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Not a fan of Beats. Tried a pair of their headphones in a shop and they sounded terrible. Build quality was flimsy as well. I think the only new thing they

Not a fan of Beats. Tried a pair of their headphones in a shop and they sounded terrible. Build quality was flimsy as well. I think the only new thing they bring into the market is style, and that's not enough for longevity imo. This new service, $10 a month. Not quite sure what it offers over Spotify. Anyway, past experience with their product means I'm just not going to be interested in this.

aaronmoodie 13y ago
I've been giving it a run through this morning. Haven't gotten too far in, but I'd already say Spotify and Rdio have some serious competition on their hands. The curation is where this service really excels, also the UI is pretty tight. I've heard bad things about the headphones, so never tried them.
edgarallenbro 13y ago
Beats are EQ'd to increase the volume of the high and low end frequencies. These frequencies sound good to human ears. So, when someone compares Beats to non-Beats, they hear that those frequencies are louder and the very fact that there is a noticeable difference is enough to create the illusion in some gullible people that Beats 'sound better' Of course, in the long run, they don't.
- k-mcgrady 13y ago
  >> "Beats are EQ'd to increase the volume of the high and low end frequencies." It depends which model you buy. Their 'Pro' model is marketed towards sound engineers so I doubt they mess with the EQ on those. They also claim they are "The Headphones Used To Mix In Every Major Studio." which I seriously doubt. AFAIK it's always recommended to mix with monitors, not headphones.
  - JonnieCache 13y ago
    They are not marketed to engineers. They are marketed to people who think they need headphones as good as those used by engineers. In reality of course, engineers typically use headphones that sound as boring and "lifeless" as possible, for obvious reasons. Ironically, they often also buy (relatively) cheap ones, as they get used to destruction.
- timje1 13y ago
  I bought a nice, high quality pair of headphones and was disappointed to find that sound was quite 'crisp'. Fortunately there's an equaliser in the Spotify app... I cranked up the lower and highest end frequencies, and now Meshuggah sounds nice and crunchy again. I'm not defending Beats at all, but I'll defend that low frequency / high frequency setup all day. Not everyone listens to classical.
  - JonnieCache 13y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contours https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contours The problem is, a lot of modern music has this same curve (the "smile") heavily applied to it already, so it can disintegrate into a mess quite quickly.
- baldfat 13y ago
  as a former sound engineer and tiny record label owner. They mix pop music and high bass music for scooped out eq, headphones and systems.
w1ntermute 13y ago
You and I might have quickly picked up on the fact that Beats headphones are trash, but the vast majority of consumers have no idea. I see Beats everywhere these days. A lot of seemingly intelligent people I know are using Beats. And you can't even tell them that Beats sucks, as I learned the hard way. It's not socially acceptable to inform someone that they wasted several hundred dollars, especially when they identify with the brand so closely.
- ironchef 13y ago
  If the majority of consumers are using headphones that are a 1 to 3 on a 10 point scale and beats are, for example, a 4 or 5, then they're better for most consumers. Are they as good as some ATH-M150s? No...but the market is saturated and it's difficult for the consumer to understand what's good and what's not. Enter the marketing/brand dollar and consumers will pick what they hear about plus what sounds better than what they're used to.
  - w1ntermute 13y ago
    > If the majority of consumers are using headphones that are a 1 to 3 on a 10 point scale and beats are, for example, a 4 or 5, then they're better for most consumers. You're not factoring in price. Beats are very expensive for mediocre quality sound. Those headphones that are a 1 to 3 (where Beats is 4 or 5) are only 1/10th the price of Beats. And for 1/3rd the price of Beats, you can get headphones that are a 7 or 8.
    - vinceguidry 13y ago
      For Beats' target market, they don't factor in price either. When I personally go to buy stuff, price is third or fourth down on my list of concerns. I've bought two pairs of over-the-ear headphones in the past few months, and sent them both back. I was shopping on price/value, but the headphones I was getting were way too loud for an office environment. For whatever reason, whenever I'm looking for decent headphones, nobody indicates whether I'll be broadcasting what I'm listening to to my workmates or not. Not the manufacturer, not the reviewers. Giant pain in the ass. It might not be long before I'd be willing to shell out the cash for Beats just to not have to fuck with it anymore.
Zaheer 13y ago
If you've never tried good headphones you can never tell what bad headphones are. Most people have never tried good headphones.
egeozcan 13y ago
I own a pair (got them as a present) and didn't sell them just to make people listen to them and compare them to my other headphones (I'm not joking). I hate them (because of the false marketing first, and the low quality product second) and also most people realize at the 10th second of the music that they're not good at all. But for some, in a strange way, they sound excellent. I just don't get it. Maybe humans developed two different hearing mechanisms and we're still not aware of our differences =)
- warfangle 13y ago
  Many people think more bass == better sound. Go figure.
  - sehr 13y ago
    Many people listen almost exclusively to bass heavy music, which does turn out sounding 'better' compared to more balanced headphones.
epaladin 13y ago
I can hardly believe that people buy them at all, let alone pay so much. I have to give them credit for the marketing, but still- my $50 refurb Sony MDR-V6 sound much better. Maybe if we paint decent headphones blue/red/green/pink we can resell them for $300? Anyone know if the beats products are better or worse since their deal with Monster Cable ended?
- JonnieCache 13y ago
  How do you know that you're not fooling yourself with the low price you paid, via the same mechanism beats fans are fooled by the high price?
jfoutz 13y ago
They have(had?) a microphone like the apple earbuds. A couple years ago, being able to take a call was pretty important. I couldn't find any similar headphones with the integrated mic, so those are what i got.
- ska 13y ago
  Weren't Senn momentums available at that time?

aaronmoodie 13y ago

I've been giving it a run through this morning. Haven't gotten too far in, but I'd already say Spotify and Rdio have some serious competition on their hands. The curation is where this service really excels, also the UI is pretty tight. I've heard bad things about the headphones, so never tried them.

edgarallenbro 13y ago

Beats are EQ'd to increase the volume of the high and low end frequencies. These frequencies sound good to human ears. So, when someone compares Beats to non-Beats, they hear that those frequencies are louder and the very fact that there is a noticeable difference is enough to create the illusion in some gullible people that Beats 'sound better' Of course, in the long run, they don't.

k-mcgrady 13y ago
>> "Beats are EQ'd to increase the volume of the high and low end frequencies." It depends which model you buy. Their 'Pro' model is marketed towards sound engineers so I doubt they mess with the EQ on those. They also claim they are "The Headphones Used To Mix In Every Major Studio." which I seriously doubt. AFAIK it's always recommended to mix with monitors, not headphones.
- JonnieCache 13y ago
  They are not marketed to engineers. They are marketed to people who think they need headphones as good as those used by engineers. In reality of course, engineers typically use headphones that sound as boring and "lifeless" as possible, for obvious reasons. Ironically, they often also buy (relatively) cheap ones, as they get used to destruction.
timje1 13y ago
I bought a nice, high quality pair of headphones and was disappointed to find that sound was quite 'crisp'. Fortunately there's an equaliser in the Spotify app... I cranked up the lower and highest end frequencies, and now Meshuggah sounds nice and crunchy again. I'm not defending Beats at all, but I'll defend that low frequency / high frequency setup all day. Not everyone listens to classical.
- JonnieCache 13y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contours https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contours The problem is, a lot of modern music has this same curve (the "smile") heavily applied to it already, so it can disintegrate into a mess quite quickly.
baldfat 13y ago
as a former sound engineer and tiny record label owner. They mix pop music and high bass music for scooped out eq, headphones and systems.

w1ntermute 13y ago

You and I might have quickly picked up on the fact that Beats headphones are trash, but the vast majority of consumers have no idea. I see Beats everywhere these days. A lot of seemingly intelligent people I know are using Beats. And you can't even tell them that Beats sucks, as I learned the hard way. It's not socially acceptable to inform someone that they wasted several hundred dollars, especially when they identify with the brand so closely.

ironchef 13y ago
If the majority of consumers are using headphones that are a 1 to 3 on a 10 point scale and beats are, for example, a 4 or 5, then they're better for most consumers. Are they as good as some ATH-M150s? No...but the market is saturated and it's difficult for the consumer to understand what's good and what's not. Enter the marketing/brand dollar and consumers will pick what they hear about plus what sounds better than what they're used to.
- w1ntermute 13y ago
  > If the majority of consumers are using headphones that are a 1 to 3 on a 10 point scale and beats are, for example, a 4 or 5, then they're better for most consumers. You're not factoring in price. Beats are very expensive for mediocre quality sound. Those headphones that are a 1 to 3 (where Beats is 4 or 5) are only 1/10th the price of Beats. And for 1/3rd the price of Beats, you can get headphones that are a 7 or 8.
  - vinceguidry 13y ago
    For Beats' target market, they don't factor in price either. When I personally go to buy stuff, price is third or fourth down on my list of concerns. I've bought two pairs of over-the-ear headphones in the past few months, and sent them both back. I was shopping on price/value, but the headphones I was getting were way too loud for an office environment. For whatever reason, whenever I'm looking for decent headphones, nobody indicates whether I'll be broadcasting what I'm listening to to my workmates or not. Not the manufacturer, not the reviewers. Giant pain in the ass. It might not be long before I'd be willing to shell out the cash for Beats just to not have to fuck with it anymore.

Zaheer 13y ago

If you've never tried good headphones you can never tell what bad headphones are. Most people have never tried good headphones.

egeozcan 13y ago

I own a pair (got them as a present) and didn't sell them just to make people listen to them and compare them to my other headphones (I'm not joking). I hate them (because of the false marketing first, and the low quality product second) and also most people realize at the 10th second of the music that they're not good at all. But for some, in a strange way, they sound excellent. I just don't get it. Maybe humans developed two different hearing mechanisms and we're still not aware of our differences =)

warfangle 13y ago
Many people think more bass == better sound. Go figure.
- sehr 13y ago
  Many people listen almost exclusively to bass heavy music, which does turn out sounding 'better' compared to more balanced headphones.

epaladin 13y ago

I can hardly believe that people buy them at all, let alone pay so much. I have to give them credit for the marketing, but still- my $50 refurb Sony MDR-V6 sound much better. Maybe if we paint decent headphones blue/red/green/pink we can resell them for $300? Anyone know if the beats products are better or worse since their deal with Monster Cable ended?

JonnieCache 13y ago
How do you know that you're not fooling yourself with the low price you paid, via the same mechanism beats fans are fooled by the high price?

jfoutz 13y ago

They have(had?) a microphone like the apple earbuds. A couple years ago, being able to take a call was pretty important. I couldn't find any similar headphones with the integrated mic, so those are what i got.

ska 13y ago
Weren't Senn momentums available at that time?