There are lots of negative reviews of the Beats Solo from people who know about headphones. Calling them over-priced for the poor sound quality.
I am one of those people.
Do yourself a favor. Go right to Amazon. Type in V-Moda M80 (White), it is on sale for $132 right now! Comes with the same controls as the Beats, but MUCH better sound quality. It is one of the highest ranked headphones on Head-fi.com.
Plus, if you actually care about form as well as function, IMO they look better than the Beats.
[QUOTE=bloodypenguin, post:2, topic:385873]
There are lots of negative reviews of the Beats Solo from people who know about headphones. Calling them over-priced for the poor sound quality.
I am one of those people.
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I agree overpriced junk. If you want a value that is made in the USA and costs less than what beats cost pick up a pair of Grado SR80i headphones. about $100 and when played side by side with some beats they sound so much better.
Skip these and go SOL Republic. They’re ex-Monster guys who knew they could make better headphones than Beats for less and did exactly that. I swear by my Tracks HD. They even have a model for more audiophile, flat response fans (the Ultra, which I use in the studio).
As for Grado comparisons - Yes, they sound great, yes, they can be comparably priced, but they are ALL open backed. Which means you don’t want them in your open or cube office, you don’t want them out on the street, you don’t want them on the bus, etc. They’re great for home listening, but not if you want to leave the house.
[QUOTE=bloodypenguin, post:2, topic:385873]
There are lots of negative reviews of the Beats Solo from people who know about headphones. Calling them over-priced for the poor sound quality.
I am one of those people.
Do yourself a favor. Go right to Amazon. Type in V-Moda M80 (White), it is on sale for $132 right now! Comes with the same controls as the Beats, but MUCH better sound quality. It is one of the highest ranked headphones on Head-fi.com.
Plus, if you actually care about form as well as function, IMO they look better than the Beats.
Happy listening!
..
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I have yet to listen to any of these “Beats by Dre” line up that sounds any better than $30 headphones. You pay for the name, not a good product. I can’t believe Dre would allow his name to be put on this garbage and sold for exuberant prices. He knows what a good set sound like.
Do yourself a favor. Go right to Amazon. Type in V-Moda M80 (White), it is on sale for $132 right now! Comes with the same controls as the Beats, but MUCH better sound quality. It is one of the highest ranked headphones on Head-fi.com.
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I’ll be that guy that suggests the Sony MDR-V6’s. They have their flaws, but for $65 they’re pretty nice headphones.
I own and enjoy the Studios, but I’ve heard a lot of bad things about the build and sound quality of the Solos. They kind of give the other headphones in the Beats line a bad name that they don’t deserve. I’d skip this one if I were you.
[QUOTE=mahzorimipod, post:7, topic:385873]
Audio Technica ATH-M50s are like 120 something on amazon right now. Another good choice and a 4chan favorite
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Yep, Audio Technica makes good stuff. Even the Audio-Technica ATH-M30, at $43, will give you better sound quality than these BEATS SOLO headphones.
Sorry woot. At $159, this isn’t a good deal. Maybe at 1/6 of the price, I’d buy them as a gift for a nephew or niece who ISN’T an audiophile…
i really don’t know why everyone is complaining…i’ve had mine for about 6 months now and have NO complaints. i found mine on amazon for around $130 and they were the older model. they sound better than any headphone i’ve ever had (mr. sony guy).
anyone bashing these headphones is jealous they don’t have a pair. they don’t want to buy them because they’re pricey and think it will make them look like a teenager. using the display at walmart, target or best buy isn’t going to show you what these can do…
i tried a pair of these and the studios(friend has both and i borrowed). i am just a typical music listener and was wonder if i should upgrade.but wow, after using both a few days, i couldn’t wait to go back to my headphones. maybe its that my ears are not as good as others at fine detail, but i really do enjoy my cheap pair of sennheiser hd 202 more than both those beats. though, i have sampled some other headphones that did sound better then mine, but i really would buy the sennheisers over the beats if they were the only two headphones in the world and the same price…hell, even my skullcandy earbuds and old lowriders(RIP) sound just as good.
Everyone has been spot on with their recommendations, except for the 1 guy that thinks these Beats headphones are actually good. Jealous? No. You might be the one looking for validation for your horrible purchase though.
I haven’t tried V-Moda, but I do own some Grado’s (as mentioned already, open back so not always a great choice for your environment), and have used Sony 7506’s as well as some Beyerdynamic DT 770’s. SOL sounds promising but I haven’t tried them out. ATH-M50’s are next on my purchase list; they are pretty much an industry standard in the studio alongside the Sony 7506’s.
I remember grabbing a deal on some Sennheisers once for less than $30, and I’d wager they sound better than these Beats.
Chalk up another vote for overpriced. I wouldn’t go so far as to call them “junk,” but they’re far from worth the price they get for them.
And kudos to yous guyses recommendations. A lot of great alternatives mentioned here. Even some cheaper Sennheisers are certainly decent buys for the money spent, jimbol. Probably about equal to the Dre’s at 1/4 the price.
I’ve been doing audio recording, editing, and mixing semi-professionally for a while now (not my day job, but more of a paid hobby?), and I’ve always been very much “into” audio gear/equipment from home theater stuff to “listening” speakers to true monitors, but headphones are perhaps the area in which I have the most experience (and is how I started down the money hole that is “high end” audio ).
I use headphones every day, either for the aforementioned “professional” reasons or simply for pleasure listening, while gaming on PC or watching a movie (when I don’t want to distract others, because I can’t always watch films in my home theater)…
14 years of this has led me to the following opinions regarding what is good and what is not, experience-backed but still opinions.
Grado SR60/80, SR225/325, RS2i/RS1i, PS1000, GS1000 (I currently own and use all of the aforementioned Grado’s, and the RS1i’s, GS1000’s, and PS1000’s are 3 of my Top 5 Headphones Ever™)
Sennheiser HD428-and-Up, although you have to get into the 6xx series to really get good sound (not a fan of Senn’s myself, too much sibilance and over-emphasis on the highs)
Beyerdynamic
AKG
Koss
Denon
Sony (higher-end, MDR-V6 and up)
EXAMPLES OF TERRIBLE HEADPHONES:
Apple anything
BEATS by Dre (perhaps the most offensive headphones I’ve ever heard; honestly, go out and spend $20 on some Sony MDR-V150’s at Wal-Mart and you’ll have better headphones)
ANYTHING from Bose
ANYTHING “Gaming” such as Razer, Roccat, etc
ANYTHING that is “surround sound”
ANYTHING that uses more than one driver per cup
ANYTHING that is “USB Only”
Now, some USB headphones are actually decent for online gaming, where audio fidelity is not important but exaggerated sounds are, and where you need to be able to communicate with others. That doesn’t make them good headphones, it just means they are suitable for the purpose for which they were intended.
BEATS headphones, well, they are the most overpriced, ridiculous, awful-sounding, and poorly-constructed headphones over $20 I’ve ever had the misfortune of hearing. I dissected a set only to find that my aforementioned MDR-V150’s are actually BETTER in terms of build quality and materials used.
WHAT MAKES BEATS SPECIAL?
NOTHING
WHAT MAKES THEM SOUND DIFFERENT?
They simply have a software audio processor (the cheapest one available BTW) that artificially “boosts” Bass by ~30%. That means you have hardware-“equalized” headphones and nothing you can do to fix them!!!