Quote of the year!

Congratulations!

You'll be in that guy's source list with a bullet. Yeeees!

It was interesting last week riding the subways of NYC all week. How many beats I saw. I wanted to yell "Don't you know they Suck!".. but I was outnumbered....

It's very sad seeing so much people wearing them with that silly face of pride Congratulations Tyll, I just hope this helps to get Monster and other manufacturers making good staff instead of just marketing a bunch of shit well.

Also, WTF is "Beats Audio" that some of the craptops, etc. seem to be advertising now?

There was something about Beats Audio on InnerFidelity in the post about the Beats joining forces with HTC-

• No metal parts in headphone jack eliminates ground noise; re-routed wiring and separate headphone amp reduces cross-talk.
  
• "Souped-up" headphone amp increases dynamic range and separation.
  
• Audio components isolated on an "audio island" free from interference.
  

I don't know if anyone has actually taken apart any of these laptops to look at the "island" or made any RMAA tests. GSM Arena did a review on one of those Beats HTC Sensation XE and the objective benchmarks did not show anything too impressive that my Samsung Wave could not do. Oh- and Beats Audio on HTC supposedly only work with beats headphones. Seems that Beats Audio isn't much more than a V shaped EQ seting that is always on and a fashion statement.

new idea - start tagging everything on youtube as Beats, get more hits.

"Better than Beats" It's sad, Justin, but you're probably right.

maybe headphones will just get renamed Beats....like Q-Tips, Kleenex, or Hoover in the UK. So anyone with a pair of headphones has a pair of Beats.

Ugh. That's a sad thought. I'll do my best to prevent that.

Superb, Tyll!!

That hurts just to look at.

That hurts just to look at.

Talk about "one note" bass. Yeesh.

Talk about "one note" bass. Yeesh.

Recreate the sound of a blown crappy car subwoofer - in headphone form? 'cos thats how they roll?

Was meaning to ask - the measurements from the Solo HD, that's not a malfunctioning pair? There's quite a bit of difference in THD from right to left channel and THD approaching 100% at 2kHz... holy crap. If they really are like that, that's catastrophically bad.

Oh, and I never said this, but I find the measurement database to be probably the single most useful thing I have ever found in the headphone hobby. Congrats on the NY times mention but given the quality of your content I think that publicity is inevitable.

Nice work, Tyll. The thing I don't get is why anyone would want to wear those fugly gunt headphones as a fashion statement!

Edited November 22, 201114 yr by Wmcmanus

Was meaning to ask - the measurements from the Solo HD, that's not a malfunctioning pair? There's quite a bit of difference in THD from right to left channel and THD approaching 100% at 2kHz... holy crap. If they really are like that, that's catastrophically bad.

I've actually got another set coming from headphones.com (they've been terribly helpful) because I was thinking the first pair measured so badly they must be fakes. Brian at headphones.com said he didn't think they were, but he's sending me another pair to measure and confirm.

Monster doesn't seem to want to send me gear ... I wonder why?

Oh, and I never said this, but I find the measurement database to be probably the single most useful thing I have ever found in the headphone hobby. Congrats on the NY times mention but given the quality of your content I think that publicity is inevitable.

Thanks mang, I'm trying.

Edited November 22, 201114 yr by Tyll Hertsens

Tyll, i just rewatched your YouTube "review" of the Beats Solo. got me thinking...i wonder how many people get to that video, already so brainwashed by Monster, that they miss the humor at the end and think it's some sort of eargasm you're having.

That hurts just to look at.

The thing that really makes cringe is that there is no proper EQ on that phone so you could iron out the Beats Audio "enhancements." If you turn off Beats Audio then you are punished by HTC "enhancements" - "Unfortunately you can't listen music without something "enhancing" your songs. If you don't use the Beats Audio, you'll find the HTC preset really awful. So, you either listen music with Beats Audio and headset combo, or you don’t."

I really hate this way of doing business- not only that distorts the market by not letting the consumer to properly listen to other products, it also treats them like retards with the "doctor knows best" paternalism.

This is sort of related to the Beats phenomenon, IMO. But more on the good side of things.

CB2 (Crate & Barrel 2, which sells trendy furnishings and accessories -- a good sized step above IKEA in quality) is selling Grado SR80 headphones, I just found out by email. They're listed as one of their "Top $100 gifts", along with some kind of birdhouse.

http://www.cb2.com/$100-tops/gifts/grado-sr80i-headphones/

They also sell the Pro-Ject turntable. This all means there is some hope -- Monster has paved the way for Beats to be a lifestyle choice, but people with slightly better taste are into the personal audio as well and stuff like Grados (which have a retro hipster appeal) are popping up in unexpected places.