I’m sure there are tons of die-hard Dr. Dre fans out there who love their Beats headphones. So let’s rip this off like a band-aid before I start throwing some hard facts.
Beats by Dr. Dre are terrible. They suck. They are pure garbage. Considering them “quality” headphones is an absolute joke. In fact, they are overpriced vomit for fanboys who don’t know how to spend their money wisely. And above all else, if I see you wearing a pair of these atrocious, ear-raping headphones, I will and I do silently judge you. There. Go ahead and give yourself five minutes to let that simmer in your head before continuing.
I’ve never been a big fan of products that are trendy because a celebrity was seen using them. Dre and his marketing team sure know how to make a piece of crap seem desirable, I’ll give them that. But you can’t polish a turd.
The thing that upsets me the most is that the average listener doesn’t even seem to mind, or aren’t even aware to why these headphones are terrible. Even worse, I’ve seen fellow audio engineers wear these, and not in a ironic way. They genuinely believe these are good headphones. That breaks my heart.
Why They Suck
Let’s talk about the problems with these headphones before getting into the tech stuff.
For starters, they are highly overpriced. These are not $300 worth of headphones. It probably costs around $150 to make a pair (probably less if we’re being honest.) Of course they are allowed to jack up the price to whatever they want it to because they know people will start saying “Did you see [insert celebrity name] wearing Beats in that music video?! I need them! $300 must mean they are good headphones!”
Well, guess what, buddy:
If you want to spend $300 on headphones, do a little research first. If you want to spend around $150 on headphones, go out and buy a pair that is actually worth $150. I guarantee anything else will sound better than Beats.
Another reason why Beats are terrible is that they focus more on advertising and presentation than quality (I’ll talk about the quality later.). As mentioned, I will shamefully admit that they know how to advertise.
- Step 1. Get a couple of well known artists.
- Step 2. Get the artists to show off the headphones.
- Step 3. Profit.
If only they could do this with a good pair of headphones.
As for presentation, they have fallen under the bandwagon of making unboxing a new product a fun experience. Look, I get it. A flashy product needs a big bright bow on top for Cindy Lou Who to open on Christmas day. By putting these headphones in a fun box for everyone to open up, the experience suddenly feels personal. “Wow, these are my headphones.” When you get everyone excited in opening boxes (think about how dumb this concept is for a minute), they will begin creating these unboxing videos for the world to see. Then, it gets viewers to see how fun it was to tear open that box and realize they want to do it themselves. And so the cycle continues.
Here is the final nail in the coffin before we move onto tech talk; they are fragile. My goodness, how can something that pricey fall apart so easily? Plastic?! Are you serious? If you’re going to wear $300 around your ears, they better be able to take a hit every once in awhile. Obviously you shouldn’t play frisbee with them, but if you drop them on the ground and it shatters (looking at you, iPhones) then maybe you should reconsider. I’ll never forget the day I walked into Best Buy and passed the Beats section, only to find the left side had broken off and was literally hanging on by a few wires. Now that’s good marketing. Show the world exactly how good these headphones are.
The Tech
If I haven’t lost you yet, I might lose you here. But I will do my best to explain why these headphones are a mistake in audio terms.
View the graph below to see the Beats frequency response.
In short, this is what you hear when wearing Beats. The X axis is showing the frequencies, from 20Hz to 20kHz (which is what the human range is.) The idea is that the line in this graph for all headphones and speakers should be as flat as possible. Do you see the problem here?
For one, this is not flat. The mid range (1kHz – 5kHz) is concerningly low, and everything above 5kHz is a hot mess. Why do those frequencies matter? Well, the human voice is within that range. Why mess around with the frequencies that involve one of the most important instruments in music?
Finally, have you noticed that everything from 50Hz – 700Hz is consistent and the loudest part? Take a wild guess what instruments sit around there. Yup. ALL ABOUT THAT BASS, ‘BOUT THAT BASS. NO TREBLE.
While I hate myself for quoting a Meghan Trainor song, it’s entirely accurate. These headphones are nothing more than a jizz stain to all musicians and listeners because all they are doing is boosting the bass. And let me tell you something, music is not all about bass. The bass is almost always the root note of all chords. It keeps a song moving without becoming too dominant.
There is a reason why that graph should be flat, and that’s because everything needs balance. These headphones would be like applying a black and white filter to every movie you watch, or putting ketchup on every meal you’ll ever eat. You can like black and white filters on your selfies and put ketchup on your fries all you want, but wearing Beats means you are not listening to music the way it was meant to be heard. You are not listening to the song the way the engineers and musicians want you to hear it.
Finding the Best Headphones
At the end of the day, you can just ignore everything I’ve said and buy whatever headphones you’d like. It’s all subjective. Just like with iPhones or Androids, chocolate or vanilla, Marvel or DC, it all comes down to what you like. But buyer beware, don’t believe every positive thing they say about Beats. I’ve seen articles say that every major studio uses them. Lies.
I’ve heard people say that Dr. Dre uses these himself. I would bet money that Dr. Dre doesn’t even use his own headphones because he’s fully aware how inaccurate and wrong they are. But who would lie on the internet? Right?
So when it comes to finding the right pair of headphones, figure out what your budget is and do some research. Use a few reference songs that you know really well and take a listen using the headphones you are interested in. If the song sounds accurate, they might be the one. If something sounds wrong or unbalanced, keep looking.
Some brands to look into include Sennheiser, AKG, Beyerdynamic, Audio-Technica, Grado, Sony, and Bose. But these are just my opinions. I know there are many people who would disagree with this list, and might even disagree about my comments towards Beats. If so, enjoy the trash headphones!
107 Responses
Why don’t you show the frequency response for other model headphones that you claim are sooooooo much better?!? Without any hard evidence why should anyone believe you??? I bet you haven’t even heard Beats before? They sound amazing!!!
Beats fan = guy who doesn’t know the sound of a piano from a guitar, only knows boom boom no lyrics.
That’s the kind o guy u r ( no offense ). Try listening to the actual song with some actual headphones, even 20$ chinese headphones have a flatter frequency curve than beats (hope u know phy6). nd the article has evidence. ur just a beats guy who doesn’t know what a beat is. beats r worse than horseshit.I cld literally sell u my dirty underwear for 500$ with a beats logo saying Dr.Dre wore it nd ud actually buy it.
I went to school for music and I actually prefer beats, the quality is great, while yes, the bass I will admit is a little much, but regardless of that they are great headphones. (Plus you can buy them brand new off eBay for like 150$) But go off there buddy 🤦🏻♀️🤣
You can get a Sennheiser HD650 or HD6XX for around 200 on sale or 150 used. Head and shoulders better headphones than beats in every way.
Philips SPH9500 – 60-70 dollars and will blow beats away.
Beats, like many Bose products, are all image and marketing.
In every single quality studio you are going to find Sennheiser, AKG, JBL, etc. Beats are garbage and you need to listen to a proper soundscape headphone to train your ears back to the right way, the way the artist intended you to hear it.
Wow, for a guy with that name, I can’t believe you would recommend people burn money buying the HD650 or 6xx, I would much rather get a pair of Sundara or something nicer. I recommended the Sundara to a doctor and he stopped using his HD650 and the Sundara are entry level. In defense of Beats, rap and hip hop aren’t meant to be clear, they are supposed to sound like the guy has a bunch of marbles in his mouth when he’s talking.
Your right,I bought a pair of Beats and they started falling apart a couple months later,total crap !!! Went on their website and complained and their response was “sorry about your taste in fine audio equipment ” LOL” FN IDIOT’S !! Will never buy anything from them again PERIOD !!
Flat frequency curve is not what to aim for in good headphones. That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, I’m a professional audio engineer. Flat frequency response is only meant for mixing music, good headphones can have any frequency curve. Beats are not the best by far, but this article is so negative and extremely misguided.
As a sound producer I can get a better mixdown with these headphones without over coloring my track to compensate for the fact I’m not mixing down in a production studio. You don’t know what your talking about at all lololol
Hey man, as a fellow artist who works mixing, mastering, and producing music, I’m sorry to state that what you say is totally misleading and a poor choice. If you actually use Beats in a studio, please get off your moms couch and stop spreading lies to up and coming artists and producers online. Go out and buy a pair of actual studio and production headphone monitors from Sony, Sennheiser, or Audio Technica, open or closed back is up to you but I doubt you know what that is, and then let me know how “great” Beats are for mixing. Even for straight listening value, Sony, Bose and Sennheiser top the list again. Look up any review article you like.
A person who has never eaten in a higher quality restaurant with fresh produce will claim that the worn down and smelly PUB in the bad part of town is to die for, even though they serve everything frozen and slightly out of date.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…. Oh boy…. The only way someone could justify liking beats, is if they feel like an idiot for paying Soo much for garbage fanboy head trash, and want to save face. Do any research on quality headphones that have good sound, and you will find the same as what they stated above.
Science has proven that it’s impossible to explain to a dumb person that they are dumb, by definition, they are incapable of understanding that they are dumb. Beats fanboys simply don’t know good music and will probably never like anything you own. I listened to some rap and hip hop on my planar magnetics and it was a joke at how bad the music was. You can hear every mistake made in pre and post production and thanks to the amazing separation, you can hear how terrible most rappers are. I learned Ebonics before I learned English and have been around music for decades. Once you listen to Jay-Z and Kanye on high end equipment, you understand why most hip hop fans prefer Beats. Dre isn’t lying when he claims that Beats are used in almost every studio, but it’s not for the reason people think. The audio engineer isn’t mixing for audiophiles, he’s mixing the song for MP3, Pandora and there’s no need for complexity. Beats are used to test the finished product as they are the worst headphones available, yet very popular. If the song sounds good on Beats, it should sound decent on anything else.
I mean if you knew how sound frequency works, you could tell that the headphones barely have any mid-range
I agree with you, my friend in artillery loves Beats because they remind him of artillery. Don’t waste your money on audiophile grade headphones, they will just make your rap and hip hop sound terrible because they will highlight all the mistakes made. Stay ignorant and happy with your Beats, it’s your money, burn it anyway you want.
They are shit.
LOL, Beats are pure garbage for fools who do not know how to listen to music. 😀😆
Ummmm no. They suck, hands down. The highs and mids are shyt.
If all you’re doing is bashing one company without providing evidence of the benefits of another, your argument is one-sided and lessens your credibility. The opening paragraphs have such a demeaning tone, as a potential customer, I’d avoid this company at all costs. You’ve just told me that I don’t know how to spend my money wisely and will be insulting other potential customers. To me, it sounds like you’re beating someone into submission of agreeing with you. Also, I think there are better descriptions that can be given other than “ear-raping.”
I’d suggest :
1) Get a pair of headphones ( real ones, not 15$ beats)
2) Read the article or check frequency curves of other ACTUAL HEADPHONES online ( ull have to learn a bit o phy6, I assume u have done basic phy6 ).
3) Compare a budget head4ne to a premium beats one ( play a piano song cz a piano has both bass and treble nd has a wide range of frequencies that piece o shit can’t play. A Chinese headphone like Bluedio or a budget friendly headphone like The plantronics BB Go 600 will perform a 1000000 times bettr.)
That’s pure truth. Fukk fanboys who only Listen hiphop on their overpriced piece of turd. I got really sensitive hearing and after trying beats pro by 1 month I sended them back and took my money . Sound quality is incomparable to sennheisers. Sound has a great bass but is not pure. They sound dirty. And fanboys who doesnt even wash their ears just wont hear difference. And this fantastic bass is pushing ear honey even further into their ear holes. For me beats are overpriced commercial piece of cheap product that’s it.
“Only listen to hip hop” hip hop is by definition music made from Hispanic or black descent, making it a mixture of every genre possible. Amazing genre, because it’s not a genre, it’s a grouping. Very very musical, you just haven’t heard the right things and funny enough Dre is a great audio engineer. The headphones do not at all reflect that though.
If you have such sensitive hearing, why buy Beats in the first place? Sennheisers also are one of the most overrated brands thanks to 16 year old fanboys. I read all the reviews and decided to buy a few different models to test out and I was pleasantly surprised they were actually pretty good, but I was not happy with the prices so I bought other brands that were similar in price. That was when I realized that Sennheisers had amazing reviews because they were usually the first decent brand kids get after upgrading from an Airbud from Apple. I used to carry around a bag of $3 buds from China to give out to iTards as proof their $30 buds sounded like shit. I then tried the Grado and realized those fanboys may be almost as dumb as an iTard because they will pay $300 for a pair of headphones just to tear them apart and dip them in virgin blood and bury them under a full moon to get the best sounds out of them. I then immediately made the move to planar magnetic and have never looked behind since. For the money, you simply can’t beat any of the affordable planars currently available. I have everything from a $50-600 DAC and Grado and Sennheiser fanboys still bother me more than Beats fanboys because these jerks think that if they spend $600 on the right DAC, their crap headphones will sound better than my planar magnetics. I even went out and bought my friend the suggested tube DAC for his HD 650. His girlfriend, a trained musician listened for all of 30 seconds before declaring that the planars were much more precise and clear and had better soundstage. I even used a $75 DAC with the planar to give the HD650 the advantage. I buy what sounds good, I’m not a brand whore.
Tell me you wasted money on trash headphones without telling me you wasted money on trash headphones
People would attempt to use facts and measurements to win their arguments, but it’s lost on anyone who owns Beats. You’ve probably lost so much of your hearing, you can no longer appreciate clarity and precision. You are correct that “ear-raping” is harsh, but given enough time, I’m sure they could find less offensive terms to describe fucktards who buy Beats. Anyone stupid enough to waste their money doesn’t deserve to have the truth explained to them because they have already proven they are too stupid to understand it. This leaves us with no other recourse than to insult them for our pleasure. Beats fanboys are a necessity as they are the only way the rest of us can measure that we spent our money well.
Looks like a apple fanboy is a little mad over here
Come on…we all know that Apple earbuds are the best.
Awesome sound, impressed with the sound bass & crisp treble.
https://goo.gl/efTRRr
Piece of sht not sound. Wash your ears.
I have a pair of SkullCandys, an Audiophile grade Audio Technica, a studio grade Audio Technica, a high end Turtle Beach, a high end Logitech Gaming Headset, as well as an assortment of good ear buds. I always knew Beats to be overpriced, but to avoid ignorance gave a pair a try. These were a high end pair of Over Ear Beats with Noise Cancellation. I thought they looked cool, noise cancelling was amazing, and were surprisingly comfy. Then I played a song. Now my Audiophile grade Audio Technicas costed me $300, and these beats cost $350. I was in disbelief. The sound was so absolutely muddy from the beats compared to my Audio Technicas that I had to make sure I didn’t have some crazy EQ settings turned on. I would argue from a clarity, not bass, standpoint, that the sound is worse than my $30 Apple Earbuds! A few years later I actually opened up a pair of these for a friend who had one side with no sound (I have since fixed many with this issue) and there was a wire a sliver larger than a needle use to carry sound. It had become disconnected from its solder point, and being as small as it was, I can see why! If you are a superficial hype beast that only listens to mainstream pop and rap, then yes, this is the headset for you. Otherwise, almost anything is better for the money.
You make me laugh by throwing those names out there like you are an audiophile. I bought a few pair of overpriced Sennheiser and Audio Technica before I made the jump to planar magnetics. I even have some electret IEM and you aren’t much better than the Beats fanboy by overpaying for your crap. Basically anything you own can be beat by most mid level Chi-Fi on Aliexpress. I even have the AT NC headphones and they are absolute junk compared to the Sony anything. I have also owned a few pairs of Skull Candy before I discovered Hi-Fi, now I look at disdain for Bass Heads because they are no better than Beats Fanboys and have lost so much of their hearing, they think a jackhammer is good music.
Joe Discola is spot on. I would compare them to headphones costing no more than 50 bucks. I first purchased Beats Studio Wireless 3, but I thought to myself there was something missing. Then I auditioned the Sony xtra bass wireless. I was immediately sold! There is absolutely no comparison between those two. The Beats bass sounds bloated, with the highs and midrange almost missing. The Sonys have a deeper, truer bass, that if I close my eyes I swear that I am hearing the performance live. Before anyone settles on the Beats, please do yourselves a favor and listen to others!
I got Beats for Christmas last year and they literally stopped charging a month after I got them. They’re crap just get some cheap pair. It’ll be WAY better than spending $300 every time you need to replace them
Agreed … I have bought many beats headphones, and all have ended up to be pieces of shit in the end. The latest pair also won’t charge correctly and need to be repaired. A consumer should not have to consistently reset the devices, to get them to pair properly. When you look up the fixes you get a generic answer like plug in the right USB, or make sure they are seated properly, etc… in the end, these headphones are faulty. What’s the fix? Mail or drop it off to a technician to have it repaired if you are under warranty? Who is to say you do not get they same Beat ass Beats you got in the first place. Headphones should work, PERIOD! and not require too much fiddling around, resetting, pairing again and again, not charging. For what I have paid Apple and Beats for all the products over the year, they should just replace something no questions asked. I wish this guy in the article told us what headphones were the best, cause I would love to stop giving my business to Apple.
There’s a video of teardowns of all the Beats headphones. You can then track down all of the parts used by Beats on Aliexpress and make your own for around $20 in parts. Anyone who would buy multiple pairs of Beats is probably retarded and owns an iPhone and idolizes the Kardashians.
I never received my dr dre beat head phones. Then tried calling customer service which rang busy busy and busy after I pd for the beats on August 28th . Here it is the 22nd of August. I contacted pay pal only which that’s how I pd for the item. I guess the bday gift I bought is never showing up!!!
I can assure you, both beats-lover-guys, that there are way better headphones for half the price. However, Casuallisteners wont feel a diffrence anyways. To the Article: i dont see a bad thing in having the Bass boosted, i like my Skullcandy Crushers – and they have Bassboost extreme. Bass is essential for Genres like Dubstep.
True, but don’t you want to hear the music the way the artist intended? Thats the single most important thing for me personally.
Went to go purchase a replacement pair of YurBuds that my dog chewed up. Saw that the mylar for meant for another set of ear buds was placed on the beats new powerbeats 3 wireless neighborhood collection ear buds. Brought it to the managers attention to be nice since the Mylar said $79.99 & the beats were actually $199.95 He offered them to me for that price and I turned them down since it was on the blue ones. Said no thanks don’t like blue. He said well you can have the red or green. I said red since it’s closest to pink. Huge mistake! Should have stuck with my YurBuds! These particular YurBuds are made for women so they are made to fit into our ears without falling off. I would kill it at the gym with them and they never fell off! I’d turn my head and the beats would fall out of my ears. The little rubber part that goes into your ear falls off both sides constantly! I if I’m hooked into Bluetooth on my car and someone calls while I’m getting ready to get out of the car I will switch the Bluetooth to the beats and it connects, disconnects, connects disconnects. Most of the time I have to have the caller call back because if I’m not connected to the call before I receive it l the beats won’t stay connected. They are supposed to have a quick charge and that does not work. Heck I’ve had them for 7 months now and they don’t stay charged for the length of time they claim to and I turn them off when I’m done and followed all directions. The other day I go to pull the out of the case they come with and the ear pieces had come off once again and as I’m putting it back in the speaker screen was knocked into the earpiece. PURE TRASH! The sad thing is that the YurBuds may be $60 ear buds but they out do the Beats as far as sound goes in my opinion as Well! So yup! Just as you said all hype! Go look on the beats website and see for yourself! https://www.beatsbydre.com/earphones/powerbeats3-wireless
Out of 187 reviews they have 1 1/2 Stars. BECAUSE THEY ARE TRASH! And if course all’s you hear is the base.
Hello,” Beats” by Dre. All emphasise is placed on the base as far as the sound goes. I love some boom boom and some rap but I like other genres of music just as much and for $200 I should get quality sound for all music and not just rap! (So sorry if I’ve misspelled anything. I am in a hurry and even though I never comment on anything I could not leave this page without confessing my truth about Beats so thanks for your time!
Love the passion! You really dislike Beats! 🙂
So true about the lack of durability! I got Beats for Christmas last year and I wear them every day to listen to podcasts. Not even a year later the “leather” on both cups has completely ripped apart from the foam, and black stuff is flaking off all over my skin. One of the hinges won’t even stay open unless they’re on my head. And I’m not rough on them, I just wear them a lot. The Bluetooth constantly disconnects from whatever device it’s linked to.
Don’t waste your money just for the name!
I purhased a pair of beats for myself and my son had a pair given to him for Christmas. Niether pair lasted a year. For a premium price, you should get a premium product. They’re trash.
My Beats fell apart where they bend to fit in the case & they want to charge me $129 to fix them. Apple is starting to piss me off with their shitty accessories that don’t last. For $300, they should bend no problem where they are supposed to. Not fall apart. I won’t buy this product again and anyone that asks, I’ll show them my Beats to discourage them.
BEATS Headphones do indeed suck and they are garbage.. They are pure Marketing and shows the power of Celebrities Pushing Product, and more importantly how the Masses just follow and OBEY.. and will shell out ridiculous amounts of money for a subpar product.
I am a Radio Engineer and the hands-down best Headphones and are the Broadcast standard are the Sony Professionals MDR-7506’s (only $89)… No they dont look sleek and come in different colors but if your want Faithful Sound Re-production and to hear your Music the way it should be.. Then these are the ones to get.
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/sony-mdr-7506-professional-headphones/271056000000000?cntry=us&source=3WWRWXGP&gclid=Cj0KCQiAoo7gBRDuARIsANeJKUYalGJQeo-PGFt0n285I7knDhapF8ud9KIBOdHZa3EjQLeheOWvRpAaAnaHEALw_wcB
Beats by Dre are atrocious. Perhaps some of you enjoy hearing music that’s all bass and nothing else. And that’s fine. But for $350, you can get not one, not two, but *three* pairs of Shure SRH440s, which are not just full in bass but don’t colour the sound nearly as much. (Being closed-back, they do colour your perception a bit) And they are built to professional standards. I’ve owned mine for about three weeks and already dropped them about four times while going from microphone to mix station. Not a scratch on them. Even the industry-standard Audio-Technica ATH-M50x, and most Grados, are only *less than half* of what a pair of Beats costs.
I can’t help but laugh at one user who said they use their Beats headphones “in studio”. No producer, engineer or artist would be dumb enough to use Beats for monitoring purposes. You’ll end up with mixes that are like paper cuts in the eardrums because all you hear is bass, and so you’ll end up boosting mids and trebles all the way into the stratosphere. Forget about judging vocals or instruments — the crucial frequencies in which the attack of the notes occur are all missing.
Beats are so not good. They are uncomfortable, break easily, and make my ears hurt. I just got Bose and they are the complete opposite. Comfortable, Durable, and Nice Sounding.
$400 for a pair of headphones that break when you drop them once? Sheeeeesh. That’s scary. And that frequency response chart makes me cringe in horror. Beats Solos should be around $60 lol.
Instead you can pick up a pair from Headphones By You. Pick your style and we’ll ship it in 2 days. Balanced sound, supports Bluetooth wireless, and can play MP3 files on a microSD card.
https://headphonesbyyou.com
We love the sound quality and the look of them. Just can’t keep the darn things from breaking. Dropped from waist height, and broke. Went to place them around neck and broke again. This is rediculous!
Apple needs to use a different plastic/polymer, or redesign them. Apple CS could benefit from some training too, or move the call center back to the Western Hemisphere.
$150 to make the headphone??1 I doubt if it even costs $20 to make them.
Garbage headphones studio wireless the headphone jack plug in broke after 7 months I called apple customer service they sent me a box then the headphones started charging again so I didn’t send them in. Then 4 months later the headphones completely won’t charge and I call apple again they say they have no record of me calling in about them previously and that I would have to pay 199 to get them fixed lol
I’ll never buy another beats product again and apple is part of this scamming garbage company
Not a quality product at all I’m going to Bose
If you want quality: Buy Sennheiser, Koss, JBL. If you want to be a bitch, buy Beats.
$14 based on reports. They are cheap headphones for fashion slaves with credit card debt who listen to bad music. No wonder headphones suddenly became fashionable and brands popeed up everywhere – manufacturers could see the massive profit margins on plastic garbage and wanted a piece of that cake.
This article is so opinionated. If you want people to take you seriously than use proper grammar. I don’t see any valuable information in here. It’s all opinion. Well I just wasted five minutes of my life that I will never get back.
Funny read! It’s always fun to see people get mad when a shoddy, trendy product gets justifiably bashed. I believe $200 beats cost $18 and change to make, the rest is celebrity endorsements and profit. Stay woke.
Yal haters cause u cant afford them wtf beats are sweet i love bass n this is wer its at everybody gots diffrent taste i guess this is were my taste is at
Words coming from a beats fan = guy who knows nothin bout music and loves to go deaf. Only knows boom boom no lyrics.
That’s the kind o guy u r (no offense, it’s the truth). Everything in this article is spot on. Most headphone companies try to make headphones lighter to incr comfort nd reduce weight but the idiots at beat put useless metal weights to make the headphones feel premium cz they’re pieces o plastic shit. I’ve listened to a range of headphones from premium sony’s to harman kardon infinity’s nd pal ur the guy whose got a brain smaller than a peanut cz I can buy a 15$ chinese headphone nd its better than ur fkin piece o horseshit headphone. pretty sure ur taste is lke buying a headphone that’s 5$ to make. Hey i got an idea, I’ll sell u my dirty underwear with a beats logo for 500$ saying Dr.Dre used it. U’d still buy it XD XD.
Lol, I paid 55 bucks for a pair of used Sony WH-CH700N’s. And they sound better on Bluetooth than Beats connected to a wire. CONNECTED TO A F***ING WIRE!
Did I also mention that the frequency response is flatter than your shitty Beats and your brain?
Uhhh, he literally posted the proof in the frequency response.
So i work in a foundry hot metal noise all day cutting titanium Nickel grinding all kinds of stuff throw each day to start i got a pair best buy had a sell so needed music didnt care about the brand hell ill burn them up any way i work alot of over time work alot in general an for todays youth over 40 hours yes a hole 40 sobthe time i spent reading this arrogant bullshit the way the enginer ment it to be hard if i havent lost u ill try to make it easy to understand so im buy 3 more pair judge all you want son come walk in my work boots dont give a danm if your dr Dre or the figure bang king ser in your adjustable chair an learn what humble means i ead looking for some advice what is out there I found a arrogance Hippocrat pointing fingers and this has as much to do with headphones as anything your self Roches speech did clown O an ZZ Top BB King 👑 not about a name for me music is an has been my freedome scents my youth its people like you that contaminated the purity of it do beat hifi fuck who carries give me a beat boys soothes my soul. An hell no am i sorry Leonard Skinner an your just a clown couldnt lie as while as this dr flakes its ok your adding sound to elementary school videos we all know u be name dropping if u had one
Learn some English man. Yeesh. u dnt make any sense
I’ve been trying to digest this word salad for too long now, but I’ll give it a shot:
“Me work loud, me work messy, me work break things.
Me need ear covers with pretty sounds come out.”
I THINK he does not like the Beats, but I’m not positive about that. We do know that he is angry, probably about his work life, and maybe life in general. Working in a machine shop, I can relate to loud noises and rough handling, but few things are as rough as working in a foundry – oil rigs and battlefronts are all that come to mind.
Beats bad, for fancy pants hip hoppers, not for real music, or physical activities – AGREE.
Can we be friends now?
I have had my solo 3’s for about 2 years and dropped them many times and the only damage is on the REPLACEABLE, CHEAP earcups.
Did u like drop it or place it on the floor. CHEAP earcups. U kidding. I’m cryin laughing
I’m a long time lover of audiophile grade headphones. I have a pair of sennheiser momentom earbuds and a pair of bluetooth over ear sennheiser momentums, plus a pair of beyerdynamic DT900s and I thing beats are shit. Period.
As an audiophile even I found this article a bit too much on the bashing side as simply a Beats hater vs actual genuine concern for other’s financial investments.
Are Beats overpriced? Yes they are over priced. Do the new generation Beats sound like “garbage” no…they actually do not, they are much more balanced and pleasant than their actual garbage sounding 1st gen line-up (remember the full plastic toys with a B on it?)
I would never personally recommend Beats to anyone due to their delusional price model, but from a sonic performance stand point, I will admit they sound much better than they used to be.
At the end of the day, Beats are more for musicphiles than audiophiles and as long as people find their experience enjoyable on Beats, who am I to tell them they can’t feel that way? As an audiophile I find it disheartening that the marketing and branding of the product outweighs the value of the actual product people and spending buying, but if it makes people happy and they enjoy their music, then I feel that my say should not be representative of how they “should” feel too.
U know beats r more priceful than U
I really get a kick out of these beats lovers. I don’t think they understand what the Frequency response should look like. There is a reason why AKG for instance is found in most studios. Just take a look at the Frequency Response chart here http://images.defcomtech.com/image/BYrr You can see with professional equipment running at proper loads, they are damn near perfectly flat. This is what you are looking for. Guess what this particular pair is running just over 300 dollars. Hell the K240s run just over 60 dollars and are nearly flat http://images.defcomtech.com/image/Btd3 . But hey keep buying those beats and keep getting ripped off, keep hearing that mud. I will keep buying great headphones and I will enjoy the full sound, the Sound stage and sound images that the sound engineers and artists have worked so hard to create.
This guy probably had his baby mom go sleep with Dr Dre and his home boys.
Bought a pair of beats, the battery was junk. Took them back and got replacements. They lasted 3 weeks and the battery won’t charge. They totally suck. What a waste of money. I will never buy another beats product. Ever. Buyer beware!! This product is trash and you have to jump through hoops to get contact info.
I compared beats studios 3 to ONN headphones and the bass on the ONN was way better. I think I got the ONN headphones for like $15.18 😭vs 303.27
Worst product ever. Like many I assumed that a reputable person and company would indeed provide a great product. Wrong!!! Hershey’s Chocolate and Fleet Enima could have made a better collaboration. Had a pair that the left side stopped working. Of course the sent me some refurbished bs. 4 months later they stopped working all together. Only a 90 warranty on the certified refurbished bs. Funny how that works. Never again!
Beatsloverforlife is a sleazy bitch who has no comprehension in audio and if he did his own research rather then constantly relying on everyone else for input might actually learn to read between the lines in life too. but no your just a weak ass underdeveloped sheep waiting for slaughter
I’m sorry to disagree here as I just ordered and received the Bose 35 II’s to compare to my 10 year old Dr Dre beat’s and have both side by side trying each one on the same device and my Dr Dre’s still sound much better than the Bose.. I’m going to send these Bose back asap and try to find some older Dr Dre’s that are new. On that note I can’t speak for more recent Dr Dre’s but the ones I have on my head right now blow Bose out of the water.. no comparison..
Well once again you are comparing to a company that has a name established and markets items Bose headphones will never keep up with their name and reputation in home theater audio. Bose aren’t good neither are Beats. I’d never recommend any person to get these. Any audiophile would tell you to purchase Sennheiser over Beats any day. It could just also be the fact that you are used to your headphones sounding a certain way than how proper frequency ranges are supposed to sound. Everyone perceives things differently but if you want to go true by numbers Sennheiser will be your best bet.
To add to this no engineer or producer will use any headphone that adjusts the sound file or boosts it. When working in audio you need tones as flat as possible so you can hear exactly how that sound is or was recorded. If you have headphones that alter that you aren’t getting what it will truly sound like when it’s rendered. So no, Dre or his engineers or producers will not use these while producing. They may use them after it’s produced and rendered. Engineers and producers will use what is called monitoring headphones (studio headphones) to get the true sound, not one altered through preamps in headphones.
When I walk down the road with my Sennheiser Amperiors on and my wife has her beats (which I bought her for her Christmas, poor thing) she gets all the looks and comments – maybe it isn’t the headphones…
I could also say they suck. Mine broke in 3 months of use! It didn’t just lose sound, the “cheap” plastic that the beats are made out of shattered like class. I wore them and they just broke over time. This made me regret purchasing these.
They also don’t sound that good. Good bass, but I want the treble to sound to be just as good.
I currently have a different pair of headphones that sound much better, are more durable, and are around $150.
they are crap
IT’S ALL ABOUT DAT …SOUNDSTAGE
Man, I knew a guy who had these beats. Do you know what he complained about? He said they didn’t have enough bass. Can you believe it? I felt delusional for a second. People don’t even know what bass is half of the time. Loud bass is not equal to good or crispy bass.
Then he came and said someone in the store solved it. He showed me his EQ settings. He said “I’ve increased the bass, look” HIS EQ WAS OFF LOL. So I turned his EQ on, and he said EWW why did you turn it off? I explained that I turned it on, not off, and subsequently he asked the ultimate question “then why did I like it without the bass boost”? I’d guess, because for the first time in his life, he trusted his ears directly, before the market and all its hype.
I get it , they’re not worth nearly even close what they cost , but I do like them the newer ones have gotten better over the year imo, I recently bought the newer mid range ones refurbished for 45$ and I was like hey these sound a lot better than the solos they bought when beats were still fresh to the market. But I will never pay full price for a pair of beats head phones sorry . I agree there’s a high tier hype& price for mid tier sound. You pay for the name , but they don’t even put Dre on them anymore! ( I don’t even care for Dre)
If you came all the way here and are now looking for advice on what to get 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 beats, here’s a suggestion: the beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro is considered industry standard in music mixing and production. They can do anything beats can do, but better. And if you have the $$$$ to get beats, then you 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 have the $ to get these babies.
If you’re used to beats or similar quality, this swap will be a plunge into the deep end, and you’ll probably need some time to get used to actually accurate headphones. I promise it’ll be worth it, though. This is as close to perfect sound as you’ll get below $120 dollars, and the material and replaceable parts also mean that you can easily use these for a decade with hardly any additional investment.
This article makes some very good points about what applications it is good for and which applications might be better served by a different set (and also suggests alternatives for those scenarios). It also includes a frequency response chart of the beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro, for all the naysayers who claim that all headphones have as garbage a profile as beats 😉
https://www.soundguys.com/beyerdynamic-dt-770-studio-80ohm-review-15348/
The only major point I would disagree with is the lack of portability because of the long cable, for two reasons:
Firstly, if you’re never going to use the headphones with an amp or in the studio, but only ever with the phone or laptop, I would recommend getting the 32 ohm version instead of the 80 ohm version. They cost the same and you’ll be much happier with this more mobile version. And lo and behold: the 32 ohm version doesn’t have the 2.8m cable, but a much shorter, tangle-free spiral cord. Specifically for mobile use.
Secondly, even if you 𝘥𝘰 want to go for the 80 ohm version – it’s not a bad call if you have a mid- to high-range gaming laptop or a relatively recent android phone – you can very easily store the cable while on the go. Just learn how to wrap XLR cables. There are helpful tutorials on this, both written and as videos (here’s one that also gives additional background for why this is important: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ4ZKkJ_HxE). Just do this whenever you’re using your headphones on the go, stick them in a pocket or small bag and you’re good to go.
Enjoy!
Hello to all
In this baffling time, I disposition you all
Prize your relations and friends
I bought a pair and within a week the cheap, brittle plastic that was used for making the headband broke/shattered. I gaffer taped them up and carried on using them for a bit then one of the speakers stopped working so I had a look at the wiring, but as soon as I saw the cheap shitty wire that was used on these headphones I decided that they were pretty much a bin-job. I’ve got a pair of JBL 650bt and they make the beats sound shit. Beats would be ok if they were sold at their actual value ( £20-£30). Overall they are like toy headphones and when you compare them to a descent set they are lacking in a big way. They fall to bits easily too, cheap and nasty materials. Do not buy unless you get them ultra cheap because that is what they are.
As someone that used to sell Beats before Apple bought them, lemme just clue you in on something that might shock you.
Most headphones across any given range only have maybe a $10-30 price markup from cost. So for example a shitty pair of Phillips headphones might sell for $50, and it costs around $35 for the store to buy them. Sennheiser and Sony generally have an even smaller markup of around $5. Beats headphones, on the other hand, cost around $350 to buy, with a markup of around $300. That’s right, it’d cost the store $50 for a pair of $350 headphones.
Honestly this is no surprise when you realize Monster was the original manufacturer, and their entire product range is 95%+ pure profit ($200 HDMI cables with a markup of $180). Apple is great at this too. Massive profit on relatively inexpensive hardware is their niche.
But so long as you get that clout I guess you don’t care right? Buy the Gucci, Louie and Beats 🥱
I got skullcandy noise canceling headphones that are way cheaper than beats and work much better than them.
I got skullcandy noise canceling headphones that are way cheaper than beats and work much better than them. I heard about beats and thought nevermind on getting them.
I heard about beats and thought nevermind on getting them.
And the crow (did you paint that?!) reminds me of The Raven.
Jeez this guy knows nothing about frequency perception to the human ear. Between 2 – 3khz the human ear is most sensitive, if you have a flat curve this area would make yours ears bleed. This is also known as the telephone range as telephone signals are restricted within this area as it is the clearest and most sensitive to the ear. Trust me Iv been using Room EQ wizard for years and am a self confessed audiophile, specifically in car audio which is the very hardest to get right. These Beats (studio – over ear) are the most confortable Iv tried which is super important. If anything when I first heard them I was expecting out of control bass but its actually quite modest and is a good balance. The truth is the longer you can listen to a system and not feel like youve got a headache afterwards that means your brain isn’t aching from trying to sub consciously fill in gaps where frequency response may be of too low amplitude or where your brain trys to ignore frequencies that are of too high aplitude. This happens subconsiously and you only notice after time if your head hurts! or not. Thats the proof. I can listen to my beats for hours so don’t try and tell me they are crap. Yeah its true they are over priced but they are actually very good for quality. Please tell me what your £20000 Focals sound like ???
ps I often sleep with these headphones on for over a year now and iv not broke them yet! )
Press X to doubt
I got a pair for free from work. I guess I can’t complain.
I would have never bought a pair of beats except for one sole reason. They’re comfortable. I don’t care about the sound or any of this other nonsense, the fact is these are the only headphones I’ve been able to wear that don’t bother me physically. And as far as the physical quality goes, it’s not that hard or expensive to maintain these headphones. All the parts can be replaced very cheaply. I’ve had mine for 4 years, just cleaned them up replace the earpads and they still look brand new.
I got a pair from my kids for Christmas. The rubber lining on the ear-cover began to dissolve. I guess these headphones are not designed to make contact with human ears…
I dropped them once and the headclasp fell apart. It requires a small retractable metal peg much like those used to secure wristbands to watches. No spares get included with the pair. So, it just dangles. Unwearable!
Poor construction quality. If one can’t occasionally drop one’s headphones, the company’s got problems!
If I could I’d asked for my money back or a replacement pair! I replaced it with a 100.00 pair from Digital Designs. This latter is a superior sound product with stronger construction!
Be well.
Beats aren’t THAT bad, but they’re not that good either. This is why:
Beats are ALL about advertising which of course considerably drives up their price. Beats charge over $300 for the Solo3, which is WAY too much money! They are the headphones of Dr Dre, one of the best and most popular rappers in the world. They are worn by a lot of celebrities and people who probably should have bought better headphones. But on the other hand, most Beats actually have good reviews on certain websites like Rtings, which reviews almost every headphone on the planet.
I have the Sennheiser HD559, which deliver heavy bass themselves, but of course have a MUCH clearer sound! It’s all a matter of opinion at the end of the day. Beats have decent sound but are overpriced. The modern Beats have MUCH better sound than they used to, but there are still cheaper headphones out there that have cleaner sound
I think Beats are both good and horrible, and here’s why:
The good: They offer respectable sound, having MUCH better sound than previous Beats headphones
They have colorful and beautiful designs
They’re usually comfortable enough to wear for hours
The Beats EP are reasonably priced at around $100
The headphones of Dr. Dre (DUH)
The HORRIBLE: Most Beats are overpriced, at over $300 for the Solo3
They wear out over time
The old Beats sounded awful, being style over quality
THEY’RE GARBAGE. SORRY . THEY WON’T CHARGE, THEY WON’T TURN ON, AND THE SOUND (WHEN THEY DO CHANCE TO WORK) IS WAY TOO BASS-HEAVY. MY $10 SONY PAIR WORK FAR BETTER THAN THESE $150 PIECES OF SHIT. NEVER BUYING THIS BRAND AGAIN. NEVER!
Overpriced and cheaply built. Headband broke for no reason. Amazon has a dozen vendors selling replacements, somthis is obviously a design defect. Apple should be subject to a class action lawsuit over this junk!
I think Beats is what Bose is to Home entertainment systems. Over priced hyped to the max and extremely advertised. Actually Bose makes some decent headphones for travelers but its mostly because they do a great job reducing background noises. At least Bose works to try and not produce head thumpers for headphones. But we know why Beats designed their headphones to sound as they do with an emphasis on bass and design flare. They marketed to people who love bass and want a status symbol. Same people who install those 1000 watt pile drivers in the trunks of their vehicles. You know the ones you can hear a block away coming at you. Beats serve a market that wants that sound, I have not really seen Beats claim any sort of accurate reproduction or specs that would indicate they are trying to be. If you music tastes are not stuck in Rap, Hip Hop, and other bass heavy music. I would skip the Beats and spend your money buying a really good pair of headphones designed to achieve the best audio quality across the musical spectrum.
Good article. I feel like the quality of sound is in the perception of the beholder (consumer) who determines what’s good and what isn’t. That’s why there’s always been debate on which brand has the best sound. I had a pair of Beats in 2014 and while they sounded really great with their bass for me at the time, they only lasted around a year (give or take a few months) so they didn’t have a lot of mileage. I just bought a pair of Bose Bluetooth earbuds and the sound is really really great granted Bose charges a pretty penny for their products. Sound difference between Beats and Bose is Beats has so much bass that the mid ranges and trebles lack quite a bit more than Bose. Bose has full and punchy bass while not overwhelming the mid range and treble. Out of earbuds I’ve owned so far, bass goes to Beats. All around sound to Bose.
Beats were mostly marketed as a design statement; they became a thing on the street to buy for being popular. Much like the iPods have commanded their own statement of design popularity. Neither really have the best audio quality but that does not seem to matter for most who buy them. Many people don’t have a really trained ear for quality audio. Many who value precise audio quality are not buying these products anyway.
I’ve used beats for over 6 years. Beat solos3’s and beats pro over Ear Wired Version. With beats studio pro bein the biggest /longest used and “abused” pair by me (3 years) these are incredibly strong, I’m a head banger – meaning I literally bump my head to a pillow with these on every night minus my seldom company that come over I don’t do it. But that’s to say there very durable because I slept and still sleep with them, right now my ear foam is showing around edges, from sweaty summers gym workouts,, over time I’ve awaken to my foam ear cushions detached from the hand band I just twist them back in – they’re good to go, however I’m scared to get the ear replaced because it wouldn’t be authentic it seems even though you kno they’re China made it seems they be poorly made as these cushions lasted 3 years the replacements or bands prally last months. When Apple took over they did a horrible job with the replacement( for insured beats) I had fireman red and black beats collab with lil wayne, they replaced them with a all black matte pair. No Box, just audio wire for phone and headset (wired over ear ver.) I was steaming because I thought Apple could fix anything just because of their name -but no. So I was stuck with the matte pair. No original packaging just cardboard I spent 389 for my lil Wayne’s I thought the replacement cudve went better. But I digress. Although you can go on youtube and research the different frequencies it have compared to what mention, I just like loud music in general- I can sleep through parades.
i have a set of beats headphones and, while they are absolutely not worth the heavy price tag they retail for, they are not bad headphones. of course this is my use case, coming from my experiences with my headphones. i got a good unit, its beats solo3 red and black 10th anniversary edition, and its held up pretty well over my slamming on tables and dropping on the floor. now of course bad units exist, and are probably the majority of the units sold but theres like a 10% customers who has good units. the sound quality is, well its sound. 44khz as reported by my computer is fine by me, im not an audiophile at all, i just listen to the occasional music and play minecraft, im not a composer. i dont specifically like beats but since i already have this pair, guess ima keep using this set untill it stops working. beats may be bad but they aint that bad. headphones are headphones. if you dont like a specific pair of headphones, you arent being held at gunpoint to buy that specific pair or brand of headphones. people are entitled to their own opinions, even if their opinions are wrong and if they like beats, thats ok. thats their money going down the drain and them listneing to this supposedly “shit quality” audio.
2022, and my original Beats Pro’s are still dropping a massive “Schiit” (See that?) on $1,000 “studio monitors” made with plastic and string. By the way, do you know who owns the speaker market? Klipsch. Do celebrities wear bookshelfs on their heads like a beer hat? Is Klipsch absolutely depantsing the speaker market because Lebron James is wearing an RF-7 on his back like a 2001Jansport? Or are you asshats for pretending that a flat response is desirable for most people?
What you absolute imbeciles refuse to understand are ANY of the differences between speakers and drivers. You WILL NOT understand it, you literally just spam “flat flat flatty flat flat. flat flat flateroo. FLAT. FLAT OR WRONG. Flattapotomous.” What Monster was attempting to do was to create a pair of headphones that sound more like a set of larger speakers to make listening more desirable. If you listen to a pair of Klipsch 8000’s at home and you have a pair of JL Audio W3’s in your trunk with Focal 6’s, then switching to a pair of 50mm drivers is generally going to leave the music feeling lifeless. You’re not going to believe this, but 6 inches is larger than 50mm. Now, you may have to sit down for this, but a 6-inch speaker and a 50mm driver do not have the same dynamics; air and frequency delivery are different. Finally, please put on your seatbelt for your own safety, but volume is not linear to distance in the context of the human ear, let alone the harmonic response. Everybody knows you’re wrong, not because they are clueless about “how to listen to music,” but because you are BORING, and because their ear drums do not process frequencies at equivalent volumes anyway, so they think you’re pedantic and silly.
Now, go make a stack of FLAT PANCAKES, trek across the flat kitchen floor and splash a nice flat slab of syrup on them, and then flatten out on the couch for a bit of relaxation before I flatten you. I guarantee every single one of you close the lid on the toilet every single time you take a leak, even after the wife and kids have gone to bed.