Review: DiddyBeats Headphones
For many people, Monster’s Beats By Dre line of headphones are more than just a way to listen to music. They have become a fashion statement, an icon, and are seen worn by many celebrities and athletes. Beats recently expanded their line in collaboration with other artist and celebrities, including P. Diddy, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and LeBron James. All the Beats sport remarkable design, they all look stunning, and they all sound fairly good for the most part. The DiddyBeats ($179.95 USD Retail) are the first Beats in-ear headphones I have ever tried, and it was not a good first impression.
The DiddyBeats are made out of quality materials. The buds are made from a combination of plastic, metal, and even a faux-leather material. They look absolutely stunning and the chrome ‘DB’ logo is very elegantly designed on the back of the jet black bud (available in white and pink as well). The cable is a flat, pasta-style cable, which Monster is famous for, and is claimed to be “tangle-free”, though it is more tangle-resistant.
The cable feels very unique and could take a beating with no damage. On the cable, you will find the ControlTalk module, which gives you full volume control, play/pause or call answer button, and a 360 degree microphone. The ControlTalk works great and is very useful. Sound quality on the microphone is not bad at all, and delivers clear audio to the person on the other line.
Moving down the cable, you will find a metal yolk which has the Monster and Beats By Dre branding on it. The yoke makes the headphones quite heavy and pulls down on the ear buds when they are in your ear. To fix the problem, you must use the included shirt clip when wearing the earphones, otherwise they will fall out of your ear in a matter of minutes. The DiddyBeats feature an angled jack that is reinforced by plastic and metal so no fraying will occur.
The earphones come with quite a few tips. There are 8 sets of tips included in the box, featuring 5 pairs of standard silicon, 2 pairs of triple-flanged silicon, and a pair of Comply Foam tips. For me, the small triple-flanged worked great, but got extremely uncomfortable after roughly 45 minutes of use. That was the case with all the tips I tried with these headphones. The buds and yoke are both so heavy that it makes wearing the DiddyBeats uncomfortable for longer than an hour or so. It is a shame because the sound quality isnt bad at all.
The sound on the DiddyBeats is very similar to the sound on other headphones in the Beats By Dre line. The DiddyBeats are directed more towards modern-day music, such as hip-hop, rap, and pop. All those genres sound fantastic on these headphones, as the bass is very punchy, the mids are steady, and the treble is light, yet still delivers satisfaction. When you listen to classic rock or indy, the sound quality is decreased slightly, but still sounds fairly good. When listening to jazz or instrumental music, the sound is quite poor, due to the fact they lean towards the elements found in hip-hop. They sounded quite good, but not $179.95 good. A lot of what you pay for is the branding and the build quality. I must say, the build quality was extremely impressive and they definitely look like $180 bucks, but the sound is lacking a bit.
Overall, build quality is superb and sound is good, but that’s only if you can get them to stay in your ears. I got them to stay in my ears, but did so with great discomfort. It’s a good option if you listen to hip-hop, but the only problem is they will still hurt your ears or fall out of them. No matter how good earphones sound, they have to fit in your ears to listen to music. If you can find a way to get them to fit comfortably, definitely pick them up. But for most of the population, they will not be a good option. The Klipsch S4i‘s are $79.95 less than the DiddyBeats, and sound absolutely stunning while maintaining amazing comfort. Check those out if these do not work out for you.