Intersting article on Beats Headphones

Before I opened the link I could guess what the gist of the article was going to be. They are overpriced pieces of crap. I can't believe how many people I know can be hoodwinked by a brand image.
 
I bought a pair of Tascam headphones from Musicians Friend on their Stupid Deal of the Day for $15.00 a few weeks ago, and to me they sound great! I can't afford to lay out $200 for headphones, so Beats would have never been a consideration.
 
Junk like everything else made today

You mean the better general quality of cars and stationery? The higher standards of drum production and instrument production in general?

When you remove emotion from the equation, it's pretty obvious that the standard of manufacture has gone up enormously in the last 50 years. Things might not be to our taste but basic standards have definitely improved.

But then you're one that seems to think that seatbelts are too modern.
 
I do love my Bose QC25 cans. They make flying a much more pleasant experience, even allowing me to sleep once in a while.
 
Yep, gotta say I agree. Beats are an overhyped POS brand made popular by marketing. My Sennheiser HD 280 Pros are infinitely superior by comparison, and a lot of audiophiles think even those are trash. I received a pair of Beats Solos as a gift, and they aren't even in the same ballpark as the HD 280s...
 
I don't have a high opinion of Beats, but really that article can be summarised as:

* Beats appear to have weight added to give the impression of quality and heft
* Beats are packaged in luxurious packing to give the impression of quality
* Beats are cheaper to make than to sell (excluding R&D costs)

To me it read like an article by somebody who knew what conclusion he wanted and worked backwards from there. If you want to show that they are lousy headphones, tell us about things like frequency response, sound stage, clarity and so on. Tell us how they compare, even subjectively against cheaper and more expensive headphones.
 
http://www.cnet.com/news/the-four-bits-of-metal-that-make-beats-headphones-feel-less-flimsy/

You might feel fooled on hearing about this.

Or you might merely marvel at the ingenuity offered by designers and marketers to give you what makes you feel good.

You may well be one of the millions who love their Beats headphones. This may be because LeBron James tells you to. Or it may be because Dr. Dre does.

When you put them on, they look just so and every so often you get admiring glances as you walk through an airport with them hanging around your neck like a recent romantic conquest.

I think that pretty well sums up pop culture and irrational American consumption. Darn that Sigmund Freud and Edward Bernays. ;)
 
If people actually had good ears and could listen to beats before buying them, then that would be enough to put someone off. Unfortunately the market for such headphones does not lie with audiophiles, which would make up a small percent of people who listen to music, and instead with people who want to wear whats 'fashionable' and listen to music casually, which would probably make up 99% of people, so beats will continue to sell no matter what the quality of their product. Quality of product is really just a function of market demand.
 
Quality of product is really just a function of market demand.
Depends upon what types of goods and services are involved. Improved quality of product can lead to greater market demand. And all of the economic models and market assumptions don't mean much when they are consistently undermined by marketing techniques exploiting irrational behavior in people.
 
There's a reason you don't see them in studios, where sound matters.

Bermuda
 
I sampled a pair of Beats Pro recently and I didn't think that they were any better than my cheap Vic Firth headphones that I use just for practice.

I like my Shure 425 dual driver in ears for general listening and stage monitoring.
I would however like to move up to Shure's higher end model with three drivers.
More low end would be nice.
 
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I think those tech news articles are antiquated.
Anyone who wants to know a good set of phones would go to one of the many audiophile forums and glean the necessary info there.
Beats are fashionable.
 
Since this brand of headphones are basically considered a consumer trick, a little sidetrack....who can recommend a set of high end phones that are worth the money?
 
Since this brand of headphones are basically considered a consumer trick, a little sidetrack....who can recommend a set of high end phones that are worth the money?

Sony MDR-7506 is my main go-to headphone. And they only cost $99 at Guitar Center or Sam Ash. They are a staple in major studios around the world. GK Ultraphones are actually the Sony MDR-7506 installed into Peltor shooter's earmuffs.

Of course, I like the AKG K240's too, but I own several pairs of the Sony's.
 
Sony MDR-7506 is my main go-to headphone. And they only cost $99 at Guitar Center or Sam Ash. They are a staple in major studios around the world. GK Ultraphones are actually the Sony MDR-7506 installed into Peltor shooter's earmuffs.

Of course, I like the AKG K240's too, but I own several pairs of the Sony's.

99 bucks sounds almost too cheap. I thought you were going to quote something in the 250-300 range. Which are more comfy, your Sony's or the AKG?
 
Since this brand of headphones are basically considered a consumer trick, a little sidetrack....who can recommend a set of high end phones that are worth the money?

I also really like the Sony MDR-7506’s - they’re good all-around cans. My other favorites, are Grado headphones. For around the same price as the Sony's, the SR-80e’s are one of the all-time great deals. Like the Sonys they’ve been around for 20+ years, are durable, comfortable and sound great.

The thing with Grado’s though, is they’re open back - so they don’t isolate sound - but open back headphones sound incredible!
 
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