Beats by Dre Studio user reviews (Black)

Pros Lightweight. Looks good. Sounds good for Hip Hop and some Alternative Rock and certain Techno tracks.

Cons Sound is muddy, especially for the price. Might be uncomfortable for some. Too plasticky for my taste.

Summary If you are a casual listener, are a fan of Dr. Dre, want pretty good sound but don't need the best, and have a good amount of money to spend....get these. You should be pretty content.
BUT, do not get these if you are a producer... Yeah, seriously.
Producers deal with a variety of music gear of different levels constantly. It gives a pretty good impression of what to expect at a certain price point. I've been a producer for close to 10 years and, sadly, I have to report that, overall, these are not worth the price.
Considering that Dre is a producer, any headphones branded with his name ought to be atleast O.K. for producers, even if not perfect. Considering that said headphones are labeled "Studio", they ought to be better than just O.K. And, finally, considering they are $350, they ought to be pretty damn good. The thing is, as far as production goes, they aren't. Not even close. This price point is approaching the low to mid range of the professional market, depending on how dedicated you are to the industry. And compared to the competition here, these are pretty subpar.
The problem mainly has to do with definition. I didn't find the soundstage to be adequate, especially in terms of the representation of the stereo field. Also, the 'phones seem to put out a fair amount of detail, yet it all gets washed away and/or de-emphasized by the bass, which is just too biased for this kind of work. If you're using these and sit with a project for a while, you get used to it and you can hear some decent high-end details. But that is not a good thing. It's called listening fatigue and it leads to poor translation, the difference in sound you'll hear after a break and a listen to it over different speakers.
Beyond that, I found the design to not be very functional, despite how aesthetically pleasing they may be. On the plus side, they are very lightweight. On the downside, the ear cups are pretty bulky. I'm also not happy about the way they swivel. It's difficult to describe and may sound like a stupid issue, but the moment I picked them up, I almost gave up on them right there. Basically, the cups themselves are almost the only things that move....which is fine on most headphones, but the plasticky, bulky design, and stiff headband contribute to a confined feeling. I suppose maybe they'd stay on your head better than other headphones, but anyone that needs that isn't using headphones this size anyway. The most egrious thing about the design in this aspect, though, is that the swivel mechanism is a ring, essentially, with the cup moving up and down inside of it, rather than it being used as a hinge, as in most designs. What ends up happening is the "ring" doesn't get out of your way. Whereas, with every other headphone I've ever used, because the cup hangs from a hinge, it does get out of your way because it's, well, swinging. You'll simply have to hold a pair to see what I mean. Maybe I'm crazy. I could write many paragraphs about this. The point is, I hate it.
In short, if you are a producer eyeing these, even for casual use, you probably won't be happy with them. You probably already have equal or better equipment, even if it costs much less. And since that is what you are used to, you'll get pretty upset about what your money got you.
The frequency response sounds like it was tuned by someone listening to a handful of their favorite tracks, having fun bumping their head. Not by someone trying to achieve any kind of accuracy or other beneficial purpose. I'm dissapointed at this. I like Monster, I like Dre. I do not, however, like these headphones.
To end on a happy note, I do have to give props to whoever designed the cord. It's thick, it looks and feels good, it doesn't tangle, it's even detachable. It does use a 1/8" plug, but it comes with a 1/4" adapter in the box. Cool.

Pros Comfort Looks cool

Cons Muddy low end and muddy mids. Fairly crisp highs. Low end is overpowering and overall sound is poorly balanced. Poor durability. Poor durability and cheap plastic design.

Summary These are really bass heavy, but the bass is muddy and not very tight with a lot of roll off. Thhe mids are fairly muddy as well. The highs are pretty crisp but still lack. Needing batteries for these is another reason I said overrated because other headphones at the same price do not require batteries and sound just as good if not better. The plastic is cheap and easily broken as well as the drivers can eventually pop or blow in a short period of time. These are pretty comfortable on my head. I bought the V-Moda Crossfades and they were over $100.00 cheaper with a coupon and sound a lot more blanced with tighter bass and the don't need batteries. My Studios went out and the people and Monster Cable have taken over 1 month to send me a new pair after sending mine to them for warranty. Richelle and Shawn Carwin the customer service manager can be to blame for this as they just were rude and led me on as if my new pair has been or will be shipped out. Monster Cble really has the worst customer service on the planet.

Pros overall style, comfort, sound, packaging, accessories, carrying case, did I mention style?

Cons noise cancellation, batteries, feel a little flimsy in comparison to competitors, SOUND LEAKAGE!!!!!

Summary I want to love these headphones, but they are honestly useless for any student that is considering them for the library. I got these as a Christmas present from my fiance and was initially blown away. The packaging is amazing and these headphones ooze style. As an owner of the Bose original quiet comfort's and QC2's, I can tell you that the sound quality of the Beats is unmatched. However, the Beats still require 2 AAA batteries. The noise cancellation on the Bose is also far superior. And one problem I have noticed with noise-canceling headphones in general is that listening to music at low volumes has a sort of muffled quality to it.
The fatal design flaw is the enormous amount of SOUND LEAKAGE from these headphones!! While listening to music on my computer at a 40 to 50% volume, I was asked numerous times by family members to turn my music down because they couldn't hear the tv!! I thought they were crazy, but later in the night my fiance used them to watch a movie on her computer while I read. I was able to hear everything as if it was playing through the speakers on her computer. After closer inspection and comparison to the Bose models, I realized that the plastic on Beats' ear cups is very thin with many movable hinges that make sound leakage possible.
I am sad to say that these will be going back to best buy and would warn anyone that is considering buying these headphones to ask yourself these questions:
Will I be using these in a quiet place?
Do I live with other people from whom I would like isolate my music?
Do I want headphones that are actually headphones and not speakers strapped to the side of my head?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, they probably aren't the headphones for you.

P.S. - Very disappointed that this wasn't addressed in the review, especially considering that the major user demographic for these headphones is probably college students, who have roommates and would probably use these to study.

Pros Very beautifully designed, though crappy construction. Very nice sound quality.

Cons I don't care what anyone says, the amount of sound leakage is completely unacceptable. These headphone are made for portable devices, yet they are not doable in the presence of other people because they leak so much sound.

Absurd.

Summary Got my pair today in the mail. Hooked them up, sounded great. Then my lady wanted to try them. That's when I noticed that I could hear everything she was listening to! What? How can that be, I must have missed something. Nope. They leak sound like a sieve. Moments later I boxed em back up & printed out my return label.

Point is, not only do they leak a little sound, they leak almost all of it. They are not open back headphones either. Why on earth would I spend $$$ on a set of headphones I can't listen to in ANY indoor public (or private) space? A car? Nope. A subway? Nope. My bedroom? Only if I am alone.

Some will say that this isn't an issue because you don't need the volume to be high... to this person I say, you should stop making excuses for poorly designed headphones and return them. In public spaces listening to them above 40% isn't even an option. That's not right. And for those of you that like to be enveloped by sound, forget about it with these headphones!