Bought these when they were $159 at Staples and got Best Buy to match, but I was disappointed in the noise cancellation feature - I actually heard more noise in my headset than my daughter’s Beats without the feature. I had to crank up the sound to wash out the static. Grabbed another to test at the store and got the same result. Ultimately returned it.
The technology used in noise cancelling is very effective and if done well (Bose and others) it is not negatively affecting the sound quality to any significant degree. I don’t travel enough via plane to invest in the quality needed to provide ANC, but I do travel with good closed headphones, to provide some isolation and avoid sound leakage to my neighbors.
Bought one of these Beats for my teen son last Xmas ,red , slightly different model and cost me $239 for it . We’d tried on different Beats before buying this one.
While at home , I did try this headphone along with a couple of my own ( a Sony and a Bose )for several hours at different occasions and musics .
Conclusion : it almost as same as the Sony and much LESS superior than my Bose (I bought this Bose headphone for just about $150).
I couldn’t tell much of the different between this Beats and the Sony ($99).
Some here raved about the noise canceling . IMO , none of these would passed that department over Bose ,none.
My son wanted this particular headphone for quite sometime ,that was the reason for the purchase.
My input :
This Beats brand is Overrated , Overpriced with pretty cool designs to attract the younger consumers . Kids wear them more as fashion statement more than the quality .
Don’t get me wrong , it’s not a bad headphone overall but for the price , it’s sure a rip-off
My Sony noise canceling headphones just gave up the ghost after very little use. I would not recommend Sony as being any higher quality than Beats.
It’s a cold day in sheol when Woot tries hawking Beats garbage on us.
Beats were crap when they were merely rebranded Monster cans; they’re crap now.
I’m old-school, Koss PortaPros for tooling around–dollar for dollar the best in their class. Koss 4AAs at home–good enough for Muscle Shoals, good enough for me. Koss is always running online promos and the lifetime warranty is awesome (and while I’m thinking of it, they oughtn’t be confused with the horrible desktop speakers and CD players stamped with their logo 20 years ago…and sold on this very site in the past…:/)
Good sound is an investment. Beats are a Ponzi scheme.
Stick with Sennheiser, Koss or Beyerdynamic, companies who have been doing it right since the beginning of acoustics, for about the same price point. Not the marketing Scam Beats is (now owned by Apple).
Even Bose and Sony will sell you a better product than this. Unless you’re into sagging your pants below your buttocks while waiting at the bus stop.
I have a set of these, and a set of bose (I travel a lot) These are much better at noise canceling. My bose are lighter, smaller and a very pretty blue and white colour, so for normal around the house they are best, but for the plane these can’t be beat. I even used these Sunday in the infield at the NASCAR race in Fontana, and they were comfortable the whole race, I could hear the scanner and MRN perfectly as they blocked the noise of the cars, my bose didn’t block them out as well, I had to turn up the volume much higher to drown out the engines. If I only had another reason to buy these, I would pick up another pair
I can attest to the quality of Sennheiser… at least for my hearing and the genres of music I listen to.
The Sony MDR 7506s have been around since the early 90s and have not changed. I have them and can attest to their build quality. I can’t defend any other Sony headphones though.
Oh, and they are very well reviewed.