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Headphones

Owned by Nathan Wailes
Last updated: Mar 11, 2019

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I tried Beats years ago, before my foray into high-end headphones, and I thought they sounded awesome. Since then, I’ve tried numerous other headphones, but never really hated on Beats. I assumed that people hated Beats just because it was fashionable to do so. I figured they were decent enough quality, but overpriced due to the brand name. However, I recently tried a pair of Beats Studios again, and was shocked to find that I was wrong: they really aren’t very good at all.

Many audiophiles would have you believe Beats are bad because have too much bass. I disagree. It’s that they have too much low quality bass, with even worse mids and treble. If you want to hear what Beats sound like, pull up your equalizer and ram the midbass frequencies up. Hear that loud, boomy, awful noise? That’s what Beats sound like. There’s not nearly enough definition to make the bass sound good, and it drowns out nearly everything else in the music—which is probably okay, because the treble and mids sound like they’re coming from inside a well. The Pro and Executive lines are supposed to be somewhat better than the Studios and Solos (I haven’t tried them myself), but are still far more expensive than they should be.

[...]

Here are a few recommendations for bass-heavy Beats alternatives:

Denon AH-D600 ($268 on Amazon): In my opinion, these are the ultimate Beats alternatives. They’re a little less portable and they don’t have active noise cancellation, but they have some serious, high quality bass slam. It drowns out the mids a tad, but overall the rest of the sound is much clearer and more balanced than Beats’. All that for $30 less than the Beats Studios.

V-Moda Crossfade M-100 ($299 on Amazon, shown above): These are the only headphones on the list that I’ve never heard, but word on the street is they’re the other ultimate Beats replacements—and for around the same price as the Beats Studios. They are much more portable than the Denons, so if that’s important to you, they’re worth looking at.

Audio Technica ATH-M50 ($149 on Amazon): Audio Technica’s insanely popular M50s are not quite as bassy as the others on this list, but still have a but of extra punch in the lower end. Their higher end is also a tad brighter. This would probably be a good headphone if you listen to genres other than just rap or electronic.

Shure SRH750DJ ($149 on Amazon): Not quite as popular as either the above contenders, the SRH750DJ has some really nice bass boost that doesn’t drown out the mids quite as much. Treble suffers slightly, and they aren’t the most comfortable things in the world, but they’re worthy of their small but loyal fanbase.

Ultrasone HFI-580 ($183 on Amazon): Like the M50s, most of the Ultrasone line has a nice bass boost, but the treble tends to be on the brighter side (even brighter than the M50s, in my experience). Check out the 780s ($234 on Amazon) if you’re willing to spend a bit more.

Sennheiser’s Momentum and Urbanite line ($85 and up): Since the original publication of this article, fan-favorite headphone manufacturer Sennheiser came out with two bass-oriented lines that come in different sizes and prices, just like Beats. Both are solid. The Momentums are a bit more balanced, good for bass-loving rock enthusiasts, while the Urbanite line is more of a strict Beats alternative, complete with booming bass for rap and electronic listeners.

[...]

Comment:

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this article!

I am a club DJ of 30 years now (geez...I'm old), which pretty much has seen me go the gamut of dance music from when it was called "Disco" to "EDM." I've always absolutely devoured a deep (and I mean vibrate-your-bones-deep) bass hook. Over the years I've gone through many, many headphones, and some of the best, low-to-midrange (i.e. $50-$150) cans I've heard have come from Sony; the MDR line has always been my go-to for mixing in the club and my studio at home, and I'm using the MDR-V700s for that purpose now.

When the Beats first came out, I gave them a listen and they just sounded like audio mud. The bass was thick and flat, the mids muted like a trumpet through a horn, and the highs sounded like they were being filtered through bales of cotton. In essence, the fidelity sucked. Yet it amazed me how many people bought them 'cause they were more concerned about being "cool" than about the quality of the sound.

It always seemed like such a waste of money.

When I worked in radio (in the mid '80s) we used Sennheiser's in the studio, and they were bright, crisp, and accurate; but I could never afford a pair on my own. To me, they were the best I'd ever heard, until I went to work for Apple, and got a listen to headphones made by Bowers & Wilkins.

The first pair of B&Ws I put on literally made my jaw drop. They were P5's, open air design, with 5" drivers. The sound was simply incredible, and well worth the $299 pricetag. There were also a pair of Harmon Kardon bluetooth (yes, I said "bluetooth") headphones that could be used either wirelessly, or with a wire, which put out equally amazing sound and for $50 less!

Now, these are audiophile brands, priced very, very close to the Beats, with a difference in sound quality that is night-and-day!

I became something of an evangelist. Everytime I would see someone reach for a pair of Beats, I'd encourage them to check out the B&Ws, the HKs, and even the consumer-grade Sennheisers we had in stock. Most times, unless they were adolescents, they'd put the Beats down, and grab one of the other brands. And then they would thank me for not letting them waste $300 dollars on a pair of "crappy" (though most often, the word was somewhat less polite) headphones.

So, again, THANK YOU for this article. It should be required reading for anyone looking to spend more than $100 on a set of cans. My greatest hope is that everyone who reads this, passes it along to as many people as they can, so that Beats can finally be put where they belong — the clearance bin at the Dollar Store.

Exercise headphones

  • Thoughts on the Sony exercise headphones:
    • Almost no bass. I was really bummed when I saw this, but after spending more time with the headphones I think it may be OK.
    • Very crisp highs.
    • Use the rubber band thing they give you, it does a great job of keeping the earbuds firmly in your ear canal. Scoot each of the two ends up as far as they'll go, and they'll pull the "arms" of the earphones against your skull, which will pull the earbuds into your canal.
    • The ambient sound feature is soooo cool. It basically lets you not have to take off the headphones to talk to people; you can just press a button instead and hear everything they have to say, then press the button again and not able to hear what they're saying anymore.
    • To turn it off, hold the power button for ~4 seconds and wait for the green light to turn off.

Noise-cancelling headphones

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