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Between taking his time to perfect a beat, Dr Dre spends working hours with Monster’s audio engineers. The fruits of their labours are, so far, two pairs of heasdphones: the excellent Beats By Dre over-ear noise-cancellers and, now, the Beats Tour in-ear sound isolators.
His aim is to bring the quality of studio sound to everyday listening. A fine aim from one so famous for his immaculate hip-hop production values – can the Beats Tours deliver?
Big, bad beats
It’s clear from the off that the Beats Tours are no shrinking violets. Compare them to the diminutive Klipsch Image X5 or Ultimate Ears 700 and they’re something of a brute, with their metallic slab backs emblazoned with a red ‘b’, ball-like mid-section and sound-isolating ear plug.
This impression is redoubled by the red, tangle-proof, elastic band-like cable. It does exactly what it says on the tin, preventing annoying cable tangles. It also feels remarkably tough, and the metal-clad 3.5mm jack should stay put, too.
Select the correct fitting from the four ear plug sizes available and the outside world is immediately shut out. Despite their proportions the buds are light and comfortable in the ear, and depending on the depth of your lugs, don’t stick out much.
Brash delivery
When you’ve got the seal right you can get a good idea of what Dre’s studio sounds like. It’s a brash, exciting delivery with bags of energy that makes music invigorating and dramatic. With beat-heavy music they really rock.
Midrange is well resolved but treble is a little ragged compared with the best. This raw quality may appeal, just as the punchiness may. The trouble is, it’s not necessarily the most honest mix.
Hi-fi is supposed to aim for accuracy and the Beats Tours don’t trouble themselves too much with that stuffy old notion. As a result they’re not particularly suited to subtle classical or acoustic music.
They never sound poor, it’s simply that rivals such as the Klipsch Image X5s are more even-handed while maintaining most of the excitement.
Nevertheless, fans of hip-hop, dance and bassy rock should check them out. If you crave fun over fact, the Beats Tours will not disappoint.
Comments
OwenBailey
1 week ago
I first bought a pair of iBeats. After they failed after less than a year (one earphone completely broken, volume buttons broken, and poor sound quality), I sent them for repair.
I was happy to be given a brand new set of ear phones, and was sent these Tour in ear headphones.
Very disappointed that after around 4 months I have lost all volume from the left ear piece. I've lost my patience with the brand as a whole now.
Would not recommend.
perfectnumbers
2 years ago
When I first brought these headphones, I was unimpressed. The Bass was dulled and the sound experience was no where near as good as the SONY headphones I had brought last year. I was all set to return the headphones and write a review online to let others know. However, I took the headphones with me on holiday and after the plane journey the headphones sounded completely different. I had noticed that during the week the clarity of sound started to sound better and better and in particular one tune sounded so unbelievably good that I had second thoughts about returning them. After the flight, the bass sound came into it's own and right now they sound absolutely crazy. Unlike other headphones the bass doesn't try to interfere with the other frequencies, but almost tries to work hard in complementing the upper frequencies. And it's at these frequencies where you'll utterly impressed. The clarity is Phenomenal, the best I've hard. You really can hear everything, you'll notice little effects and echoes which you would never have heard before. The bass isn't the deepest out there - if you are looking for massive BASS then don't buy these. But the bass is just right and very good. Why the headphones took a week to come into full effect is beyond me. A friend of mine who has high end audio equipment told me that some of his speakers took a little while to break in. The magnets can be packed quite tight to begin with, but with use loosen up and reach their optimum. Regardless, the sound quality is incredible. to get the best out of these, make sure you have good quality sources. CD's and iTunes mp3's are always excellent, Spotify is good but anything less than 192kbps will always sound rubbish. The headphones come with a nice case and a range of ear buds so it should fit most ears snugly. The red cable (which look great) are also anti-tangle and really doesn't tangle! I asked a friend to tangle the cable as much as she could. I undid them in about 10 seconds. One last note, I brought the headphones from monsteroutlet.co.uk for £40. This is less than half of what you'd pay at Apple store or HMV. Would I have paid £120 for these, definitely not - but at £40 they are a bargain!