Once Monster dipped its toes into the headphone market, there was no stopping the cable manufacturer from releasing a bevy of earphones on the unsuspecting masses. From in-ear to on-ear to over-the-ear models, you shouldn't have trouble finding a pair of undeniably stylish Monster headphones to suit your needs. The latest offering, the Beats by Dr Dre Solo headphones, is an on-ear model that features ControlTalk, which is essentially fancy terminology for an inline mic and integrated controls for an iPod. This £155 set offers all the bass we expected from the first two Dr Dre headphones in a slick, compact package. Unfortunately, while the low end is satisfyingly ear-shaking, it also tends to muddy up the overall sound space.
Quality construction
The Solo headphones follow in the tradition of Monster's other Dr Dre-branded earphones, right down to the black and white colour options. These headphones look very similar to the original model with the full-size earcups, except the overall size of everything is noticeably smaller because of the on-ear design.
The earpieces, which feature the customary, red, lower-case 'b' logo stamped on a brushed-chrome circle, are round and measure just 56mm across. The earpads swivel slightly in the base for a more comfortable fit and are designed to rest on the outer ear. While we found the Solo headphones quite comfortable for an hour or two, some may experience uncomfortable pressure from this design, as we did after a couple of hours.
From the earcups to the headband, the Solo headphones have a pleasing, quality feel to them. The adjustable band is made of metal coated in a soft, matte plastic and features some padding on the top, as well as the Dr Dre logo stamped on the outside. A single, removable cable in the signature Beats thick, red coating attaches to the left earcup via a gold-plated straight plug. Following this 130cm to the other end brings you to an uber-reinforced, gold-plated L-plug that attaches to your audio source. The cable appears to be exceptionally durable and is not at all tangle-prone -- a definite plus in our book.
The Solo headphones have a couple of additional features worth mentioning. Foremost is that they include ControlTalk, which refers to a small square module a few inches down the cable that has an integrated mic and call-answer button for use with music phones. This button also doubles as playback controls for an iPod or iPhone, with one click playing or pausing music, two clicks skipping forward a track, and three skipping back.
The module also incorporates a volume rocker, which appears to work only with the aforementioned Apple devices. Finally, the headphones fold down into a compact form for storage and transport, and Monster includes a case for these purposes as well.
Bass all up in your face
While the original Beats by Dr Dre headphones rather underwhelmed us in the bass department, the Solo headphones take things in quite the opposite direction. Indeed, the low end can be overwhelming, especially on first use. Although the thumpiness mellows after the earphones have 'burned in' somewhat, there are still several tracks that tend to suffer from muddiness, Five Deez's Afghanistan Dan's Skating Stand being one example. As such, if you tend to listen to plenty of beat-heavy electronica, or even dance pop, you'll probably be disappointed with the audio reproduction.
On the plus side, not all songs sound overly muffled. We had a fair amount of luck with alt dance (Cobra Starship, 3OH!3), clean alt punk (No Doubt), some rap (MC Solaar, 50 Cent), and folk-like music (Dan Hicks). With these tracks, the Solos offered reasonably clear audio with defined low- and high-ends and a smooth mid-range. And yet it's hit and miss: T.I. tends to sound muddy, for example, and Journey's Don't Stop Believing is lacking in crisp response.
Conclusion
For £155 or thereabouts, we'd expect a pair of headphones that are suited to a greater number of genres. The design alone of the Monster Beats by Dr Dre Solo headphones may be enough to convince some people to invest, however.
Additional editing by Charles Kloet
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User reviews7
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69bloodsworth 24 November 2012
Good: The Looks
Bad: The cord
Comment: They work for about a day or two, they have a defective cord.
I've had to exchange 2 and the same thing happened both times, the switch on the cord breaks.
Dobbin 11 October 2012
Good: great base. good fit, plays loud. fairly good depth enjoyable sound,
Bad: high price. not much treble detail stereo image could be better Dr
Comment: Dr Beats, solo HD
There are no sharp edges on the sound of The Beats. Its all smooth, sugary smooth, almost. Not that they can't rock. They can. Some U2, Guns n Roses Coldplay The base is the defining quality. It goes way down. It doesnt really take over the rest of the music. But the top end, the trebles are not really defined. The Beats sounded good on some soul tracks, and on internet radio. I have thought they only just justified the hefty price tag. And, probably, there are better musicaly defined, headphones out there for the same price. With
better high ends and stereo imaging. Although I thought, the depth of sound created
was pretty fair. They fit well and are comfortable. They do eliminate a lot of outside noise.
They are packaged in a sturdy, large red box.Which must have added to the overall cost of the headphones. But, a few weeks on, its still a buzz taking the Beats out of the box Like they were new again. And it does keep them well protected. The cable is anti tangle, as much as it can be. There is a neat sound etc slide at the top end of the cable. Which works with Ipods.Four stars (Imo) is adequate taking into account the price. They do present the music in an enjoyable a way. Providing you dont expect too much top end detail. And, for me, for some reason I find their sound (although lacking in some respects) strangely addictive.
phmiscro 5 October 2012
Good: sound quality.
Bad: not
Comment: Today Monster has become a leader in audio/video accessories. Why are the Monster Beats so much better than standard headphones? The answer, it seems, is all in the sound quality.I like headphones better.
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