Customer Reviews

Beats Solo by Dr. Dre On-Ear Headphones with ControlTalk (Black)

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(40)

 

 

Last year, I tried out a pair of Beats Studio noise-cancelling headphones at an Apple Store and, upon listening to the music selection, decided that it was the best sounding headphones I had ever listened to. I was impressed enough that I was tempted to purchase them on the spot...but I had some hesitations which led me to walk out empty-handed. The caveats then were:
-Battery required for operation (due to the noise-cancelling function, which I didn't need)
-Large size
-The plastic material felt cheap and likely to crack easily
-and of course, the price (about three-hundred fifty USD at the time)

The sound of the Beats Studio had "haunted" me since, as I searched in vain for a cheaper and better quality pair of headphones which matched or beat that sound. I tried pairs from Grado, Ultimate Ears, Sennheiser, Bose, but never felt satisfied with the sound quality as I had with the Beats Studio. Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I learned that these headphones, the Beats Solo, were coming out. I saw that the price was below two-hundred USD and ordered them immediately. My hope was that the sound quality would be just as good as the more expensive Beats Studio.

These headphones have met all my expectations. The sound is truly amazing and I can clearly hear so much detail in my music. The headphones do a swell job of projecting the background detail enough, but not too much that it drowns out the rest of the music. Also, the bass is slightly amplified so you hear some slight "thump thump" but is definitely not overpowering like "THUMP! THUMP!"

As for the caveats that I had with the more expensive Beats Studio, they are all addressed to my satisfaction with the Beats Solo:
+These headphones are not noise-cancelling, and as a result do not use a battery. They are simply plug-in headphones without an on/off switch.
+The Beats Solo is more compact than and not as bulky as the Studio phones. They also fold and can be stored in the included neoprene carrying pouch.
+The quality of the plastic in these phones is much superior. These phones feel solid and worth the price.
+The price is still high, but I believe it's more reasonable.

There are some other differences that are noteworthy about the Beats Solo over the Beats Studio:
+The Solo headphones are worn so that they rest on TOP of your ear, and not surrounding them. If you are familiar with Bose's line of headphones, then the Beats Solo would compare to the Bose On-Ear headphones. The Studio phones, however, fit around the ear and would compare to the Bose QC2/Quiet Comfort 15 phones.
+The cheaper Solo headphones have a 3-year warranty vs. 1-year warranty for the more expensive Studio headphones. (Interesting...)
+While both headphones include a cable with a mic that can be used with an iPhone or similar phones, the Solo headphone cord also has a remote control that can control the volume and other functions. However, this feature isn't perfect. The button that controls playback functions is too small that I typically would hit the volume button at the same time. Also, I tried using the phones while making calls with my iPhone 3GS, and the people on the other end complained that they heard a substantial amount of background noise.

In conclusion, I believe the Beats Solo headphones have excellent sound, quality construction and sleek design which make them worthy of their price. They are, in my mind, a better buy than the more expensive Beats Studio headphones. Only if you are a frequent flyer who would benefit from noise-cancelling should you consider buying the Studio headphones. Otherwise, the Solo headphones are the ones to get.

--------------------------
EDIT (February 25, 2010) - Apparently Monster has decided to shorten the warranty on the Beats Solo to 1 year only. I went into the Apple Store today where I had purchased my set and saw that of the stock they have, a few of the units had "Three Year Limited Warranty" written on the box (lower part of the left spine) while the rest had "One Year Limited Warranty" instead. I spoke with one of the Apple Store guys who confirmed that the 1-year warranty units were their newer stock. I wouldn't consider this a reason to take off any stars since I still think these are great headphones; I guess Monster chose to match Bose and Sony in regards to the warranty length, which is indeed a shame.

Thanks to Suzie Mcleod for first discovering this change.


--------------------------
EDIT (December 16, 2010) - Thought I'd add a little update that after owning these headphones for more than 1 year, they're still working great for me! I noticed many of the negative reviews about the head band breaking; mine has not broken fortunately, but I've been very gentle with my headphones and have been careful to not overstretch the band when putting them on. I'd say if you're careful and patient enough to take a few extra seconds when putting on these phones, you shouldn't have to worry about the head band breaking. As for the sound quality, I still think it's terrific. I recently did an accidental comparison of these phones to my pair of Ultimate Ears 700 earbuds (which I've also given a positive review of here on Amazon). Basically I had taken off the Beats and put on the Ultimate Ears buds immediately as I was heading out of the house. I had never done that before. The difference in sound quality was very noticeable, like night and day. The Beats headphones trumped the Ultimate Ears. With the Beats, I felt like I was in a concert hall listening to the music, and the details were noticeable. With the earbuds, I felt like I was listening to the music through a tin can. The sound quality felt cheap and awful, and the detail was not as impressive. Granted, this could be a common comparison between a pair of full-size headphones like the Beats and a pair of in-ear buds. Nevertheless, I thought I'd throw it out here just to give my perspective. I still highly recommend these phones.

--------------------------
EDIT (May 28, 2011) - Well, so my headphones DID break! I was taking them off normally and in a gentle manner when I heard a snap, and knew instantly what happened. While it was frustrating to have the headphones break, exchanging them under warranty was literally painless. I called Monster's warranty line and got someone in the U.S. with barely any wait time. The lady took down my particulars and gave me an RMA number and address to ship the broken pair of headphones. She also emailed it as well, which was really handy. I did have to pay out-of-pocket to ship the broken pair of headphones (under $10), which was fine to me although I know some people will complain about that. She told me that it would take them 3-4 weeks to process my exchange, but literally a week after I shipped off the busted pair I was surprised to get a package from Monster. They sent me a brand-new pair of the same model complete in sealed retail packaging with all accessories. The replacement pair I got was identical to my previous pair in both looks and feel of the material and construction. I couldn't help but notice that on the new package is a sticker saying "Featuring Superior Strength Headband". I did not, and do not intend to, test this claim :D

Overall, I too got the "broken headphone syndrome". However, Monster's customer service and fast warranty service was very good and practically hassle-free, and I got a new pair in less than 2 weeks. I was glad to see Monster stand behind their product like that, and hence I do not see any reason to take any stars off my original 5-star rating. Hopefully my new pair will last longer.

I tried a pair of these headphones at a Best Buy demo station and was immediately blown away by the bass. I quickly bought a pair hoping all my music would sound just as good with that kind of bass. Unfortunately when I got home and started listening to music on my iPod I was very disappointed by the overall sound quality.

Yes, the bass is amazing, but the mid-range is blown out and not at all natural sounding for most music. Even worse the highs are very weak and it seemed like I was missing a lot of the high range while listening to the music. For example, many female singers sounded distant and muffled. I am not an audiophile, but I had a pair of Sony v900 studio headphones which had recently given out after 10 years of use, which the Beats solo were supposed to replace. The v900's had far better balance and a much more natural sound than the Beats, and I only paid $150 compared to the $180 for the Beats.

On the positive side the Beat's look very nice and the build quality seemed decent, although I did see a demo pair at Best Buy with the headband broke in two. They also fold up nicely and come with a carrying case.

If you listen to a lot of different types of music and this is going to be your main pair of headphones, then I would pass on them. If you mainly listen to rap or synth music with a lot of bass, then you may be extremely happy with them as they have some of the most powerful bass I have ever heard from a pair of headphones.

I bought these hoping that they would be my primary iphone/ipod headphones. I'm writing this review after trying them out for a month. (I just returned them today).

Well, the headphones were okay. The sound wasn't that great. I listen to all types of music (rap, classic rock, classical) on the headphones. I also listened from my computer, directly from the CD, and from my mp3 player. No big difference. I changed my EQ to acoustic to see if it would make the sound better (it didn't). I really can't say that the solo's are vastly superior to the earbuds that came with my iphone. I read some reviews that headphones have to be used for a while before they sound good. Well, after a month they sound pretty much the as they did when i first bought them. Also, the headphones don't block out very much background noise on an airplane. I know they're not noise cancelling, but i'm just letting you know.

My complaint is that music didn't sound crisp. The headphones do bass fine. They look really good. The iphone talk, volume control, and track skip feature worked great. I tried out the beats studio and QC3 and bose 15 today and all of them sounded noticeably better to my ears. Maybe i was expecting too much out of my headphones with the beats solo.

hopefully my review gives some extra perspective. most of the reviews are 5stars but i just don't see it.

Thanks.

Got these a month ago and last week was putting on my head and heard a snap. It broke right before the screws and from other reviews I've read I'm not the only one. For a $200 pair these are plastic made and the ban that goes on your head are not durable. I'm going through the process right now with Monster. If you are going to get these make sure you get an insurance for them. Best Buy has a good warranty and will exchange them but if you don't you have to go through this long process that I'm going through. Like I said on the header, "Good Sound but Bad Quality."

I must say that I support 100% what D. Bezboruah said on his review, so my comments will not be a duplicate of what he said.

These are by far the best headphones I've ever had. I travel a lot and tried 3 other kind and brand of headphones hoping to get what I expected when flying on a plane and listen to my music and movies on my iPod Touch. Well, I first purchased the JBL Ref 610, since I have some issues on carrying cables over me and these are bluetooth which I loved. The sound was nice, obviously they did not have any noise cancelling feature but I didn't mind then since my intention was to get rid of cables... time passed and changed my mind, I really needed at least a little bit of noise cancelling so I went back to headphones with cable.

My second pair were the Audio-Technica ATHANC7 and they were pretty nice for noise cancelling but not so good for sound... I'm a hip-hop music lover so you can guess that I love deep bass and these ones were not good for bass sounds, in addition to have to use batteries. They were bulky as well and took more space within my laptop case than I expected.

Then I tried the Bose QuietComfort 15, those were GREAT for noise cancelling when flying (really) and the sound was pretty good, but not great... I also hated the size even that those were smaller than the Audio-Technica's... but I sticked to those for several months without complaints.

Then I went to an electronic shop and found the Dr. Dre Studio, tried them on, the sound was amazing but they were bigger than the Bose's, the materials felt not so "strong" and the price was way to expensive for my taste... but when amazon came with these little ones I thought, well, they must sound at least as good as the Studio ones, so I decided to buy them.

Now I fly with these little giants, the sound is OUTSTANDING, both high, mids and lows, great bass performance, they DON'T need batteries to work and even that they do not isolate the plane's noise as great as the Bose's, they DO have some nice noise cancelling because of the way they fit on your ears. I finally get what I expected, great sound, great fit and a nice level noise cancelling without carrying batteries or recharging them with a cable.

First, let me say: DO NOT BUY THESE HEADPHONES!

Now for the review.

When I tried out these headphones, I was blown away by how well they fit what I wanted in a headphone. I listen to a lot of heavy beat music (i.e. hip-hop, techno, etc.) and these headphones cannot be beat in terms of sound if those are your tastes. The bass and low mids come in hard and smooth sounding (not crackly or simply too loud), and the treble and upper mids come in very clear. I have pairs of on-ear sennheisers that have possess the melodic clarity that I wanted, but lack the thumping bass I was looking for. These headphones were seemingly the answer to my and all bass-lovers prayers.

Now for the bad part, I owned these headphones for about 3 weeks and took great care of them. I never dropped them, wiped them off every now and then and never overextended the band on top. However, one day I was putting them on normally and the band simply snapped. I was so shocked that such a great sounding and stylish product, would be so lacking in construction.

When I called the monster help-line written on the warranty, it appeared that it was in fact the office of monster. Four options were listed before the warranty service extension was provided, and when this extension was provided, the automated voice said the four numbers once as rapidly as possible before hanging up. This seemed to indicate to me that monster does not take kindly to warranty service. This assertion was only further reinforced when I was put on hold for about 30 minutes before hanging up and attempting to return the product to the retailer.

In a stroke of good luck, the retailer accepted the return because it was within 30 days. However, to avoid shelling out almost $200 for poorly constructed headphones, don't buy them.

Like you, probably, I have read all the reviews criticizing the quality issues with the Solos.
I just bought a pair from the most recent stock (yes, with the 1 year warranty) and do not find the hinges or headband to be any problem. I do wear the headband at a large part which may give some relief to the structure and pressure on the hinges.

But I took it one step further...
I called Monster and asked about the quality issues. They indicated that they did upgrade the materials used to be more flexible and taking the pressure off of the headband. So I guess they listened.

With respect to sound and bass overpowering the music...
There are EQ settings on most players for a reason. Ipod allows a TREBLE BOOSTER setting. This seems to keep good bass with highs and mids too. Nice compromise.

I do not discount the level of quality that these expensive headphone have had, but the new stock and models seem to be just great.

I love them and are a great addition to my collection. They make music listening a total pleasure.

Good luck

People who are willing to spend at least over $100 for headphones should be aware of the overall quality of their headphones. Whether you consider yourself an "audiophile" or not, these headphones are really good for the price. $150 for a nice quality set of headphones isn't really asking for too much. If you love listening to Hip-Hop, R&B, or most things with bass, these headphones are really great for what you're looking for. Especially if you have an iphone because you don't have to take your headphones off so you can answer the phone.

The quality of the sound is really nice. It really does depend on what you're listening to so be aware of the quality of the music in the first place. Don't think it's going to make 128kb songs sound amazing, its not. It's going to really bring out the horrible range of the music. I would say, 256kb minimum. I rip songs at 320kb, so things are good, but not as great as lossless. Listen to lossless music and these headphones sound great.

The physical quality of the headphones are nice, but i am afraid that the hinges may snap. I haven't heard too much about that issue. Will see how that goes in the coming days and months.

Don't listen to the people that complain about the smallest things, you need to really try it out before you pass judgement. Everyone has their own tastes in how they want things to sound. Don't slam on the sound quality if you're using crappy mp3s. Think of how an HD tv makes SD feeds look like crap, its the same way.

Apparently Dr. Dre, and or Monster reads online reviews because the ONLY gripes consumers had for the original Studio headphones were the crappy plastic material that the Studios were made with so they kept snapping or cracking on or near the headpiece on previous owners, and they went and made the Solos with metal or something more flexible, so that part is awesome, and the more affordable price...
Once on, and music is pumping through them, there is NO flaw as far as I could hear.
I love them!!!

I've owned these headphones for about 6 months now and I am still on the fence. There is a lot of truth in all of the other reviews on this board, but I just wanted to have my two cents and sum it up in my own way.
These headphones are not studio headphones, and they are not really meant to watch movies either. Furthermore, they are not particularly good headphones to use on a plane(nor in any enclosed space with other people) as they allow a lot of sound to clearly leak out. In other words people can hear every word of Domestic Violence off of Bobby Digital when you are on the bus. Fair warning.

These headphones are best worn while rocking out in your house. The reason why Lady Gaga is involved with this brand is possibly just because her music sounds so epic on these headphones. The bass is the loudest I have ever heard on a pair of headphones as well. I had to set the volume limit on my iPhone.

That said, these headphones have a crucial flaw which you will discover if they ever come off while you are rocking out. They are fragile and I'm not using that term lightly. Thankfully they stay on well but having just broken my first pair by dropping them from chest height onto carpet I wouldn't want to drop them on concrete from the same height. If you apply too much pressure from the bottom the headband will just snap at the metal joint. The warranty is nice though, they didn't ask any questions. Just told me to ship them back with a copy of the receipt and they would send me a brand new pair. Makes me wonder what kind of actual cost Monster incurs for one of these units. Must be pretty low, but it's in the mail as we speak.

They really do justice to top 40 hits. I've listened to a lot of things I have no interest in just because these headphones made them sound interesting. A lot of modern music is mixed down to sound good on radio and on computer speakers. These headphones are the cure to that mixing because they do not accurately reproduce sound at all. They are like the car stereo of an overzealous 16 year old and I love them for that.

To conclude:
DON'T buy these headphones if you need accurate reproduction of sound cause it is not in these. Also, don't buy them to work out or even to wear out of the house as they bleed sound badly, are not very sturdy and will stain pretty quickly if you go with the white ones.

DO buy these headphones if it is your birthday or you just got three weeks of pay at your new job. If $200 means nothing to you, go to the Colorware website and get some custom Studio Beats and then you will get the same experience. These headphones are the definition of splurging, especially when you consider that more balanced headphones can be purchased for less than a $100.

Still only 3 out of 5, their main drawback is buyer's remorse and the inflexible headband.