Monster Turbine PRO High-Performance In-Ear Speakers (Copper)

by Monster

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2.2 x 6 x 9 inches ; 15.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002EL4RIO
• Item model number: 129396
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #36 in Kindle Store > Kindle Accessories > Earphones

Product Description

MONSTER 129396 Monster Turbine Pro Copper Professional In-Ear Speakers

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you demand the best, the Monster Coppers are it!, April 3, 2011

By 

P. Dobrinen (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Monster Turbine PRO High-Performance In-Ear Speakers (Copper) (Electronics)

I'm a recording engineer with almost twenty years of experience in the recording industry. I had heard that in-ear monitoring systems have greatly improved in the past few years, but I would never trust them for critical mixing or mastering applications. Out of curiosity, I listened to Monster Cable's entire line of in-ear monitoring systems while I was attending the Audio Engineering Society convention in San Francisco in November, 2010. They have a fine line of earphones, but the Coppers absolutely blew me away! I had my iPod with me. I listened with incredulity and astonishment to a new molecular level of detail in music I had mixed as well as songs I knew intimately since childhood. It was as if I had been seeing the world through my own eyes my whole life, then given the opportunity to view the world through an electron microscope, or conversely, going from watching a 13" TV screen to watching a movie screen-the difference in resolution was that dramatic. I've been privileged to listen to music through the highest-end monitoring systems in multi-million dollar mastering suites, and the Monster Coppers stand with the best of them-or better-in my opinion.

After the AES show, I immediately ordered a pair of the Monster Coppers through Amazon. I've purchased a multitude of audio equipment items, but for under $400, these Monster Copper in-ear monitors have been the best investment I've ever made. I've mixed all subsequent projects monitoring with the Monster Coppers and my mixes have translated beautifully to all other listening formats without fail. One mastering engineer even sent one of my mixes back to me recently. He quipped that outside of some minor compression he added, the balance of my mix sounded perfect as is.

I attribute the mastering engineer's high praise to the fact that the Monster Coppers are merciless in revealing every flaw, every minor detail in the program material you are listening to. If you demand the very best in audio reproduction, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better monitoring system (and certainly not at this price point) than the Monster Coppers.

My only qualm with the Monster Coppers is that they act like a stethoscope, in that, any movement of the wiring from the connector to your ears results in extraneous noise. I certainly wouldn't recommend using these in a workout environment. You do have to remain fairly still when using these to get the best effect. Also, in-ear monitors (except expensive custom-molded models) have never felt to me to be suited for long-term use; that is where free-standing speakers and over-the-ear headphones excel. However, to Monster Cable's credit, the supplied rubber ear-molds are quite comfortable (I've worn them for up to 8 hours continuously without ear fatigue), and they do sell innovative ear-mold packages separately to comfortably fit every type of ear (the Monster Cable rep at AES showed me their SuperTips eartips kits).

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, fantastic sound, but I can't use it, April 27, 2011

By 

Raymond E. Garrison "Father of Nick" (Connecticut, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Monster Turbine PRO High-Performance In-Ear Speakers (Copper) (Electronics)

The Monster Turbine Pro Copper (MTPC, or just Copper, below) is, without a doubt, the *BEST* *SOUNDING* *HEADPHONE* I have ever used, and I've used a lot... couple of specific points.

Bass response. I love organ music - and organ music sometimes has deep bass that (almost) no other recorded music approaches. For example, on some of the recordings of the Saint-Saëns 3rd Symphony (the "Organ Symphony") there are fundamental tones as low as 16Hz. No home speaker system will reproduce these accurately at reasonable volume without a subwoofer - at least, none that I know of. You might get a "doubling" of the fundamental tone (2nd harmonic) at a fairly high level at 32Hz, and think you're hearing the right note, but you're not. In fact, you can't really "hear" it - you more or less "feel" it. My Sennheiser HD600 headphones can hint fairly strongly at the deepest notes, but you're not going to feel like you're in a concert hall with a massive organ moving enough air to lift you out of your seat. The Coppers, uniquely in my experience, actually got the tone and timbre, the shear majesty of the music, right. I've heard this performed live a few times in a concert hall that had an organ that could perform this piece the way the composer wanted - and the Coppers made me feel like I was back there. I tried many IEM's before I tried these, and none of them came close in the really, really deep bass department. Which makes me all the sadder (see below.)

Impact (transient response, speed, whatever you want to call it.) Wow. No, wait a second... *WOW* Sit in a small club with a rock band. Sit close. Wince when the drummer starts letting loose. *THWACK* and you blink and jump back a bit in your seat. There's a visceral impact you get live that you (almost never) get listening to a recording. Most recordings don't really capture it, and for those few that do, finding a way to play it back so recreate that impact is not easy. Really good speakers with enough power from a really good source can sort of do it. Really good headphones properly driven can also do it, though it's different - the "thwack" is there, but it's outside coming in, not inside letting loose. ("What did he say???") With the Coppers, the first time I put on Muse - Uprising I not only jumped and blinked, I realized I'd never, ever heard a recording that sounded "real" in this regard. Never. Which makes me all the sadder...

Other stuff - midrange, high end, transparency, soundstage, imaging, tone, timber, pace, rhythm, vocals, yada yada yada - the Coppers were at least as good as any other headphone (or speaker, for that matter) that I've ever used. The only possible criticism I could offer of their sound is the dynamics might even be a bit expanded - sort of like running a non-encoded signal through a dBX decoder, for you old guys out there. Of course, I have no way of knowing whether the Coppers are more right, and simply reproducing the dynamic range with less compression than I'm used to hearing, or whether the Coppers are editorializing a bit. They're dynamic as all get out, though. Which makes me all the sadder...

I simply cannot use these. I spent hours and hours fussing with every tip included with the Coppers - and that's a lot of tips - and not *ONE* *SINGLE* *ONE* of them fit me right. I guess I have weird ears or oddly shaped canals or something, because I've not heard others with this problem, but it drove me absolutely nuts. I could, at times, by pushing and prodding and twisting and tweeking and pulling and swearing, get a fit that let me hear what these things could do. But it only lasted until I took the phones out - the next time I tried to put them back in, I'd start with the rigamarole all over again, sometimes achieving a good seal, mostly not. I even tried 3rd party tips - head-fi dot org has many suggestions - but even those didn't work for me. One Saturday afternoon in a fit of extreme stubbornness I spent (literally) five hours trying every which way with every tip I had to get a decent seal, and all I managed to do was mess up my left ear to the point where it was two days before I could hear properly out of that side. Think all the popping caused by the vacuum when pulling the phones out (and in and out and in and out and in) caused some significant irritation.

I finally gave up and sent them back.

This is not unique to me with the Coppers. I've tried other brands of IEM's and none of them fit me either. Go figure. I guess some people just aren't meant to use IEM phones. Which is a real bummer, because they really do sound wonderful.

Please don't let this review steer you away from these - far from it. I promise you they sound simply amazing. Just be aware that for at least one person who wrote a review, they couldn't get them to fit. Which is a good reason to by from Amazon, of course - if you get these and they don't work, you can always return them.

Be careful with you ears, though. If they don't fit, no amount of stubborn attempts at jamming them in will solve the problem. Trust me on that.

44 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Monster Turbine Pro Copper In-Ear Monitors - A Review, April 27, 2010

By 

leonwho "Leon" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Monster Turbine PRO High-Performance In-Ear Speakers (Copper) (Electronics)

Introduction:

Before I begin this review, I'd just like to thank the folks at Monster for their dedication and generosity in putting together the review program that gave me this opportunity. Do note that after the review program ends, the reviewer (or better known as me. ) does get the opportunity to keep the review unit. While I try to keep an unbiased tone in my reviews, I just wanted to put this disclaimer out there. For more information on this review program, please refer to here.

I have always been an IEM user from the very beginning. In fact, my first audiophile-worthy equipment were in-canal earphones. As I ventured deeper into the depths of high-fidelity audio and more specifically the full-size headphone "arena", I began to lose touch with the portable earphones world. I am happy to say that this new jewel from Monster has brought me back.

Head-Fi is known for, among other things, the overzealous hype surrounding new products, especially within the portable audio world, where new earphones seem to pop up everyday. Because of this, I was understandingly hesitant and cynical when Monster debuted its Turbine Pro line to overwhelmingly positive feedback. I am pleased to say, after trying these little devils out firsthand, that none of the applause was hype.


Packaging, Accessories, and Build Quality:

Packaging-
The Monster Turbine Pro Copper IEMs (hereby denoted by MTPC) arrived in a plain brown box. I was immediately underwhelmed, thinking, "[...] earphones arriving in this?!" A second later, and I realized that I was staring at a FedEx shipping box.

A minute into unboxing the earphones from the clean, minimalistic magnetic black box, and I was instantly hooked. Calling this luxury was an understatement. The MTPC's packaging was superb, to say the least.

Accessories-
Unlike some of the cheaper, if you will, earphones and headphones I have purchased over the years, the MTPC came with a multitude of accessories, including:

A velvety "clasp" case
A magnetic button case
Bag of SuperTips
Bag of gel-filled tips
Bag of tri-flanges and foam tips
Bag of generic silicon tips
Anti-microphonic clothing clip
Holster-style tip holder
Antibacterial cleaning cloth
Documents

On the topic of accessories, the amazing array of tips the MTPC comes with really speaks to how much Monster cares about its customers. There has been a lot of interest on Head-Fi over the variety of tips Monster offers. At the pinnacle are the SuperTips. Called everything from the ultimate sleeves to "the best foam earphone tip on the market". Monster's SuperTips are hybrid foam tips encased by an external layer of soft, cushiony foam and sustained internally by a thick, sturdy silicon of tube. This combination resulted in excellent isolation and comfort, combined with minimal impact on the overall sound quality of the MTPC, a perfect aggregation that no other tip has reached. However, one caveat of the SuperTips is their relatively low durability compared to silicon tips. The silicon tube is easily separated from the exterior, and this might result in degradation in isolation and sound quality after a few months. In the end, nevertheless, SuperTips last far longer and sound better than foam tips, yet provide a more comfortable alternative to traditional silicon tips.

Build Quality-
On to build quality! Even the best earphone is no good if it can't withstand the stress of our daily routines and activities, which is why the build quality of an IEM is so important. One of the first things I noticed after looking at the MTPC was its heftiness. The brass earphones looked and felt practically indestructible, especially compared to the flimsy OEM earphone shells many other audio companies are using. Well, to adequately test the build quality of the MTPC, I decided to take my pair along with me on a 1500+ mile road trip! Needless to say, the MTPC survived the exhibition in tip-top shape, while my stock iPod earbuds died along the way. One downside of the excellent brass design is weight. The MTPC felt heavier in my ears than other comparably sized earphones, but it did not bother me too much.

Monster's highly acclaimed cable management system is also included on the MTPC. A very well-built cable complete with a metal "L-jack" and "Y-split" added to the already glorious build quality of the MTPC. The included clothing clip also reduced microphonics to an almost non-existant level.


Sound Quality:

Most of the attention surrounding the MTPC was centered around its unnaturally excellent sound quality. Of course, seeing as the MTPC retails at $400 and is marketed as a top-tier earphone, I was prepared to also be unnaturally critical. Yet, one minute into the first audition, and I was stunned. Blown away, even. The MTPC is unlike any earphone I have ever owned. More on that in a second.

Bass-
The MTPC is a bass-centric earphone. There's no way around that. And it's not a bad thing either. While its bass quantity falls short of the Sennheiser IE7/8's bass quantity, the MTPC makes it up in quality, producing some of the tightest, best-controlled bass I have ever heard on an earphone. The bass extends low enough for deep bass aficiandos, while staying strong and punchy enough to satisfy anyone from "bassheads" to lovers of lean, audiophilic bass. Impact is excellent, and bass detail retention is above par. There is a hint of muddiness, however, but I'm really just nitpicking now.

Mid-
Liquidy, natural, full, warm are just some of the words I'd use to describe the mids of the MTPC. Keeping in line with the overall balanced natural of the MTPC, the mids are no exception. They are slightly warm, yet still realistically detailed. They are full and weighty, yet still fast and agile. They are forward when needed, yet laid-back enough to not seem tiring. The mids of the MTPC are, in two words, almost perfect. A slight bit of mushiness combined with perhaps a little too much fullness prevents me from giving the MTPC's mids my utmost adoration. In the end, however, these are still some of the best mid frequencies I have heard on any earphone, barely falling short of the Shure SE530.

Treble-
Fans of treble will enjoy the MTPC's sparkle and smoothness in the upper frequencies. However, when compared to the other frequencies, I found the treble to be slightly lacking. In my opinion, there was a hint of recessiveness in the treble, especially in the upper-treble area. And while the MTPC can still be considered one of the most balanced earphones, it's bass-centricness does take just a nibble away from the treble. Compared to the Etymotic IEMs, the MTPC loses a bit on treble detail and aggresiveness. Overall, the MTPC's smooth and relaxing treble still won me over, giving me a much-needed break from the bright, hyper-aggresive upper frequencies of my Etymotic IEMs and my Grado and Ultrasone headphones.

Soundstage and Imaging-
Both two-dimensional and three-dimensional soundstaging was excellent on the MTPC, especially compared to the large majority of IEMs. Imaging was also very good, though it suffered a bit compared to my Etymotic IEMs due to the slight lack of detail in the treble region.


Overall-
The key word to describing the MTPC's sound signature and quality is balance. Unlike just about any other earphone I have had the pleasure of listening to, the MTPC, though focused on bass, does not fall tremendously short in any one area. The magnificent soundstage and imaging with a wonderful musicality made listening to the MTPC was a very enjoyable experience.


Summary:

Transducer: Dynamic
Cord Style: Y-cord
Mini Jack Style: {''L} style, Heavy build.
Eartips Used: Monster SuperTips, Monster Gel Tips
Physical Properties:
' Packaging: '''''5/5
' Accessories: '''''5/5
' Build Quality: '''''4.5/5
' Isolation: ''''4/5
' Microphonics: ''''4/5
' Comfort: '''''4.5/5
Sound Quality:
' Treble: '''''4.5/5
' Mid: '''''5/5
' Bass: '''''5/5
' Soundstage: Great / Wide
' ABF: [Mid]
' Overall SQ: [4.85 / 5]
Overall Value: [5 / 5]


Conclusion:
With a collection of accessories unlike any other, a tank-solid build quality, an extremely generous life-time warranty, great customer service and a stunningly good sound quality, the Monster Turbine Pro Copper In-Ear Monitors have set a new standard for earphones and headphones alike.