You can trace the resurgence in the popularity of over-ear headphones back to the release of Dr Dres Beats Headphones in 2008. Due to some expert marketing the bulky headphones suddenly became the must-have fashion accessory for footballers, celebrities and the worlds most successful hip hop producer, Dr dre beats:clapping:
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Four years later, Beats has finally decided to re-imagine their flagship headphones so how do the companys new Studio Beats compared to the original Studio HD headphones? Well, quite well actually. Beats have tried to address several of the flaws that plagued the original design. Having owned two pairs, I know first-hand where the last headphones fell down compared to the competition.
First of all, Beats thought that having battery-powered headphones was a good idea. But in practice it was one of their biggest flaws. Theres nothing worse than getting on a plane or a train to find out youve forgot to turn them off, and youve drained the batteries. Now, you might think thats fine: theyll still work just minus the noise-cancelling tech, right? Well youre wrong, with no juice theyre rendered completely useless and for the 269 price tag thats almost unforgivable.
This time around the company has looked to improve this situation with the inclusion of a 20-hour rechargeable battery, which powers the headphones adaptive noise cancelling technology, now as soon as you unplug the headphones from your device they shut down completely.
Beats have also gone to great lengths to make their flagship cans as light as possible, shaving 13% off the total weight, which makes them a lot more comfortable during prolonged listening periods.
Despite the eye-watering price tag, and the word studio, Beats headphones should never be let near a studio, let alone a music producer this is because theyre famed for being incredibly inaccurate when it comes to sound reproduction. Beats headphones are notoriously bass heavy, incredibly punchy and while that might turn some audiophiles off theres no doubt they sound relatively impressive despite the woeful sound accuracy. The decision to go bass-heavy is Beats realisation that your average music fan is listening to crappy mp3s where quality takes a back seat to overall audio fidelity.
The decision by Beats to continue to utilise noise-cancelling tech is once again a double-edge sword; at its best it can pretty much cancel out, say, the drone of an aircraft engine. But at worst it requires power and if you havent got any left youre essentially left with a rather expensive headband.
And thats the main problem with Beats Studio headphones; theyre less about audio fidelity and more about a fashion statement if you want highly accurate headphones wed recommend you checking out some other headphones, but if you want to make a fashion-statement then Beats headphones offer a premium price alongside solid branding.
.
Four years later, Beats has finally decided to re-imagine their flagship headphones so how do the companys new Studio Beats compared to the original Studio HD headphones? Well, quite well actually. Beats have tried to address several of the flaws that plagued the original design. Having owned two pairs, I know first-hand where the last headphones fell down compared to the competition.
First of all, Beats thought that having battery-powered headphones was a good idea. But in practice it was one of their biggest flaws. Theres nothing worse than getting on a plane or a train to find out youve forgot to turn them off, and youve drained the batteries. Now, you might think thats fine: theyll still work just minus the noise-cancelling tech, right? Well youre wrong, with no juice theyre rendered completely useless and for the 269 price tag thats almost unforgivable.
This time around the company has looked to improve this situation with the inclusion of a 20-hour rechargeable battery, which powers the headphones adaptive noise cancelling technology, now as soon as you unplug the headphones from your device they shut down completely.
Beats have also gone to great lengths to make their flagship cans as light as possible, shaving 13% off the total weight, which makes them a lot more comfortable during prolonged listening periods.
Despite the eye-watering price tag, and the word studio, Beats headphones should never be let near a studio, let alone a music producer this is because theyre famed for being incredibly inaccurate when it comes to sound reproduction. Beats headphones are notoriously bass heavy, incredibly punchy and while that might turn some audiophiles off theres no doubt they sound relatively impressive despite the woeful sound accuracy. The decision to go bass-heavy is Beats realisation that your average music fan is listening to crappy mp3s where quality takes a back seat to overall audio fidelity.
The decision by Beats to continue to utilise noise-cancelling tech is once again a double-edge sword; at its best it can pretty much cancel out, say, the drone of an aircraft engine. But at worst it requires power and if you havent got any left youre essentially left with a rather expensive headband.
And thats the main problem with Beats Studio headphones; theyre less about audio fidelity and more about a fashion statement if you want highly accurate headphones wed recommend you checking out some other headphones, but if you want to make a fashion-statement then Beats headphones offer a premium price alongside solid branding.
