Oct
9
2008

Beats by Dre is a rip-off

So I finally got a chance to test-drive Beats by Dre at Best Buy earlier today and I have to say, the whole thing is ass backwards. You should’ve seen the face of a Best Buy associate when he saw me scribbling in my notepad.

To be fair, the sound quality is OK with decent bass production and warm mids. That said, it’s not the best headset in the world. I had trouble fitting the beats on my head to begin with. One of the headphones was broken, with wires hanging out. Once I finally placed a working pair on my head, I found it annoying that the right-ear cup rattled a bit. Stylish they are, comfortable they’re not. I also don’t like that Beats require 3 AAA batteries at all times.

If you have a recession-proof wallet and don’t mind dropping $350 on fancy headphones, this may be for you. But if you’re looking for quality sound and noise abatement in one piece, your $350 could be better spent elsewhere. And you might even have some change left to spare on an iPod.


19 Responses

1. Ignite Mindz Says:

yeah, they shouldve known better than to charge 350. give it 6 months, i bet they drop the price or fall off the shelf. 3 AAA’s? most noise cancellers only need one. i dont think they look that great either. comfort is so important to headphones cause the edges of my ears hurt like hell after a while. i guess the dr. dre name is expensive as hell, warm mids is very important tho

2. TC Says:

Yeah, I’m cool with my Bose(s)

3.
Rizoh
Rizoh Says:

Bose blows the competition out the water. Mine are comfortable and sound quality is very impressive. The best part — no need for 3 AAA batteries.

4. krels Says:

what headphones are the best investment?

5. ian Says:

Had trouble fitting them on your head?? This is headphones we’re talking about, right? Don’t they all kind fow rok the same way? LOL…

Dre should stick to finsihing Detox!

6. aycaramba Says:

BOSE = BuyOtherSoundEquipment

You could have gotten so much better cans for the price you paid for those

7.
Rizoh
Rizoh Says:

^^Got my Bose on and they sound like speakers.

8. aycaramba Says:

You can read more about what i said in my previous comment here: http://www.firstadopter.com/fa/archives/001749.html#more

But anyway, if you like `em, then thats fine with me :)

9.
Rizoh
Rizoh Says:

@Krels
Depends on your priorities.

Quality earbuds - Try Shure, esp. Shure SE530.

Noise cancellation - I had the SE210s when I first got my iPod Touch and they’re excellent as far as noise cancellation goes. I found the earbuds a bit irritating though but that’s just cause I have big ears.

Bluetooth/Headphones - Try the Jabra BT8030.

Sound quality, comfort, durability, etc - Try BOSE, especially the on-ear or in-ear headphones.

10. khal Says:

$350 + AAA batteries? Christ!

11. Purpose Says:

Gotta agree with the Shure recommendation.

I have the SE310. great headphones, crystal clear with separate bass drivers in the earbud.

Ultimate ears are good as well.

12. graf Says:

Funny story, me and my boy went to Best Buy last weekend and saw the little kiosk with Dre’s headphones…yeah, one headphone was broke, hanging by the crappy wires that made it up and the other was intact. There were nasty, greesy fingerprints left behind and there was no way in hell I was placing them on my ears…I’ll stick with my Bose..

13.
Rizoh
Rizoh Says:

^^Now that’s very strange. One headset was also broken apart at the Best Buy I visited.

14. Chaz Says:

While the Beats weren’t the most comfortable headphones I’ve ever tried, I must say they aren’t all that bad (in terms of comfort). In terms of sound, I’m rather spoiled, so I’d say for $350, you can get some superb Sennheiser cans.

I haven’t tried them, but for $100, the Sennheiser HD-280s are better than both the Beats and Bose headphones.

15.
cocoreno
cocoreno Says:

I’ve owned these for about 4 months. Previously, I owned a pair of $75 Sony headphones that I used for 4+ years.

My thoughts;

1) They are comfortable. Slightly more so than either Bose (over-ear or on-ear) headphones and my prior Sony’s.

2) I do not like the trend in headphones that “require” batteries to operate. These are no exception. While there is a small LED on the right headphone, I hate the fact I *have* to have batteries to use these. At the least, they should work (in limited form) with dead batteries. Call me lazy, but I often forget to turn them off (there is a switch under the LED on the right headphone) and often wear down the batteries quicker than I should.

3) The noise-cancellation is quite good. I’ve had at least one experience with noise-cancel ling headphones forcing me to rip them off my head because of whatever ambient/computer-fan/background television noise not being processed correctly, causing a deafening’ “whoop-whoop-whoop”. One of these was a Sony headset (that said, not trying to bash Sony..)

4) They are definitely overpriced. The packaging alone must have cost $20-30. I’m sure it would impress in a Hollywood gift-bag, but it annoyed me and was trashed everything but headphones and case as soon as I opened them. Sheeeeiiit, cut the cost and sell them in a Ziploc. More cred, less overhead.

5) Cables are fully detachable and the headphones break down nicely and store in the case. The design shows through a bit here, at least.

6) The “battery mechanism” is crap. A plastic cover that you have to turn 20-30 degrees by pressing it in and rotating. I could see myself breaking this at some point, probably from breaking one of the two tabs that secure it to to the headphone. Shame on whoever designed this, as they should have at least used metal, or made a mechanism with a bit more technology than your average $10 toy.

Overall, these are the best headphones I’ve owned. However, they are “high-maintenance” in that they require battery upkeep and would probably not far very well in a studio environment where they were heavily used by multiple people. Monster (the company who made these) is notorious for high-pricing. While I am pleased to see the headphone market try to evolve, I’d recommend looking hard at some other brands before buying these.

16. Was U Sayin Something Says:

AKG >

17. Was U Sayin Something Says:

Grado has some amazing sounding headphones too..

I have a friend who loves his Bose but I couldn’t hear what he was hearing. No way did the Bose sound better than the sound/comfort/quality u get with Grado or AKGs.

18.
Rizoh
Rizoh Says:

Never heard of Grado

19. JSmoovez Says:

I have the beats, I love em. A Relative of mine works at bose and I have had the QC2s and QC3s and I would say after these headphones breakin they are the best headphones I have ever had. If you listen to music that has something to it the mids and highs are more represented in the dre beats with a nice deep bass that does not rattle….



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