because Apple is special, as a result of the beats acquisition they will no longer be so special, beats will tarnish the Apple brand and their self worth.

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I wonder if the Apple Beats takeover means better hardware quality? The build quality of Beats headphones is just dreadful.

The newest generation (New Studios, Solo 2s, and Pros) are much better, but your right.....the previous ones had terrible build quality.

 

[djransom]

Totally........disagree. Long drawn out nonsense. Are beats bad? No. I also doubt people are hating on beats because of Dre. I'm sure 60% of the people who have beats don't even listen to his music or even really know who he is.

The price tag has everything to do with it. Take 100 bucks off the price and you'd be dealing with a pretty sweet pair of headphones that are still way bass heavy.

Apple people looking down on people who wear beats headphones? What do you base this on???

I take it you didn't check out the thread when the deal was first announced. It was pretty bad and some of the comments were very snobbish. I'll agree that Beats are very overpriced, but as long people continue to pay the price will remain or increase. That's will ANY product.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

It's not that they are horrible it's the fact that you can get even better quality headphones for less money. That's the main gripe.

This.

They're not bad, they're just not necessarily worth the price. I have fifteen-year-old Sony headphones that sound just as good (to me, anyway,) as the high-end Beats a coworker has - and my Sonys were $150, 15 years ago.