Looking to jump into the celebrity endorsed headphone bandwagon? You might want to take a look at the iBeats. They are Monster Beats' entry level earbuds and they are aimed to replace your stock Apple white earbuds if you ever wish to upgrade. At $99.99, they're still a bit overpriced, but trust me, they sound really good.
I was actually surprised by their performance. I prefer their sound and feel now over my other Beats earbuds, the Beats Tour!
(BTW, I know there are a ton of fake Beats everywhere, but these are 100% authentic Beats by Dre. The only sure way to get authentic Beats nowadays is to get them from authorized big-box retailers. If you get them anywhere else, like eBay or Craigslist or a street somewhere or worse, from an Asian online retailer, there's a 99.9% chance they're fake. If you see a smoking deal claiming they have Studios, Tours or Solos for half the price... then they're fake. Authentic iBeats right now never dip below $99. Beats Tours are at $140. I got my iBeats at Walmart. My Tours from Amazon.
Also, never believe these OEM or straight from the factory units they're selling for discounted prices. There's no such thing. Since fakes are everywhere, just stick with the authorized dealers, just to stay safe, unless you're looking specifically for replicas. Replicas and fakes are actually big business now. I got a bad feeling that a lot of the Beats out in the wild are counterfeit. In fact, I'm planning on testing some fake Tours against the real Tours just to prove to myself that they're not worth it. )
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| Beats Tour box versus the iBeats box. Notice the size difference. |
OK, enough of that rant, back to the topic at hand. Yeah... the iBeats are surprisingly amazing. Probably because of their metal cavity and smaller size (compared to the Tour), the iBeats have a tighter and more intense bass response. The mids get sacrificed a bit because of this but in my opinion, they sound more exciting than the Tours. They put me more in that musical in-the-zone trance than the Tours because of those more prominent sub-bass levels you could feel in your head.
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| The iBeats actually have larger cavities and shorter, wider stems. |
I was kinda baffled about this, so with a little examination, I verified that the iBeats actually have BIGGER cavities than the Tour. Plus the stems where the drivers are set are shorter on the iBeats so the endpoints are closer to the main body. This is probably why they have a fuller sound. The Tours still sound excellent but the iBeats just have that little something that makes them more exciting. In defense of the Tours, the Tours have two year old tech in them. The iBeats are probably products of Monster's recent R & D.
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| These iBeats are double black chromes. They sound fabulous! And they're light despite their metal enclousures. I actually prefer their sound and comfort than the Tours. And they pack a tighter, bassier punch. |
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My only gripe is their selection of wires. They are on the thin side and a bit flimsy. Compared to the tangle free "Fettucine" cord of the Tour, they're like Angel Hair pasta.
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The iBeats also feel better in the ear because they're solidly metal. When you slide them in your ears, you could feel that smooth, cold touch of chrome. And since they're smaller, they feel secure and lighter. The Tours have this big logo on the earbud and sometimes they're uncomfortably heavy. But I admit, the Tours look a lot better than the iBeats.
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I like the diamond coffin Control Talk of the iBeats but it's plastic. Here it is next to the traditional Control Talk of the Tour.
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Both Tours and the iBeats have Control Talk for iDevices, meaning they have mics and buttons for answering phone calls (for iPhones), recording (for GarageBand) and buttons to play, pause, skip, tracks and control volume. The Tour's Control Talk is more straight forward than the iBeats. It's just a thin black strip on the right wire with up and down buttons with a play/stop button on the center. The iBeats have this fancier diamond coffin design located on the left wire with delineated buttons. Owing to the iBeats thinner wires, it's a little clunkier and feels heavier. The center play/stop button is also harder to press. The iBeats' Control Talk design is nice in the expense of seamless usability.
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| Tours have the better L-shaped plug. iBeats have the usual straight plug. |
My nitpick about the iBeats is the wiring. They're thinner than what I'm used to with the Beats Tours. The Beats Tour has this flat and thick Fettucine style cable that's said to be tangle free. The iBeats have this thin wires that look that they may snap with one accidental yank. They still feel like well made Monster cables though. I think the reason why they made the wires thin is to keep them as light as possible.
The albums I've been testing these earbuds with were Metallica's "...And Justice For All" and Animals As Leaders' "Weightless". I know, these are not marketed for heavy metal but they actually sound great with Beats because of the pulsing deep bass lines, thumping kick drums and thick mids and highs. I also tested them with Radiohead's first track of their "Amnesiac" album. That track has an awesome sub-bass track. I also played some Dr. Dre (what else, yo) from Spotify. Everything sounded awesome and pimped up!
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The back part of the iBeats case looks awesome though with the etched iBeats logos.
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So, yeah, if you want to upgrade from your regular earphones and listen to music more intimately, I recommend you get the iBeats first. The Tours look cooler and more sturdier, but the iBeats are more comfortable and have a surprisingly heftier bass response. Although there are other good or even better headphones out there at these prices, they don't look as good as these Monsters.
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| This is what greets you when you open the iBeats box. Like the Tour it comes with five pairs of oval eartips of different sizes plus two pairs of triple flanged eartips. It also comes with a clip. I like this eartip case. The Tours don't have this. |
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| In comparison, here's what greets you when you open the Beats Tour box. It also comes with seven pairs of various eartips and a clip. But instead of that nice eartip case that the iBeats has, they're in a janky zip lock case. The iBeat Tour also comes with earhooks. |
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| The case of the iBeats is a self-closing case. Here it is next to the Tour's circular case. |
