Monday, 9 May 2011

Beats by Dr Dre Studio Headphones - Real vs Fake

The fakes are from www.monsterdruk.com so don't buy from this website because they are fake and also they are now mentioned in the counterfeit warning section of the Beats by Dre website. I suspected they might of been fake when the packaging said they were from China and the confirmation email from them was from a Hotmail account.
REAL ONES ON THE LEFT OR AT THE TOP.

You can't see very well in this picture, it looked fine when I took it, the silver on the real beats logo is actually silver and the fake one is white. The main difference is the light shining of the headphones, the real ones are much lighter than the fake ones.

This is the left side of the box and they are not even similar.


Sorry for another bad picture, this is the back of the box and this isn't even similar as well. The real box has the picture of the speaker thing on the back; not on the left where it is on the fake(and the one on the fake is really unclear but the one on the real ones is clear).
This is the right side of the box, Dre's face is much smaller and lighter on the real box and the fake picture of Dre is the same as the one that appears when you go on the Beats by Dre website.

Under the black cover of the box it is very similar; but the logo and writing is slightly lower on the fake one than on the real ones and the red on the fake box is slightly lighter.

I couldn't see any difference here apart from the Touring case is a bit different.

The fake Beats logo is slightly bigger, it has a deeper indent on the logo and the case is a bit smaller than the real one.
The real Touring case has the removable pocket but the fake one is suck in.


These are the 1/8" to 1/4" adapters, the real one is black at the top and the fake one is a gold colour.

This picture show the two adapters again; the real one fits perfectly and the fake one dosn't even fit. The following picture shows why.

If you can see inside the hole there is a ridge sticking out stopping anything plugging into it.

These are the airline adapters; the real one came in a bag and the fake one was just in the box. The fake is more square at the top and bumps on the side whereas the real one is rounded off at the top and lines on the side.You probably can't see in this picture but bits that sick out and into the headphone socket on a airline aren't even level so probably won't work but at least you can plug a cable in unlike on the 1/8" to 1/4" adapter.


The fake one hasn't even been put together properly; the bit that you plug in isn't even on level with the black thing with the Monster name and logo at the top.

The fake iSonitalk cable is much shinier that the real one; the idea of this was so you could answer calls and the fake doesn't even have a microphone, sorry I forgot to get a picture of the microphone on the real cable.

The fake Clean cloth is more rectangular than the real one which is square. I think they must of made a mistake making the fake one because the label on the fake one looks like they just put it anywhere.


The real booklet is much thicker because it has lots of different languages and it doesn't have "quick start guide and warranty" on it. Also the fakes came with a leaflet advertising products that I'm not sure even exist.

Sorry about the picture cutting part of the fake headphones off. The fakes were actually quite a bit smaller than the real ones. Both pairs have a serial number under the battery cover but the serial number looks fake as well; I would try registering them but I don't want to take someone who has real Beats serial number.
The fake ones don't snap into place after they have been folded like the real ones that snap perfectly back into place; the fakes feel really weak. When you adjust the length of the fake one they just fall out straight to the bottom but the real ones hold in place perfectly.
I listened to a few songs in both pairs of earphones, I can't talk about bass and mids because I don't know what to listen out for yet but I'm trying to find out so I can. But the fakes don't even give the same volume through each ear cup; the left ear cup was significantly louder than the right one.

Please follow and could I please have some opinions/ suggestions what to do next in the comments.

Thank you for reading,
Parkie.

Saturday, 7 May 2011

Beats by Dr Dre Studio Headphones Review.


In the Box:
Two cables (1 red and 1 black),
1/8" to 1/4" adapter,
Airline adapter,
Touring case,
Micro fibre cloth,
2 AAA batteries
And the Headphones.

This is the red cable, nothing too special apart from being a good quality cable, it is 1.3 meters in length and doesn't tangle apart from if you manage to tie it in a knot. The only differences between this one and the black one are the colour and the black one is for use with smart phones because it has a microphone and a call answer button.
When I first got my headphones I didn't like the idea of having to plug the cable in every time to use them but it is good because if anything happens to the cable like it breaks then you can use the other one or just order a new one.
This is the iSonitalk cable call answer button, if you are listening to music and you get a call all you have to do is press the button once to answer the call and then press it again to end the call. I have only used this feature once and that was when I had them on and I need to make a call so I tried it, it worked well for me but I have only ever seen bad reviews of this feature saying "the microphone is too far away". Are people really too lazy to hold a microphone for a minute or two?
It can also be used to change music, press once to pause it and then a second time to play it again, press twice for the next song and three times to restart a song or if it is a the beginning of a song then it goes back to the previous song. I think one improvement for this feature would be to have volume control on this as well.

This is the 1/8" to 1/4" adapter so you can use the Studio's or any thing with a 1/8" audio jack with higher quality audio equipment.

This is the airline adapter, I have not had the chance to use this yet because I haven't been on a plane since I got my Studios but it will definitely be with me next time I go on a plane.

This is the Touring case, on the left side of it is a removable pocket but I keep it in there because it is useful for keeping a cable and the cleaning cloth with the headphones. I dropped my headphones in this case a few days ago and I didn't notice anything wrong with them since then so the case does a good job for me and it gives me a place to put my headphones instead of just leaving them lying around to collect dust.

This is the touring case with the headphones in; and in the pocket I have the black cable and the micro fibre cloth.

This is the micro fibre cloth, Monster call it the 'Monster Clean Cloth with advanced aegis microbe shield technology'. I don't understand much of that but it is a good cloth. It is really soft and cleans fingerprints off the headphones well.

I don't have a picture of the AAA batteries that came in the box for two reasons; they were just batteries and I have used them already. The one that came in the box only lasted me about one month but I have had the same batteries in for over 3 months now and I have been using them a lot; almost every day and two 24 hour bus trips where I used them almost constantly.

The Headphones
The ear cushions are covered in a very soft, breathable materials so they are very comfortable and your ears don't get too hot.
They have a hard, scratch-resistant finish so they will stay looking good. It does get a lot of finger prints on it but the Clean Cloth quickly gets rid of them.
They fold twice so that make putting them away very easy because when they are folded they fit into the touring case perfectly as you can see in one of the earlier pictures.


The battery case is on the left ear cup, you twist it to open it and the serial number is in there as well. It is on the opposite side of the battery cover as in the picture, you can use your serial number to register your product on the Beats by Dr Dre website to get discounts and more.

These headphone have Active noise cancellation; there is a microphone placed inside a ear cup and that detects sound and the headphones make the opposite sound inside the the ear cups to allow you to listen to your music and not whatever is going on around you and that is why you need batteries when you are using them. The noise cancellation works without the cable so if you just want some peace and quiet on a plane or a bus you can just turn your Studios on and it would feel quieter.

I am no expert on sound so I'm not going to say these sound perfect or they are terrible. But in my opinion, these sound great, especially compared to the apple ear buds I have been used to. These are good quality as well, my ear buds started to crackle in the right ear but these Studios are still working perfectly for me.

The Studios look great as well, I love the distinctive b on the side of both ear cups and the glossy black and red finish looks good as well. But for me, the noise cancellation has to be my favourite feature because its great not having to listen to anything else apart from my music.






I would recommend these to a friend but I think they are a bit too expensive, £279.99 is a bit too much in my opinion but if you can shop around for a better deal I would highly recommend these. And volume control on the control talk cable would be great.


Please leave a comment with your opinions on or if you like the Headphones. :-)

Thank you,
Parkie.