[JohnHoyle]

I am looking at getting these DR Dre Beats and I have 2 questions about them. a) Are they any good? I know they look magnificent and they carry a hefty price tag so I am assuming they are going to be fairly good. And b) Where is the cheapest place to buy an official pair of them? I have been looking around a bit and obviously on sites like eBay you see pairs going for half the RRP and you immedietly think FAKE, but are they?

Any help appreciated, John

[Drubbing]

If they were a third of the price they would be fairly good. But they're not.

Anything half RRP is fakes, they are the most faked phones on the net. That said, the fakes are sometimes a better buy.

[HiFi Headphones]

The DR DRE Beats are looked down on for average build quality, poor bass heavy sound and mainly for being more than twice the price of much better headphones. The marketing is a bit of a joke as well - I have been involved in Pro Audio for well over 10 years and I can tell you than no studio engineer is going to use overpriced plastic noise cancellers for anything other than shutting their kids up on a flight. Why not have a look at some of the headphones the professionals really do use? They are cheaper than the beats, will last a lot longer and sound much better too.

Audio-Technica ATH-M50 Closed Monitor Headphones Coiled Cable
£129.95

Beyerdynamic DT770 PRO Closed Back Headphones 80Ω (DT 770)
£126.95

GermanMAESTRO GMP 8.35 D Monitor Closed Headphones
£149.00

Check out this scratch DJ using the last pair I mentioned -

JFB UKs number 1 Scratch DJ

[sheriffwoody]

i have a pair of the ATH-m50's thanks to some recommendations from here and i can't fault them so far.
i managed to get a pair last year when they were around the £100 mark, so they seem to have gone up a little since then.

i did have them amped with a Fiio E7 as well and they were amazing (although the E7 blew up, so am now thinking about getting an E17).

the only Beats i have tried were the Solo HDs, and believe me when i say this, compared side by side, with the same music, with my Sennheiser HD202's (which were £25), the Solo HDs sounded rubbish. The HD202's were better in every way and were a 5th of the price.

i can't really speak for the studio's or the pro versions, but i fear they may be of similar ilk. PLENTY of bass, but not much else. i agree they look good, but that's about it.

that said, my friend says he is able to get all Beats headphones at half price, which tempted me with a pair of the Pro's.

[alexs2]

Originally Posted by Drubbing

Spam, and fakes.

Please,please do NOT quote spam posts...it just makes the job of cleaning up harder.

[Littleted@gmail]

there crap, i tired them ages ago in HMV all models apart from the In Ears through my Iphone 4s and they sounded muffled, i went last week with my Daughter and we went past again, Daughters 18 and knows everything u know what i mean, i went to the headphones tried them again and yet again no matter what i played even the 300 quid ones, sounded crap.
Daughter said there the best there is, LOL anyway to put it blunt they are as the guys say a mid range Fashion item.

Stick with the advice above, I actually bought a pair of Shure 840s not a bad review about or if u can stretch the 940s, they sound fantastic, closed back too so no1 hears your celine dion

ted

P.S the beyers are cool sets too cant comment on the others not really tried them

[Mr.D]

They are junk. Whenever I see them on people I know there goes someone with no sense whatsoever. Those awful bose noise cancellers are better and the same people that buy them tend to buy beats I find.

Much better phones for the same or less money. Shure , triplefi , senny , BD , denon , sony...my god just about anyone.

[sheriffwoody]

B&W P3's or P5's would be worth a look.

Maybe the Bayerdynamic T50p if your budget stretches that far

[Littleted@gmail]

Originally Posted by Mr.D

They are junk. Whenever I see them on people I know there goes someone with no sense whatsoever. Those awful bose noise cancellers are better and the same people that buy them tend to buy beats I find.

Much better phones for the same or less money. Shure , triplefi , senny , BD , denon , sony...my god just about anyone.

I have to agree ive had the bose on 30 day trials, never once did i keep them, i kep wanting some but the cost VS functionality just doesnt add up, overpriced

[DrWise]

beats are out the question then

will get those last ones mentioned above the video

[utopia13w]

They are nothing more than a fashion trend, sadly the build/sound quality does not match up to the price (on any model!). Go with what has already been recommended her. What I will say is that I am glad they are around, as they are probably single handedly responsible for the headphone industry revival.

[Ash888]

iv checked out the headphones mentioned above, but without hearing them myself i cant comment.

i am after a pair of new headphones but cant justify the price of the beats headphones.

i do love my bass, but i dont want to loose out on the rest.

which headphones would you recommend as an alternative with a bass heavy sound?

[macleod.mac]

Originally Posted by Ash888

which headphones would you recommend as an alternative with a bass heavy sound?

The Beyerdynamic DT770s 80 ohm mentioned above are known to be quite bassy, but most say they require an amp to get the best out of them.

[Thooms]

Another vote for 770s - the Beats are awful IMO. They're a £60 pair of headphones at best.

You do need an amp for the 770s IMO. I've got the 250 ohm version - haven't heard the 80 ohm ones, but I love mine. Almost unusable without an amp on average sources though (Sansa e200, laptop and Nokia 5800 all prove inadequate to drive them properly).

Cheap Fiio amp though, and you're laughing!

[Ash888]

thanks

how about headphones without an amp...il be using ipod or ipad most of the time.

[a l e x]

Come on, the beats aren't that bad!

I've just bought a pair of the Solo HDs. I've got some HD650s and obviously they're not as good but for what I got them for I'm happy. I don't want to take the 650s and a headphone amp away with me and for £120 the Beats will do a decent enough job on the plane and around the pool. They look good too, come with a decent case and separate cable and they're bloody comfy...

[jimgers1906]

Originally Posted by a l e x

Come on, the beats aren't that bad!

I've just bought a pair of the Solo HDs. I've got some HD650s and obviously they're not as good but for what I got them for I'm happy. I don't want to take the 650s and a headphone amp away with me and for £120 the Beats will do a decent enough job on the plane and around the pool. They look good too, come with a decent case and separate cable and they're bloody comfy...

I have four sets of phones:
Shure SRH-940 - Superb but only for home use, room use, just not portable
Audio Technica WS55i - Super sounding but a little lacking in build quality
Beats Pro - I got these for £150, they are legit not copies - Sound is good, not up at Shure level but excellent for the £150 I paid.

IMO Beats are overpriced but they are far from crap...........

I'm in Vegas at the moment and took the Beats as they are the most fun phones I have.......

[Rock Da Bass]

I've tried a few models of these (Studio, Solo, whatever) and they are certainly nothing special but the amount of panning and negativity they have had in this thread is probably unjustified as they're not that bad and definitely okay for an average (non-audiophile) user.

The thing that makes them stand out from the crowd is the celebrity endorsement and the music street cred of Dr Dre. Also they look incredibly cool....

[eiren]

I've found the WeSC Bongo headphones to offer better sound, with the deep bass that attracts people to Beats... for far less money.

The WeSC RZA headphones are their alternatives to the Beats at the same price points and the sound is FAR superior:

WeSC RZA Street Headphone - Black/Red: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Chambers:

WeSC Chambers by RZA Premium Headphone - Black: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics


Plus street cred wise the RZA is FAR cooler than Dre haha.

[warren30]

I've tried a few cans now senn's b&wp3 they were good not alot bass I thought tried the dre solo didn't like them and other dre's they were ok.one's that took me apart from b&w is the monster nick cannon incred range I thought they sounded good for £110 over earc(in ear £50 like to hear them or see review) lot better then dre's might be they suit my hearing I'm a beginner could hear sounds on these and not on others they seemed louder too on my iPhone 3G (hurry up 5) but can't seem to find any reviews guess they are new or no one else likes them