KikoView in 3D: Real vs Fake (Straight from HK) Monster Beats Tour Showdown

Left: Fake White Tours. Right: Real Black Tours.

Fancy headphones are the fashion rage nowadays which gives opportunistic counterfeiters something to feast on. One of the highly counterfeited headphones are the Monster Beats. The unsuspecting public looking to save a few bucks don't know what they're in for. Are the fake ones worth the trouble though? With the huge price difference (sometimes as much as 1/20th), are they worth it? Or should I say, are the REAL ones worth it?

At first, I was skeptical about purchasing anything with a Beats logo in it. I thought they were overpriced, powered by marketing hype. They also have a lot of negative reviews and there's outright hate against them. Plus there were a lot of fakes everywhere. But when I broke my nth pair of Apple earbuds, out of frustration, I decided to splurge and finally get my first Studios from an authorized dealer. After trying them out for a few days and burn them in, I was hooked. I can't imagine how much detail I was missing. Listening to music suddenly was like an ear popping experience. So the next logical step was going portable, hence, the Beats Tour earbuds.

I've had these 100% real Monster Beats Tour earphones for awhile and they're quite an amazing pair. I actually prefer them over my Studios because they don't leak sound as much and they have an amazing soundstage. Plus they're portable. But reading reviews online have been mixed. Some say they're horrible. Some say they're the best. Some say they have horrid quality. And most pretentious audiophiles shun and ridicule Beats to the extreme. What could be causing the polarized view of this product which I consider really good sets?

Well, the proliferation of counterfeit Beats might be causing some of the confusion. Some, looking to save some money, probably shop online on sites like Ebay or Craigslist and they're scammed into buying fakes which are advertised as real. Also, there's no such thing as OEM or straight from factory Beats. Real ones always go through Monster. To be safe about it, just buy Beats from authorized dealers, nowhere else. With this point, some Beats bashers probably haven't heard Beats before and are just joining in the audiophile bandwagon or they probably tested the fake ones. This got me curious and I decided to order fake ones straight from Hong Kong to settle once and for all the burning question, "Do the fakes sound as good as the real ones?"

I got my authentic black Tours through Amazon Prime (not through a 3rd Party Amazon Marketplace seller, there's a small chance these sellers could issue fake ones, too.). I ordered my fake white ones online (through a website which will remain unnamed) and it took almost a month for them to get delivered to me (they just came in a few days ago). I paid about 1/8 ($20) of the price I paid for my real Tours (about $150), $180 MSRP). And these are supposedly the higher-end fake Tours because they come with the packaging. Some fake Tours could go as low as $4!)

This album contains photos of the main differences I noticed. But these are all cosmetic differences. Counterfeiting, I would imagine, is like a cat and mouse game where the counterfeiters try and keep up with the changes of the authentic ones. So all these differences will change through time. But counterfeiters are also cheap so quality issues will always appear on fakes. Again, these differences are from what I received compared to the real ones I got, everything could change ultimately.

So, packaging and cosmetic differences don't really matter too much. What matters most is the SOUND. The sound is the main reason why we shell out for overpriced headphones, right?

Well, thankfully, the fakes don't sound nearly as good as the real ones. NOT EVEN CLOSE. I'm not claiming to be an audiophile, but the real Beats, even with the big bass coloring, have this precise, clear balanced sound which cuts through the low-end which make them tight and bassy but airy with an excellent dynamic soundstage. The trebles and mids feel like separate entities cooperating with the low frequencies without them ever muddying each other. It's almost like a 3-dimensional audio space where you could hear individual instruments positionally. I guess this where the money goes to, aside from the marketing costs and R&D... they actually designed real, honest-to-goodness, well-balanced and expressive dynamic drivers in these things! It's an amazing experience when you hear it and gives music some qualities you may haven't noticed before. Everything is so fluid, music expression comes to the forefront and you could actually feel subtle fluctuations in volume. I know there are a lot of good or even better headphones out there for this price, but they don't look as good as the Beats. ( I actually like what Monster did. They're not real audiophile respected gear but they elevated the price point for what the general public is willing to spend on headphones. They broke through and introduced high-end audio to the masses, making them gateways to other audiophile quality brands).

Now the fake ones are not that dynamic. One thing they have though is sheer loudness and terrifying bass. The bass on the fake ones is so overpowering they could easily drown out the mids and the highs which sometime suck out the detail out of the music. The bass on the real ones is expertly and tightly controlled. It's pleasant and it lets the music breathe. It is so tight you could actually locate it on the soundstage. On the fakes, the bass just booms on both earpieces so there's no real accurate positioning. It's just everywhere. Another thing about the fake ones is the narrow soundstage. Since they are not as dynamic as the authentic Tours, the soundstage is just limited to about five zones, hard panned right or left, center and sometimes, diagonal. Real ones have this almost expansive, continuous soundstage where you could uncannily position instruments.

Another thing with the fakes which is a big issue for me is the auditory fatigue they induce. Since the bass is so overpowering and you strain to hear the details, they cause you to tire out and just quit listening. With the real Beats, everything is so balanced, pleasant and exciting, you could listen endlessly, and you would think you can't just get enough of the sonic pleasures they provide.

These differences you probably can't tell if you haven't tested both, although I'm telling you, real Beats are expensive but with the awesome musical reawakening it could induce in you, they're totally worth it.

And would I recommend the fakes? Well, they're decent enough cans for under $25 if you like your sound bassy and loud but would you want to wear fakes and be ridiculed by anyone who knows better? There are a lot of authentic earbuds at the same price range. What I don't understand is why do these counterfeiters insist on going through great lengths making replicas if they could make decent products themselves? Why don't they just stamp them with their own brand? Well, marketing costs probably. And I have a feeling they consider it as great art making replicas. Or probably not. They're just out to deceive everyone for profit.

The Fake Tours came in this AirMail package straight from Hong Kong.

So apparently, they went through Chinese customs obviously as 'Earphones".

The box was a little bit battered. And the plastic shrinkwrap was not cleanly done. The real Tours shrinkwrap was tight and immaculate plus it had a cutout for the hanging handle.

Left: Fake White Tours. Right: Real Black Tours. Can you spot the differences? Looks like the counterfeiters are still using old templates. Expect them to catch up soon.

Left: Fake Tour. Right: Real Tour. The fonts on the fakes are a little thinner. Plus the box quality is grainier.

Left: Fake. Right: Real. Again the fonts are a little different on the UPC. Plus notice the better print quality on the real ones.

This is always the telltale sign of the fake boxes. The face of Dr. Dre is darker with a lot of artifacting on the fake ones. The counterfeiters could always improve their printing process but I guess they think it's not worth the cost.

Fake Dr. Dre close-up.

Real Dr. Dre close-up

The counterfeiters almost got this sticker right. They're getting better with the packaging. Again, they're probably using an older template, hence the differences.

No real discernible differences on the front inside box unless you have them side by side and check really closely. The fonts again are a bit off but they're really close.

The fake ones I got didn't have the magnetic seal so the front cover just flopped around. The real ones, of course, has the magnetic strip and seals perfectly.

Again, the handles. Older fakes didn't have the indents but the counterfeiters caught up and updated their boxes. They look the same but if you check closer, the real ones have a higher quality plastic with a certain grain. The fakes have cheaper looking flat plastic.

There are also differences on the flap handles. The fakes have a longer handle. The real ones are shorter and again they have this fine grain detail.

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Opening the box... both have identical setups. The logo on the case of the fake one is slightly off-center though because of the zipper placement. Real ones are always straight.

The fake Tour cables are all bunched and held with a plastic strip. The contents seem sparse too.

The real Tour had more stuff in it.

This is all the documentation that came with the fake Tour. A 'warranty guide" and a "manual". The counterfeiters are getting cheap on us!

This is the documentation you get with the real Tours. The two stickers are on the earphones themselves and they greet when you open the box.

The first page of the manuals. Top one is the fake. Bottom is the real manual. Again, the fakes were probably still using older templates which could change anytime.

Back side of the real manual. Notice the 2009 year and the Control Talk trademarks.

Again, slightly differnet fonts on the fakes. The manual is also dated 2008 and it still has the iSonitalk trademark. Funny because Tours don't have iSoniTalk. Studios have that.

Accessories from the real Tours. You get five sets of eartips (six total), the cable clip plus nifty earhooks.

All I got from the fakes. One little bag of eartips (3 sets, 4 total) plus the clip. No earhooks.

Bag comparison.

The Tour cases. White one, fake. Real one, black. Stitching is overall cleaner on the real one. Plus slight differences on the fonts. Real ones are thicker and have tighter spacings.

My fake case had the zipper handle reversed. But the texture quality is almost the same.

The fake case had a net and rougher lining material. The real case has plush material.

Real ones come with a velcro loop tie to secure the cables. The fakes only had a plastic strip. Cheapskates! Also if you look closely, the fake cable has a slight groove on the middle. The real ones are perfectly flat.

The gold plated plugs look about the same but the plastic on the fakes aren't clean. Notice the small bulge on the white one. The real Tours are perfect.

The logo on my fakes are crooked. The real ones as usual are perfect. The serial numbers are located on the underside of this pin (yes, fake ones have serial nos. too). The real serial no. is tighter and the fonts are smaller.

The Y-connectors. Again, the fake ones' crafstmanship leaves much to be desired. The font on the real ones too are cleaner. The fake ones look funny. Plus my fakes didn't have that adjustment loop.

Both ControlTalks look fine. The real one has more button travel than the fake though.

The logos on the earbuds on close inspection is a dead giveaway. The real ones have this pleasant brushed aluminum look. The fake ones are smudgy, although they mimic the brushed look of the real ones. The B letter on the real ones are flat and clean. The fakes have horizontal lines across (similar to the brushed look).

The base of the real one retain the brushed aluminum. The fake has a flat finish.

The fake ones have this weird eartip angle. They point outwards and down with an acute angle. The real Tours point slightly inwards and up.

The inside of the box have differences too. The real Tour box has better quality cardboard. The fakes ones have cardboard textures resembling a sack.