Monster’s Beats headphones, prescribed by the doctor

Audio

If you haven’t heard about these yet, then you need to hear them! Dr. Dre teamed up with Monster a couple years back to design a fantastic pair of studio headphones. Though it was probably Jimmy who put the deal together. What you get is a listening experience that puts a pair of tuned studio monitors on your head, and that’s a good thing. There are some headphones that offer decent low-end reproduction, but they’re smoked by the Beats. Plus, mids and highs come through incredibly clear with some of the best audio reproduction we’ve ever heard on some ‘phones. There are a couple minor downsides, though. First off, since they offer noise-cancellation, they are powered by two AAA batteries. Secondly, they are sort of a mix between open air and closed headphones, so when you’re crankin’ Soulja Boy on your next flight, expect the seven closest passengers to start doing the superman because they’ll likely hear your music. Open airs let the sound pass through the headphones which is why you get that full natural sound — the drivers are a little exposed to the outside — and not that distorted mess some of us are accustomed to. They’ve even included a special cable which houses a call answer button and mic, so you can take your calls while listening to music on your iPhone or BlackBerry. Nice! Industrial design? Please, this is Dr. Dre. You know they’re going to look great, and they do. With a black lacquer finish and red color scheme, they’ll definitely stand out from the crowd, for better or worse. They’re a tad bit large, and while well constructed, we can’t help but feel that the folding mechanism to store the headphones is going to be a problem. Oh well, Monster will just send us another pair if that happens…

Click on over to our Monster Beats headphones gallery!

21 Comments
  • coldcC

    I scream giveaway. I would love to hear still dre or any soung from chronic 2000 on these headphones

  • marvONE

    Hi hater thanks for finally reviewing these, since I TOLD you to do so last week.

    4HRS IN THE SIX DEUCE

  • Jeff B.

    …I don’t get what either one of them are saying but these are kick ass headphones. If I only had the money.

  • Pierce

    …but how do they compare to the Bose On-Ear Headphones? Because they have real good low-end range.

  • The Outside

    finally something by motorola i want!

  • http://myspace.com/lanceworld Blackula

    I hope those are just for consumer use b/c everything they listed about these headphones dont scream studio use. Im a musician and having artifical noise added to a mix from the noise cancelation system will only screw up a project you had created. If anyone looking for a good pair of headphones, i would prefer Sennheiser HD280Pro http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/productdetail.asp?transid=004974 They are worth the money, oh at guitarcenter have them for 99.99. Can’t beat that price.
    Keep music alive and sounding alive.

  • http://www.bgr.com The Boy Genius

    @Blackula

    There’s no artificial noise added, in fact, you’ll likely hear artifacts in your mixes you never knew were there before.

  • Al Pavangkanan

    Monster brand? Will it cost 15 times its actual worth?

  • Kevin®

    @the outside

    Say what?

  • gadgetchic

    i tried them at an apple store the other day, pretty amazing. now if someone will lend me $350 lol

  • ND

    I tried them also! (Apple Store, Southlake Tx)

    They are really nice. Cool look. BUT Everyone in a ten mile radius left there prints for the feds (lacquered finish). I also questioned the travel-ability of these phones. Had a hard time figuring if these could fold. And since I didn’t have my wallet on me (left in car) I decided not to explore and possibly break them. Overall nice product but I wouldn’t buy.

    Well, Maybe for my nephew. These would be nice for a kid but not a pro mixer/engineer/audiophile. Hyped bass response is completely unnatural!

    AKG 240 MK II are way better!

  • http://palaciofreire@blogspot.com palacio freire

    I’d love to have a pair of those. I’m a sound freak! I can’t live without stereo sound though i don’t have any 5.1 system at home. I’ve got a pair of Edifiers cd-661MV jacked to my PC, not expensive, not great and a bit tight but pretty good, overall, good enough to perceive how crappy MP3 conversion is, even at its lower compression rate.

  • Scoopster

    The bass on these is so unnatural — as in unnaturally dominant. If you’re the kind of person who wants the music to sound totally different than the way it was recorded, then by all means buy these.

    But if you’re the kind of person who likes your tunes to sound the same way that the artist intended them to sound when s/he recorded the song….there are a load of more accurate cans and in-ear buds out there that will offer much more true fidelity.

  • http://myspace.com/lanceworld Blackula

    @ BG.
    Yea i heard that before about bose nose cancelling headphones too. all the same. Nose cancelling still add background noise but invert the signal so it can sound out of phase.

  • riz

    for street use I think it’s hard to beat in-ear monitors. They’re more portable, deliver fantastic sound w/ passive isolation(when they fit properly), and don’t bleed like a wounded animal pissing off every other person on the bus.

    Also, $350 is a lot of scratch. I wonder how they’d stack up to a pair of comparably priced Grados for home use…

  • Lil Whoa

    @Blackula

    You’re a musician? Congrats, but I know you’re no Dr. Dre. Unless you’re Timbaland, you have no legit argument. (I’m not saying Timbaland is better than Dre, just the next in line when it comes to beats and producing).

  • ChrisNYC

    @Lil Whoa

    He said he was a musician. That may mean he plays an acoustic instrument, and perhaps writes sheet music, two things Dre doesn’t do.

    He’s stating that Noise Cancellation involves adding noise, which is well documented.

    These new Monster phones might have some new NC technology, I don’t know.

    What I do know is Monster lost my trust for ripping people off all these years on their cables.

    I’ll give the things a listen today before rushing to judgement though.

  • http://www.yardbarker.com Andrew

    The low end on these headphones is the best I have ever heard for a pair of headphones in this price range. They also play as loud as 115db.

    You literally can feel the low end with these headphones. Its quite the experience. Make sure if you do test them to turn on sound check on your ipod or in itunes. To me it makes them sound much more balanced than the standard really bass heavy default setting.

    And remember…no highs, no lows. It must be Bose.

  • http://www.myspace.com/l0v3 will

    maybe to dj with but certainly not to produce with

  • Mr. Crash

    Does anyone actually do the body of their production work with headphones anyway?…

    I mean some purists might say never use headphones, but in reality you always use them a little. Still, I don’t think it would be more than a small portion of your whole job.

  • Kunikos

    I’d rather have a pair of Beyer Dynamic DT770 Pro’s:

    They’re closed ear cans with awesome low end response.

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