'beats by Dr. Dre' Earbuds - how do they sound?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by deville, Sep 26, 2011.

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  1. deville

    deville Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Riverside, CA
    I am a bit of an audio enthusiast, and a professional musician, but I can't afford audiophile quality gear.

    My bandleader is pushing for us to move to in-ear monitors. He is suggesting Alien Ears, bit they're just too darn expensive. $300-600 is way out of my pricerange.

    'beats' by Dr. Dre is the latest thing in consumer-level high quality headphones. They have a nice looking set of earbuds for under $200.
    I'm assuming, based on Dre's credentials, that these buds should provide great bass. Being the bass guitar player in the band, these strike me as a good fit that won't break the bank.
    A new set of earbuds would serve a dual purpose - as my normal casual listening iPod type phones, and my in-ear stage monitor drivers.
    Has anyone tried these earbuds out? How do they sound? Are they worth the hype?

    Sent from my Droid Incredible using Tapatalk
     
  2. lechiffre

    lechiffre Forum Resident

    Location:
    phoenix
    First put some cotton in your ears, then listen to whatever earbuds you have now.


    Seriously, they are biased towards the bass.
     
  3. acdc7369

    acdc7369 Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    they sound exactly like what you'd think a set of headphones designed by a rapper would sound like. Smiley face EQ'd. Stay away from them, unless you like that type of sound
     
  4. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    Maybe something like Phonak Audéo instead? They're a universal fit in-ear. $90 to $150. They fit so that the cable routes up and around the back of the ear which is going to help keep the earphone in the ear better than models that have the cable dangling down. Here's a review of the Phonak Audéo by Inner Fidelity.

    I'm personally not a fan of any IEM so I never give them an audition when I get a chance. I can't say much on any of the models based on my own experience. The Phonaks are one that I'd like to give a try if I was actually considering an IEM for myself.

    The custom fit IEMs like you get with Alien Ears are going to isolate better, stay in your ears better, and be easier to put in your ears. The negative is that you may need to get the impressions redone if you gain weight, lose weight, just get older, or any other number of reasons. Opening your mouth to sing will also change the shape of your ear canal and cause the custom molded IEMs to fit differently. So custom molds aren't always ideal, though they do isolate better.
     
  5. deville

    deville Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Riverside, CA
    Thanks for the comments, guys. And thank you, Ham Sandwich, for the recommendation. Those earbuds are now at the top of my consideration list.
    Ok, so the beats buds are off my list. I knew I'd get some good advice here. Looking forward to other input. Thanks again.
    Deville

    Sent from my Droid Incredible using Tapatalk
     
  6. Considering the "beats" headphones sound like half their price (bass is prominent but poorly defined, many people have them in France however, so much expensive crap in the streets!) , I would not expect anything different from the "beats" earbuds.
     
  7. Baron Von Talbot

    Baron Von Talbot Well-Known Member

    While I would not recommend those Dre earbuds, Monsterrcable offers a finer earbud I would definitely check out first.
    Not to mention those superb Miles Davis Trumpets; that cost a fortune.
    The phones I am talking about are called Turbine and cost around 150 bucks or so.
    So far I read nothing but good things about them.
    These or the excellent DRE Studio PRO's are really good, even though they get lots of hate from Non HipHop fans, Monster Cable bashers etc.
    http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B002TUTMY4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1
    Fact is they are by far the coolest, most comfy and best manufactured phones in that price range..
    http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B003FO1MTG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3JWKAKR8XB7XF
    Maybe B+W P5 can come close in the last 2 aspects; but they look like daddys phones...LOL
     
  8. Baron Von Talbot

    Baron Von Talbot Well-Known Member

    Attached Files:

  9. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Lets not forget that Jimmy Iovine owns half that company too, and is actively involved in the headphones development. And, don'f forget that Dr. Dre is a very successful record producer as well as a rapper.

    Every time someone mentions these headphones, someone uses it to bash rappers in some way.
     
  10. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Also, are you sure you didn't listen to them with the bass boos on? They are supposed to have a bass boost switch.
     
  11. deville

    deville Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Riverside, CA
    I have a rooted Android phone with a custom operating system installed, and included was the "beats" sound enhancer widget for my phone's music player app. HTC has a deal with Dre to include it on their next generation of Droids. When you plug in a set of headphones, the beats logo shows up at the top of the screen. You can disable beats and just have stock sound (which always sounded fine to me), but the subtle enhancements - and they are pretty subtle, by the way - are a pleasing upgrade in sound quality. This experience was the catalyst for considering the beats earbuds.

    Those Miles Davis buds look extremely cool, but I'm one of those Monster Cable haters. They'll never get another penny from me.

    I'm liking all of the recommendations coming out of this thread. Thank you all for your input.

    Sent from my Incredible using Tapatalk
     
  12. acdc7369

    acdc7369 Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Who's bashing rappers? It's no secret that people who listen to rap music tend to prefer the midrange scoop
     
  13. MikeP5877

    MikeP5877 V/VIII/MCMLXXVII

    Location:
    OH
  14. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    There's also Etymotic. They've got some options in the $80 to $150 range. An interesting option with the Eymotics is that for about $100 additional you can get a custom ear mold for them with the ear mold done by an audiologist. HeadRoom has graphs and info about the Etymotics.

    The graphs at HeadRoom show the Etymotics to have a flat bass response. The graphs of the Phonak over at the Inner Fidelity review show the Phonak to also have a flat bass response. HeadRoom also has a graph for the Dr. Dre earbuds. 20dB of bass boost. :eek:
     
  15. deville

    deville Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Riverside, CA
    20dB!?!? :eek:
     
  16. oldschool

    oldschool I love tape hiss

    Location:
    Sofia, Bulgaria
    The Westone 2 is $205 on Amazon and is an amazing IEM

    For some excellent sub-$100 value for money, go for the Shure SE215
     
  17. lechiffre

    lechiffre Forum Resident

    Location:
    phoenix
    I didn't know about a bass boost switch. I would hope it was ON. Then they would only be overpriced instead of overpriced and unlistenable.
     
  18. georgecostanza

    georgecostanza Active Member

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    How about the House of Marley products , anyone have experience of them ?
     
  19. oldschool

    oldschool I love tape hiss

    Location:
    Sofia, Bulgaria
    Never heard of those. Nowadays' IEM market is totally flooded and new brands keep popping out all the time.

    Personally, I would stick with something popular like Etymotic, Shure, Westone, Sennheiser, Sony.

    A good source of info and reviews is the Head-Fi forums
     
  20. rgcoleman9

    rgcoleman9 Member

    Location:
    Nashville, TN
    I'm not a fan of headphones in general, but I quite like my Monster Turbine Pro Copper Edition in-ear speakers for listening to my iPod. They come with a whole bunch of different tips so you can choose one that fits your ear and sounds the way you like. Monster's unconditional warranty is also for real--when the left channel suddenly stopped working, they replaced them with no questions asked.
     
  21. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Can you cite evidence of this?
     
  22. alan909

    alan909 Member

    Location:
    Eastchester, NY
    I can cite many a mastering done by MOFI that attribute the same EQ preferences. And not one of them is a rap title.
     
  23. mrdon

    mrdon Senior Member

    SE215's are the bet bang for your buck. Cannot recommend them enough. :righton:
     
  24. riknbkr330

    riknbkr330 Senior Member

    I've had Etymotic ER6i's for about two years. Great IEMs....but they've been discontinued. Unfortunately they got damaged last week, so I ended up getting a pair of MC5s...not a bad phone.
     
  25. deville

    deville Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Riverside, CA
    Thank you all for your input on this IEM topic. I have learned a lot!
    One important thing I learned is that there are way more choices out there than just Shure and Alien Ears.
    I also learned that Monster Cable, a company I refuse to support, actually makes Dre's 'beats' IEMs! So they're off the table for me, even without reading all the negative stuff that's been posted about them in terms of sound quality.

    After doing a lot of reading, and looking at a few headphone forums, I've decided to go with Ham Sandwich's recommendation. I just ordered a pair of Phonak Audeo Perfect Fit earbuds.

    I'm very excited about these phones, and I'll report my impressions of them after a gig or 2, if anyone wants to know.

    Thanks again to everyone for your input.
    Scott
     
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