Beats Coming Around

[maelob]

Just wanted to inform the community that it appears that Beats is finally coming around and releasing a good sounding headphone.

 

Their new Beats Solo2 headphone just received a great review from inner fidelity Tyll Hartsens. Also headfi community is talking about the good quality of this headphones.

 

I know there are a lot of Beat haters out there, but I hope they continue this trend with all their products. Not sure if Apple was involved in this,but at least now thousands of people will be listening to good quality headphones.

 

I hope the trend towards hires continues and who knows 10 years from now every body will be listening to audiophile quality music.

 

Ismael

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[christopher3393]

Yes indeed. A very positive review from a respected reviewer who has been an outspoken critic of Beats SQ:

 

Time to Rethink Beats, the Solo² is Excellent | InnerFidelity

[dalethorn]

"Bass is solid, tight, and impact-full, though mildly over-emphasized. I would venture to say maybe 3dB too much bass tilt overall. The bass emphasis extends to about 500Hz, where it should stop at about 120Hz in my opinion. The result is a warm headphone (due to the overall tilt) with a tendency to sound a bit thick due to too much relative energy between 120Hz and 500Hz. Adding a bit of veil to the impression of a slightly thick sound is the very top treble octave above 10kHz, which is a bit suddenly rolled off, maybe about 3dB too much."

 

The "bit thick" and "suddenly rolled off" doesn't sound like a hearty recommendation to me. It does sound like an improvement over the older designs. If the signature had only one of these characteristics, it could be partly and easily compensated by most users' music player controls, but the combination of 'thick' and 'rolled off' together puts compensation out of reach for most users. For portable use, where I'm carrying only one headphone, I prefer something that plays a wide range of genres to suit different moods.

 

The response curve shows the output from 2 to 5 khz as being down 13 to 14 db compared to the lower midrange at 200 hz, and 11 db down from 300 hz. That should make for a *very* dull sound for people with normal hearing.

[maelob]

I was surprised when he said if he had to choose between the Momentums and Vmoda he preferred the Beats. Also remember that small on ear closed headphones at that price range are far from perfect. I am curious how they sound, I guess I will stop by Target or Best Buy to audition.

[dalethorn]

I have several small on-ears that have issues - resonances, suckouts - whatever. But the basic balance is there, i.e. they're not deliberately skewed toward a hugely dark sound, and I do like it a little dark myself.

[busaraxtrs]

that right,For portable use, where I'm carrying only one headphone, I prefer something that plays a wide range of genres to suit different moods.thanks

[maelob]

I totally agree, however I would like to hear them just out of curiosity. One thing to remember the reviewer is very technical in his comments and I view the technical specifications as a guide and take them with a grain of salt. For me the ears are the ultimate judge.

[burnspbesq]

I have a pair on hand (my kid wanted them). They really are very much improved over the original. A little bit of EQ (down three db, centered on 55 Hz with a Q of 1.5), and you've got a very listenable headhpone for almost anything except large-scale orchestral and choral music. Gobs of tight, quick bass (the opening of the RLPO Shostakovich 14 is sensational! And get a load of Edgar Meyer's bass solo on "From Ankara to Izmir" on the Douglas/Barenberg/Meyer album "Skip, Hop & Wobble). Good transient response. Lacking, alas, in top-end air; listen to how quickly Gary Burton's vibes decay in the unison statement of the initial theme of "Sea Journey" from "Passengers."

 

All in all, a contender at the price point. The only other on-ears I have on hand are the Aedle, which are 2.5x the price, and not surprisingly the Beats can't keep up. I think I would prefer them to the Momentum on-ears, and it might be a very close call against the 1350 or T51p.

 

One major pet peeve: no 1/4 inch adaptor. Bad news for Herus and iCan Nano owners, and a real shame because decent amplification helps out a lot.

[jcreigan]

Well well well... I'm intrigued!

 

I will need to hear this for myself but good on them

[dalethorn]

Check out the new Soundmagic HP150 - all the best of the Beats *with* the top-end air.

[dalethorn]

I bought the Solo2 - here's the quickie rundown. It has an upper bass emphasis similar to the v-moda M100, but rolls off sooner, so the bass around 40 hz is several db weaker than the M100. It has an emphasis of about 8-9 db around 1500 hz, giving it a rather forward sound. Other than that all freq's are close to neutral compared to my average neutral target. With my optimum EQ based on compensating the above deviations from neutral, the sound is marvelous, in a word. Turning the EQ off mid-song, the tracks with significant energy around 90-150 sound much more boomy, and the airy and somewhat spacious soundstage becomes narrower with the typical small closed-headphone 'constricted' coloration. But, that coloration is much less than most small closed headphones from what I hear. Overall, my judgement is a pretty good sound, but the boominess would bother me indoors, not so much outdoors. The comfort is just great - far improved from the Mixr (my only other Beats), and the headphone and packaging look very nice.

[dalethorn]

Adding to the above, the Solo2 HF rolloff isn't as bad as the measurements show. My sample holds up well to 11 khz, then takes a dive above that. So there may be a few tracks (or a lot) that would sound slightly lifeless to some users, depending also on the music.

[pooger]

.... And get a load of Edgar Meyer's bass solo on "From Ankara to Izmir" on the Douglas/Barenberg/Meyer album "Skip, Hop & Wobble."

 

One of my favorite albums!

[burnspbesq]

One of my favorite albums!

 

You clearly have excellent taste. After 21 years, a sequel is long overdue.

[Lior Aaronson]

Do me a favour lol beats are absolutely tragic