Posted on 04/23/2009
Gear heads and music enthusiasts alike had to pay attention when Monster, a company known for it’s cables, teamed up with Dr. Dre to drop their Beats by Dr. Dre Studio High Definition Powered Isolation Headphones last year.  I especially remember when the entire USA Men’s basketball team was spotted sporting these bad boys around Bejing during the 2008 Summer Olympics.  A month ago I was lucky enough to get my hands on a pair of the Beats Studio, plus the new Beats Tour (Beats by Dr. Dre Tour High Resolution In-Ear Headphones) that were recently released.   Here is my review.
In the A/V world, it seems damn near accepted that if you have high end store/theater equipment in your crib, you NEED Monster cables to connect it all… or else… or else, you fail, basically.  Considering Monster’s reputation and Dre’s status as one of the GOATs in the studio, coupled with all the hype and the fact that these are some cool looking headphones, who could say no to having a chance to review them for the site? 

I find the best (and only?) way to review headphones is to compare them to others.  Fortunately, we have a pair of Bose Quiet Comfort 2 Acoustic Noise Canceling headphones in the office that are considered Beats’ direct competition.  Here is my review of the Beat’s via comparison with the Bose. 

Look and Feel 
 
The fist thing you notice about the Beats Studio headphones are that they are unique in style, and very eye catching.   Like with their cables, the quality of Monster's product design and manufacturing (down to the packaging) is very high.  They seem a bit heavy out of the box but don’t feel as such when worn.  The slick metal enforced headband is easily adjustable and it never feels like your skull is getting squeezed to death like with some other models of headphones.  In comparison, the Bose are quite a bit lighter and nimbler to the touch. Less clunky, but not as cool looking. The ear cups of the Bose fit around your entire ear, while the Dre phones sit more on top of the outside of your ear. Any differences in comfort between the two are just a matter of preference and in the end, I found them both comfortable to rock. 

Functionality and Features

One major feature the Beats Studio have over the Bose is the "clicker" button on the headphone wire that allows for answering calls on the iPhone. Pretty dope, if you have an iPhone. I could not get this feature to work with my Blackberry Bold.  The eigth inch cables that come with Beats Studio are not hardwired, which is nice. You can also mute the music by pressing in a button on the right ear cup, which feels very Star Trek-ish (beam me up, Dre!).  It would have been cooler if you could click to mute and unclick to un-mute, but instead you have to hold it down with your finger.

Both the Beats Studio and the Bose require two AAA batteries (located inside one of the ear pads) to power the noise cancelling technology.   Therefore there is a switch to turn the headphones on and off. Be careful to always turn your headphones off when not using them because the batteries WILL DIE and the Beats will NOT work AT ALL without charged batteries, where as the Bose still do.  I experienced this twice in my short time of having the Beats, simply by forgetting to turn them off.   I would suggest using rechargeable AAAs (both money saving and environmentally friendly) and to be sure to have an extra set of batteries when traveling because you don’t want to be 35K feet in the air and have your headphones die on you… bummer. 
 
As for the noise cancelling itself, it works well.  The Beats don’t completely shut off the world as much as the Bose, and with the Beats, other people around you can hear your music if you have it turned up a decent amount.  This is a bit of a peev if you are a train (subway) rider such as myself. 

Performance

Now down to the real matters of audio quality. Right off the bat, both of these headphones are dope, and can be considered leaders in their class. The sound quality is very close on both these sets, super clear, extremely crispy with little to zero distortion no matter how loud the DB of music that’s being played. The Beats are physically louder than the Bose.  When I tested both at same DB level, the Beats are about 3 to 4 DB's louder. Both handle extremely high levels well, while the speakers in the Bose phones start to fuzz out first when pushed over the limit. The Beat’s woofers do seem to be a bit tighter, providing a slightly tighter delivered low end and the ability to handle a DB level that can permanently deafen you, great.   For this reason (sans the going def part), I prefer the sound of the Beats over the Bose.  What can I say, I love bass, and listen to lots of music where the low end is accentuated.  

Earbuds 
 
In-ear headphones are naturally a whole other ball game in that, simply by design, they cannot deliver the quality and comfort of studio phones.   People seem to often reference SURE and SONY as having the best earbuds.  With the Tour edition of the Dre series by Monster, you once again get very stylish packaging and presentation.  The cables on these look like red linguini, yum.  The sound quality is far superior to the Skull Candy buds I was using, but this is only to be expected.  I switched out the cushions to a size that best fit my ears (they come with 4 different sets), and over all, I’m enjoying the sound quality of these very much, although it is disappointing going from the studio phones to these.  My favorite thing about them is that they are just awesome looking, in addition to sounding good.  I don’t have much to compare them to in their price range, but I’m happy. 

Cost

The last item of discussion, cost.   These are high-end headphones with designer packaging and presentation.  You may remember this line from Skillz 2008 “Rap Up” -  “Detox was getting recorded, and Dre put out some headphones and he was the only one that could afford ‘em.”   The Beats Studio are going for $300 and the Beats Tour for $150.  The Bose Quiet Comfort 2’s are also going for $300, so clearly they are the main competition for Monster.  It is a lot to spend on some headphones but if you want quality, comfort, and style, be prepared to plunk down. 

Conclusion

Pros: The Beats Studio and Tour headphones are very high quality and the most stylish of all the headphones out there.  You will not be disappointed by the sound quality and if you love the low end, may find them to be superior.  The Beats are physically louder than the Bose, and I thought handled the highs better.  The iPhone functionality of the cable that comes with Beats Studio is great for iPhone addicts. 

Cons: Unfortunately the headphones do not function at all without working batteries, which can leave you stranded without any tunes should they just die on you.  If you are not used to powered phones, you will have to learn to remember to turn them off all the time as well. They may be TOO stylish for some.  And then there is what Skillz said, "we in a recession!"