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  • - Hey guys, this is Austin, and today I have one question

  • and one question only, why do Beats by Dre exist?

  • So in front of me, I have nearly the entire lineup

  • of current Beats products.

  • Everything from the Beats EP all the way up the Studio 3s.

  • So if you're an audiophile, you're probably not going

  • to be interested in Beats at all,

  • however in 2018 I'm curious to see how much

  • things have changed as actually some

  • of these were a little bit surprising to me.

  • Case in point, the Beats EP.

  • Now, actually, we did do a video on these a couple

  • years ago when they first came out.

  • You can think of these basically as the entry level Beats.

  • At a $130 retail, usually between 90 to 100 bucks

  • actually in stores, they're about the cheapest

  • Beats you can get your hands on.

  • Like most Beats, they do feel pretty nice.

  • So not only do you have this metal ear mechanism,

  • which is going to be able to adjust in and out,

  • but the entire Beats are going to be made

  • with soft touch plastic, some pretty nice feeling ear cups.

  • They definitely do feel their price.

  • Whether they sound their price is a different story however.

  • For some background, I'm going to be listening

  • on a Google Pixel 2 using a USB-C to headphone adapter.

  • Now, this might not be the highest end audio setup,

  • but this is the way that I would typically listen to music.

  • The EPs are only available in a wired version

  • whereas pretty much all the other Beats I'm

  • taking a look at are going to be wireless.

  • Now, as far as listening to music,

  • I'm going to be using Spotify streaming 320 kilobit MP3s.

  • Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo, I mean, the bass.

  • There's a lotta bass, there's a lotta bass,

  • but for hip hop especially, it's not going to be bad,

  • as you expect by Dre's headphones.

  • Yeah, yeah, yeah so you get to another kinda track,

  • which is going to give you a little bit more

  • of a balanced sound where there's actually

  • some differentiation between the lows, the mids,

  • and the highs, and you see they get a little bit muddy,

  • especially in the mids.

  • They sound good, I mean, don't get me wrong.

  • I feel like a lot of people could pick up this pair

  • of headphones, put it on, and it's like, wow,

  • you know, there's so much bass and it's so punchy,

  • but if you want something that's going

  • to be a little bit more balanced,

  • these are probably not going to be your best option.

  • Which is where this comes in.

  • This is a pair of Status Audio CB-1s.

  • If you've watched the channel for a while,

  • you've probably seen me recommend these

  • many, many, many times, and that's for good reason.

  • This is a pair of headphones that lives

  • in my bag every single day.

  • Now, these aren't going to be completely neutral.

  • There is going to be some accentuation of the bass,

  • but they're, in general, going to be much, much flatter

  • and much more even than something like the Beats.

  • Now, the main reason I like these guys is not only

  • because they do have an over ear design,

  • something that I find comfortable when I'm doing longer

  • editing sessions or listening to music,

  • but they're also really affordable.

  • At 60 bucks, it is difficult if not basically impossible

  • to find a better pair of headphones than these.

  • Yeah, so, you know what?

  • I'm gonna be completely honest with you.

  • I am a little bit biased because I listen

  • to these headphones so much, I do like the sound.

  • But I think the biggest difference here is

  • that while, no, they're not going to kick you

  • in the face with that bass,

  • you are going to be able to hear the full song.

  • There's nothing that's going to be super muddy.

  • It's a lot clearer of a sound and

  • that's something, personally, that I like a lot.

  • Next up, we have the BeatsXs.

  • Now, this is going to be the first in their line

  • of wireless headphones, and, as you can see,

  • as they're sort of the earbud style

  • they're going to be a lot smaller,

  • but still promise that same super-punchy sound.

  • So as Beats by Dre is owned by Apple now,

  • there's a couple of interesting things

  • about the BeatsX that do take advantage of that.

  • First of all, they are going to be charging

  • with a Lightning connector as opposed to MicroUSB,

  • so if you already have an iPhone it

  • makes it a little bit simpler.

  • And they also do have the Apple W1 wireless chip.

  • Now, that's actually a big deal

  • if you do have an iOS or a Mac.

  • An iOS, an iOS device?

  • Can you have an iOS, is an iOS a thing?

  • I don't think that's a thing.

  • Although, if you do have an Android phone

  • or, well, anything else they'll still work

  • like normal headphones, it's just an added

  • benefit if you do have an iOS.

  • I'm gonna stop making that joke.

  • (laughing)

  • One of the nice parts about the W1 chip is

  • that literally all I had to do was pull these outta the box,

  • press the button, and I'm able to connect them and they

  • will be good not only on my phone,

  • but also on anything else that uses my Apple ID.

  • Okay, there's still bass. (laughing)

  • So something else, that these actually

  • do a really good job of is isolate you from sound.

  • Now, it does depend on the ear tips.

  • You do need to make sure they fit well in your ears,

  • but if you get a good pair they actually do a really good

  • job of blocking everything else out,

  • especially if you're going to do something

  • like the gym or whatever, they should work pretty well.

  • To really test these out, though, I'm gonna see if I

  • can get them to come out of my ears.

  • Nope.

  • And now this giant thing is in the way.

  • Can I do like jumping jacks?

  • I haven't done these since I was like seven.

  • I was just trying to think of like--

  • My normal workouts don't involve anything crazy.

  • Maybe if you're like running or something?

  • They fit pretty well, but the main competitor to something

  • like BeatsX is actually going to also be from Apple.

  • The Apple AirPods are one of my

  • favorite pairs of headphones.

  • It's almost like a trend of like I'm taking my favorite

  • headphones against Beats in this video or something.

  • What makes AirPods special is they're, of course,

  • going to be fully wireless little earbuds.

  • So if you've ever listened to the stock headphones

  • that come with an iPhone you'll probably be pretty familiar

  • with how these sound, definitely not great.

  • But it's hard to argue with having something

  • that's no wires, no cables, it's going to be fully passing

  • the workout test as long as they actually fit in your ears.

  • And they also do come with a charging case,

  • which makes everything super simple.

  • The real pitch for AirPods is not necessarily going

  • to be in sound quality, but convenience.

  • Next up, we have the Beats Solo3 Wireless.

  • Now, when most people think about Beats by Dre headphones

  • they think of these headphones.

  • Now, you can say a lot about Beats by Dre headphones,

  • but something they always deliver

  • is a nice unboxing experience.

  • Change the way you hear sound.

  • Well, yeah, I guess that's a thing.

  • You might have to do that. (laughing)

  • So if you open up the carrying case what you're going

  • to find is actually a pretty nice looking pair of Solos.

  • So that is something that I definitely

  • cannot take away from Beats.

  • They do look nice.

  • So whether it's to your particular taste or not

  • is completely up to you, but I do get why a lot

  • of people will pick these guys out more

  • as a fashion statement than something

  • that's going to be purely for audio.

  • You do also get the 3.5 millimeter cable,

  • so if you don't wanna use them wirelessly

  • you can just plug them in.

  • Assuming your phone still has a headphone jack, of course.

  • Build quality-wise, they feel pretty decent.

  • So Beats by Dre are known for, maybe,

  • subtly enhancing the design of their headphones

  • with some strategically-placed heavy metal

  • to make them feel more premium.

  • But, generally speaking, they feel all right,

  • however, I've had plenty of occasions where people

  • have shown me their broken Solos,

  • so your mileage might vary on that one.

  • (sighing) All right, wow.

  • I'd forgotten, it's been a while since I've worn Solos.

  • I'd forgotten how tight they are on your head.

  • I mean, I don't think I have that big of a head, do I?

  • I can say that all the Beats I've tried so far

  • aren't quite as punchy as those EPs.

  • Now, don't get me wrong, there's definitely a lot

  • of bass here, but it's not quite as overpowering.

  • Man, I wore those for like two minutes

  • and my ears are already like sore and sweaty.

  • It's no contest so far.

  • I feel like the Solos sound better than any

  • of the other Beats I've tried.

  • So one of the interesting things about these guys

  • is that while they retail at $300,

  • you can actually pick them up for closer to 200 and

  • that is not the case for the comparison that I have in mind.

  • Now, that is a much nicer looking carrying case.

  • (taps case with knuckles)

  • So the Beats Studio 3 Wireless are going

  • to be the flagship of the line,

  • as long as you don't count the Beats Pro,

  • which are sort of more DJ headphones, I guess.

  • But these, oh man, that's red.

  • Now, for the all important does

  • this actually make my head hurt?

  • A little bit, it's a little bit on the tighter side as far

  • as the fit, but it also is going to be an over ear design,

  • which is going to be a lot more comfortable

  • and it's not squishing my ears like the Solos did.

  • That's not bad.

  • So these guys are going to, of course,

  • have that Apple W1 chip and there are going to,

  • if we go into the box, be powered by MicroUSB and come

  • with the same 3.5 millimeter headphone cable,

  • although, thankfully, this one's going

  • to be in red to match your super cool Beats.

  • So when you turn on the Studio 3s,

  • they do default to having the noise canceling on,

  • but if you jump into the options you can turn them

  • on and off, and you can also use a button command

  • on the side if you are not using an iPhone.

  • Okay, so I'm gonna be completely real with you,

  • the last time I listened to Studios was a long time ago.

  • They just sound muddy.

  • Like these headphones should cost $350 retail.

  • Now, to be fair we were able to pick these up

  • for 220 bucks and, generally speaking,

  • they are on sale for a lot less than that, but ugh.

  • Man.

  • I'm a little surprised.

  • I legitimately feel like the Solos sound a lot better

  • and I'll tell you what almost definitely sounds better.

  • The wonderfully-named Sony WH1000Xm2's.

  • Now, these are widely regarded as some

  • of the nicest, best-sounding Bluetooth headphones

  • on the market, and, well, they're pretty much right.

  • Now, in addition to the standard noise cancellation,

  • which sounds pretty good, there's also going

  • to be an ambient mode so you can turn that on

  • with a button on the headphones,

  • but the easier way to do it is while you're listening

  • to music, if you just put a hand over the ear cup,

  • it's going to beep at you, and not only does it dim

  • the actual volume of your music or turn it down.

  • Can you dim music, I don't think you can dim music.

  • Anyway, regardless, you are going to not only be able

  • to turn your music volume down,

  • but it also turns on the microphone on the headphones

  • so you can actually more easily hear your environment.

  • Take your hand off the headphone,

  • and your music comes up to the full volume.

  • Really clever stuff.

  • Okay, first of all, they actually sound

  • like a good, balanced pair of headphones.

  • There's plenty of bass.

  • There's plenty of accentuation on sort

  • of the nicer, more punchy parts of the music, but,

  • importantly, as I accidentally trigger Google Assistant,

  • they're honestly going to be able to just sound

  • like a good solid pair of headphones,

  • but they are going to be more expensive.

  • So while the MSRP for both of these guys is going

  • to be a pretty pricey $350, these guys, well,

  • they actually cost 350 bucks.

  • The Beats can be found for as little

  • as 220 for the Studio 3s.

  • Now, that might not sound like a bad deal,

  • but don't do that, just a bad idea.

  • Get these guys, or something else honestly.

  • So why do Beats by Dre exist in 2018,

  • well, because people keep buying them.

  • And I actually do see some reasons

  • why you might wanna pick them up.

  • The style is obviously something that's going

  • to be very subjective, and thanks to all the sales,

  • a lot of these are actually much more

  • affordable than they used to be.

  • That being said, while some of them are not bad

  • like the Solos and even the EPs if you want

  • some really punchy headphones, you can pretty much

  • always get something that's going to sound better

  • for the same money if not less.

- Hey guys, this is Austin, and today I have one question

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