Beats Pill+ Speaker Launches Alongside New Colors for Solo2 Headphones

[beanbaguk]

Not available on the UK store

Why the sadness? For less money, you can pick up a pair of B&W P5 Series 2 headphones which are leagues beyond anything Beats could ever produce.

Plus, they are beautifully made with real leather, gorgeous retro looks and don't like a cheap piece of plastic on your head. There's also loads more out there that's far better than beats.

 

[Tucom]

http://headphones.specout.com/compare/133-344/Beats-by-Dre-Studio-vs-Bowers-And-Wilkins-P5

This just says it all.

Beats peripherals are just "prettified" junk with a celebrity endorsement.

No audiophile would touch them. They're garbage.

Lol...what. You're comparing the old, crappy pre-Apple Beats that we all agree were bad. Everything relevant of the discussion in this thread has to do with NEW Beats products which seems to have gone right over your head.

 

[Haifisch]

http://headphones.specout.com/compare/133-344/Beats-by-Dre-Studio-vs-Bowers-And-Wilkins-P5

This just says it all.

Beats peripherals are just "prettified" junk with a celebrity endorsement.

No audiophile would touch them. They're garbage.

Shopping by spec is a weak way to compare products. It reduces differences to numbers and plays on the public's ignorance that higher numbers generally is better. There is so much that goes into the performance of an audio product, a car, or a power tool that spec sheets will never reveal. People use specs because it the fastest way to evaluate products they don't know, or bother to try out

Secondly, those Beats are the older generation that this thread is not referring to. Thanks for coming out.

 

[beanbaguk]

Lol...what. You're comparing the old, crappy pre-Apple Beats that we all agree were bad. Everything relevant of the discussion in this thread has to do with NEW Beats products which seems to have gone right over your head.

That was also the old B&W P5. And the new stuff is still mediocre. I tried the Beats Studio against the new B&W P5 S2 which I purchased a week ago, and found the beats to be terrible compared to the B&W.

They are not deserving of the price they are given, period. The feel of the headphones was cheap, plastic, making the price all the more unjustified. They are also heavy on the head and ridiculously massive in size.

When listening to music I found the following the Beats to be seriously bass heavy and lacking so much detail for a pair of studio headphones it was very surprising. I don't remember everything I listened to as I wasn't preparing a review, but there was a mix of Deadmau5, Ed Sheeran was in there somewhere, plus some also piano pieces from Mozart for good measure.

The P5 S2's on the other hand felt natural, incredibly detailed and with a very controlled bass. It was actually quite heavy in some tunes but nothing like the beats. I felt my head shook with those and it wasn't pleasant.

The middle one's I tried were the Sennheiser HD-598. I found them too claustrophobic and too flat, but they were way better than the beats.

Then there's build quality. Just put the beats next to the B&W's. Need I say more?

I know we all have a different ear, but beats really are not the audiophile's choice. If you mention them at an audio-specialist store, you wouldn't be taken seriously...

 

[beanbaguk]

Shopping by spec is a weak way to compare products. It reduces differences to numbers and plays on the public's ignorance that higher numbers generally is better. There is so much that goes into the performance of an audio product, a car, or a power tool that spec sheets will never reveal. People use specs because it the fastest way to evaluate products they don't know, or bother to try out

Secondly, those Beats are the older generation that this thread is not referring to. Thanks for coming out.

I was busy writing my reply when you added this. The beats I tried were the most current Studio headphones....

http://uk.beatsbydre.com/headphones/studio/beats-beatsstudio.html (That's current as far as I last heard...)

 

[Tucom]

That was also the old B&W P5. And the new stuff is still mediocre. I tried the Beats Studio against the new B&W P5 S2 which I purchased a week ago, and found the beats to be terrible compared to the B&W.

They are not deserving of the price they are given, period. The feel of the headphones was cheap, plastic, making the price all the more unjustified. They are also heavy on the head and ridiculously massive in size.

When listening to music I found the following the Beats to be seriously bass heavy and lacking so much detail for a pair of studio headphones it was very surprising. I don't remember everything I listened to as I wasn't preparing a review, but there was a mix of Deadmau5, Ed Sheeran was in there somewhere, plus some also piano pieces from Mozart for good measure.

The P5 S2's on the other hand felt natural, incredibly detailed and with a very controlled bass. It was actually quite heavy in some tunes but nothing like the beats. I felt my head shook with those and it wasn't pleasant.

The middle one's I tried were the Sennheiser HD-598. I found them too claustrophobic and too flat, but they were way better than the beats.

Then there's build quality. Just put the beats next to the B&W's. Need I say more?

I know we all have a different ear, but beats really are not the audiophile's choice. If you mention them at an audio-specialist store, you wouldn't be taken seriously...

First off, the generation of the Bowers is irrelevant; that new Beats products are what we're talking about. And no, they're not "mediocre."

Did you not watch Tylls video? He's on of the most respected audiophiles in headphone world and he put the new Solo 2s on his wall of fame. If the Solo 2s weren't good enough to go on his wall of fame, they wouldn't have gone on his wall fame. Period.

There's even more highly favorable reviews, such as Hi Fi Heavens review. YouTube it.

Finally you're totally missing the point that these headphones were never intended to be clinically accurate monitoring tools, but instead provide a very high quality, warm and exciting listening experience.

If you read some of the posts in this very thread you'll find posts filled with real world anecdotal evidence of the new Beats being excellent, due to them owning the Solo 2s and the other high ends like Sennheisers and the overhyped ATH M50, and actually preferring the Solo 2s largely based on sound. So something in your post doesn't add up.

Lastly, if you go in with the preconceived notion that "these sound bad rabble rabble" you're going to be biased towards their sound, regardless.

Enjoy your British headphones though, I do love B&W speakers.

 

[beanbaguk]

First off, the generation of the Bowers is irrelevant; that new Beats products are what we're talking about.

Did you not watch Tylls video? He's on of the most respected audiophiles in headphone world and he put the new Solo 2s on his wall of fame. If the Solo 2s weren't good enough to go on his wall of fame, they wouldn't have gone on his wall fame. Period.

There's even more highly favorable reviews, such as Hi Fi Heavens review. YouTube it.

Finally you're totally missing the point that these headphones were never intended to be clinically accurate monitoring tools, but instead provide a very high quality, warm and exciting listening experience.

If you read some of the posts in this very thread you'll find posts filled with real world anecdotal evidence of the new Beats being excellent, due to them owning the Solo 2s and the other high ends like Sennheisers and the overhyped ATH M50, and actually preferring the Solo 2s largely based on sound. So something in your post doesn't add up.

Lastly, if you go in with the preconceived notion that "these sound bad rabble rabble" you're going to be biased towards their sound, regardless.

Enjoy your British headphones though, I do love B&W speakers.

Like I said, everyone has a different ear but I just want to correct you on two things.

The generation is very relevant. The original P5's were not a patch on the Series 2. They are a completely different design and take the technology from the top-end P7's now making the sound a lot more detailed.

And regarding reviews, the general consensus I've seen is a very bland, overpriced set of cans that come in mid-way when you judge it by the pricing. For this kind of money, a buyer should be expecting much more. For example, What Hifi gave just three stars for the Beats whereas the B&W P3 (the lower end of the B&W pack), scored much higher (as did the P5).

Either way, I believe there is much better value to be had out in the market.

P.S. My P5's are wonderful. I also have a 683 HT system which is also out of this world. It was this that inspired me to check out the B&W cans....

 

[Haifisch]

Like I said, everyone has a different ear but I just want to correct you on two things.

The generation is very relevant. The original P5's were not a patch on the Series 2. They are a completely different design and take the technology from the top-end P7's now making the sound a lot more detailed.

And regarding reviews, the general consensus I've seen is a very bland, overpriced set of cans that come in mid-way when you judge it by the pricing. For this kind of money, a buyer should be expecting much more. For example, What Hifi gave just three stars for the Beats whereas the B&W P3 (the lower end of the B&W pack), scored much higher (as did the P5).

Either way, I believe there is much better value to be had out in the market.

P.S. My P5's are wonderful. I also have a 683 HT system which is also out of this world. It was this that inspired me to check out the B&W cans....

Thanks for your thoughts. I will check out B&W P5 S2 if I come across them.

 

[macduke]

I know the article you're referring to and that only applies to the old pre-Apple Solos as far as I know. The new 2s are pretty great in both build quality at choice of materials used. I've felt them in hand at my local Apple Store and it certainly felt like a quality product, especially in terms of the plastic used. Not even accounting for the really nice, polished metal bits.

These new 2s are pretty excellent and completely destroys everything bad about the previous Monster influenced generation of Beats. I remember memes on headfi.org making jokes about "why can't we just give beats good sound quality" etc. and it finally happened. Good stuff.

Maybe I'll have to check them out again. But I still don't like the idea of being a giant walking billboard for a company. The white earbuds were more subtle back in the day. My phone has a little Apple logo that is usually covered up by a case or in my pocket. I typically don't buy logo'd clothing unless it's sports.

If I mostly listened to pop(ular)/radio type or other bass friendly music I'd definitely consider them.

But my taste is wide ranging so I too prefer the more nuanced brands.

Yeah I listen to a really wide range as well—and have expanded quite a bit over the last few years with all of the music discovery stuff built into streaming services. I'm starting to develop an ear for comparing audio equipment with different types of music, but I've got much to learn as I'm a person who is usually tuned to critiquing visual imagery, calibrating displays, editing photos, etc.

 

[Tucom]

Like I said, everyone has a different ear but I just want to correct you on two things.

The generation is very relevant. The original P5's were not a patch on the Series 2. They are a completely different design and take the technology from the top-end P7's now making the sound a lot more detailed.

And regarding reviews, the general consensus I've seen is a very bland, overpriced set of cans that come in mid-way when you judge it by the pricing. For this kind of money, a buyer should be expecting much more. For example, What Hifi gave just three stars for the Beats whereas the B&W P3 (the lower end of the B&W pack), scored much higher (as did the P5).

Either way, I believe there is much better value to be had out in the market.

P.S. My P5's are wonderful. I also have a 683 HT system which is also out of this world. It was this that inspired me to check out the B&W cans....

All I'm saying is Tyll's InneFidelity review completely disagrees with that "consensus" - as you put it, but I think the main thing to take away is that they're actually a high quality option these days, though admittedly a tad pricey depending on the model, however what it really comes down to is if you're seeking a particular sound signature.

The Beats tick all he other checkboxes for what a high quality headphone should be. Heck, the customer service is worth some of the cost on its own. It's all part of a bigger picture.


I can appreciate your opinion, however. I heard the Diamond series at a Best Buy Magnolia recently and I was floored. The only set of speakers I've heard that sounded on par, if not a bit better were the Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 5's. They do cost more though, but when you figure in the cost of equally suitable amps, cables, the inclusion of a true sub bass system subwoofer etc. the price somewhat evens out. Truly stunning, though (the B&W's)

 

[Tucom]

Maybe I'll have to check them out again. But I still don't like the idea of being a giant walking billboard for a company. The white earbuds were more subtle back in the day. My phone has a little Apple logo that is usually covered up by a case or in my pocket. I typically don't buy logo'd clothing unless it's sports.

Here's the thing, I would never wear Beats out in public. I'd absolutely take with them me on an outing but would never near them around my neck while walking down the the side walk just to say "Hey, look what I have"

I'm with you on that one.

 

[macduke]

Here's the thing, I would never wear Beats out in public. I'd absolutely take with them me on an outing but would never near them around my neck while walking down the the side walk just to say "Hey, look what I have"

I'm with you on that one.

I prefer that with so many things! Especially when in public. It kinda bugs me that the Apple Watch has such a distinct look because people always bring it up to me. I remember back to when I was a kid and my dad bought his first new car in about 10 years. I remember him arguing with the dealer to remove the stupid ugly dealer decal they put on the back of it. He had to walk away before they would do it! A few years later I built my first computer, and the Pentium 4 box came with a bunch of stickers. I had saved up for a sleek looking ATX case—why would I put these stupid stickers on it? My dad did drafting when he was younger and I had one of his old electric erasers, so I used it to remove logo decals from stuff all the time. Although it didn't always work out very well, lol.