Beats Pro High-Performance (White)

Pros: Looks very nice, sturdy build, great for rap and pop music.

Cons: As stated in titles, extremely overpriced, overglorified and overhyped. People love to shoot out of their ass when they own one of these, and start to call them "the best there is" when there is much better choices to choose from.

Summary: Firstly, I have to say that I'm an audiophile. But still, it absolutely pisses me off when the stereotype finds us being the only kind of people wanting "faithful, accurate, natural tone in our headphones".

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, NOT TRUE.

There are such things as a basshead audiophile, or a rock audiophile, or maybe even a classical audiophile. I belong to the basshead category. With this in mind, you have to understand that when it comes to headphones, we are very picky, but we definitely aren't the type to search for neutral, "natural" headphones (which I personally feel makes the music sound ABSOLUTELY BORING Zzzzzzzzz).

First off, the build quality. Granted that it's sturdy. It feels solid, unlike the Solo, Solo HD or the Studios for that matter. I have no complaints about this.

Next, comfort. A very subjective aspect, though I also have to qualms about this. There is ample padding in every side of the headphone, unlike my Shures which, personally, HURT LIKE A BEAR TRAP.

Next, oh ho ho, its sound. Being an audiophile (a basshead audiophile, I RE-EMPHASISE AGAIN), I have a set list of criteria that a headphone has to go through in order to make it to my "IMMA GONNA RECOMMEND THIS TO E'ERBODY" list.

1. Is there enough bass?
2. Is the bass clear?
3. Does the bass bleed and/or muddy up the middle frequency (the frequency in which the vocals, guitars, basically 90% of instruments are)?
4. Is the sound distorted the any way?
5. Do the headphones give an accurate reproduction of the music (again, you do not want rap to sound like blues, or classical to sound like rock do you?)? How much detail pickup is there?

Lets start with 1.. Oh definitely. Bass is there like a lion in a crammed cage. You can't miss it even on bass-light music, and this is what I love in my headphones.

2. Clear bass? I would say... yeaaaaamaybe. It's not as tight (or as punchy) as any of my Ultrasone models, but they do have the reverb of the Sony XB series. Pretty okay, most of the details in the bass aren't missing from the music here.

3. Bass bleed? Surprisingly, little or nothing. The middle frequencies remained untouched by the bass. To be more in-depth with the mids and the highs, vocals sound smooth-ish while guitars sound too warm (A.K.A. veiled or lush or "slow") for my liking. If you're a metal or rock lover, STEER AWAY.

4. Sound distortion. Apart from a little warmth in its general sound, no complaints here.

5. Reproduction. Even though I'm a basshead, all headphones still need to be able to hear the recording AS IT IS. To avoid any arguements here, let's take a look at Dre's words towards the Beats line:

"People aren't hearing all the music.

Artists and producers work hard in the studio perfecting their sound. But people can't really hear it with normal headphones. Most headphones can't handle the bass, the detail, the dynamics. Bottom line, the music doesn't move you.

With Beats, people are going to hear what the artists hear, and listen to the music the way they should: the way I do."

So OBVIOUSLY, if you're such a Beats fanboy, you're looking for "accurate reproduction" in your headphones. Otherwise, pardon my language, WHY THE **** DID YOU BUY THESE THINGS?

Again, you're looking for the detail within your music, every last nuance, drum vibration, guitar air or mouse fart, you're not looking hard enough if you went for these. i have to be frank; compared to other more well-respected and professionally recognised brands (NO. Beats is NOT professionally recognised. What your favourite singers wear does not decide how good the headphones are), the detail pickup is absolutely and utterly... average. Mediocre even.

As for reproduction of the music, the ONLY genre they seem to reproduce properly is rap and pop. Other genres like classical, rock, blues, electronica even, all sound artificial under the wrath of these headphones. If you're willing to pay $400 for a rap + pop pair of headphones only, be my guest. BUT...

I will re-emphasise again, THESE ARE OVERPRICED. I can name a hundred or so headphones that does what these do just as good and even BETTER and just a quarter of the price. I'll be wasting my time naming all these headphones, but I'll pick out 5 of my favourites:

5. Beyerdynamic DT700 Pro 80 Ohm Edition. A good entry-level bass king, the DT770 provides boomy sub-bass that vibrates your entire skull. Again, these beat the Beats Pro by a mile in terms of overall clarity as well as bass quantity, at a cheaper price as well.

4. Ultrasone HFI-580. Having the same amount of bass at a quarter of the Beats Pro's price, it's a killer. Even so, the quality of the bass in the HFI-580 far surpasses the Beats Pro's, being tighter, punchier and clearer than the latter. What's overpriced now?

3. Audio Technica Pro700 MKII. A relatively new headphone in the market, the Pro700 beats, bashes and mashes the Beats Pro every every aspect you and think of. Bass? One of the best. Mids? No contest really. Highs, come on, any headphone other than Skullcandy or Bose can beat the Beats Pro.

2. Sony XB1000. Or as I would like to call them, "GIANT FLUFFEH PILLOWS OF AWESHUM BASSSS XD"! But in all seriousness, the Sony XB series are notorious for its earthshaking, diarrhoea-inducing bass, which will put any Beats headphone to shame with a thump of a drum, literally.

1. Ultrasone Pro900. Absolutely godly and reigns king supreme in the bass department. No other headphones can ever DREAM of trying to beat the Pro900 in terms of bass quality. If you love the Beats Pro, the Pro900 will re-educate you, no holds barred. Strap two mini-subwoofers to your head and VOILA! Pro900.

Granted that the Beats Pro aren't terrible headphones, I would rush for them if they were priced at $100. Unfortunately, they instead cost a whopping $400, a price in which only the stupid, cliche consumers would be sucked into.
Don't be a stupid consumer. Get better headphones.