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Monster Turbine In-Ear Headphones Lightning Review (Lots of Bang For Your Buck)
Posted by Benny Goldman at 2:00 PM on November 12, 2008
The Gadget: Monster's Turbine "In-Ear Speakers", their first ear buds and followup to the Beats By Dre cans, they claim audiophile quality for a reasonable price.
The Price: $US150
The Verdict: The Turbines are great, especially given the sub-$US200 price point. They sound every bit as good as more expensive Shures, with clean, deep bass and crisp, clear mids and highs. They're also the loudest pair of ear buds I've come across, blasting my iPhone and laptop to volumes I didn't know existed, without ever getting noisy.
In fact, the worst thing about the Turbines was discovering how crappy most of my MP3 files really sound. Songs purchased from iTunes or ripped from CD were fine, I was able to pick out each instrument and hear things I normally couldn't with lesser headphones, but files I've obtained with less reliable quality sounded like absolute garbage—the mix was all wrong, and the noise almost gave me a headache.
Also, by this point I expect most ear buds in this range to include a microphone/toggle switch, and was disappointed that these don't. On the plus side, they generously come with five sets of tips so there is definitely a size that will fit your ears. All in all, the Turbines are a nice entry into the in-ear headphone arena by Monster, and fantastic sound quality for the price—just make sure your music lives up to their high standards. [Monster]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
Drew
Posted December 30, 2008 2:40 AM
What are you being paid by Monster? These are ridiculous, you can't tell the difference between the free earbuds that come with your iPod vs these.
In fact I would challenge you to do a blind test and tell me if you can tell the difference between the standard iPod earbuds and these, you can't. This is just another rip-off from a shady company. No offense but you sound like a shill for monster "The Turbines are great, especially given the sub-$US200 price point"?? Really, there's lots of earbuds being sold for 200+ ??
getz76
Posted 5:26 PM 12/11/08
Etymotic ER6s are half the price and the response curve is actually available from them, rather than Monster's pseudoscience. The Shures are cheaper, as are the Ultimate Ears. Since Monster will not provide standard specifications, I won't go near them. In-ears are usually not returnable and I like to know what I am getting into.
The headphones sound "better" to the reviewer likely due to the Fletcher-Munson curve effect due to volume and an overemphasized bass response. However, these are likely too loud for use in-ear and will not sound good across a breadth of music recordings.
getz76
Keebler
Posted 5:16 PM 12/11/08
@plyhard13: Well put.
Just say no to shady marketing. Even if these were decent, I wouldn't buy them on principle alone.
Keebler
SonicFury
Posted 5:15 PM 12/11/08
Did anyone else notice that the ear buds are styled after Monster's video plugs? Cool!!!
[www.onecall.com]
SonicFury
MBPro
Posted 5:14 PM 12/11/08
Compared to my SE530? (which I paid $300 for all those people going OMFG $150?!?!?) lol.
I would really like to see a review and comparison.
MBPro
plyhard13
Posted 5:13 PM 12/11/08
I have a hard time putting monster in the same group as any company I will ever do business with.
Their business practices should preclude any knowledgeable person from purchasing anything from them.
plyhard13
Guy_Whitey_Corngood
Posted 5:09 PM 12/11/08
How is $150 for buds considered reasonable? I can afford quality noise-cancelling phones for that amount of clams! Yeah, clams. It's our go-to currency in Real America, along with smackers, smackaroos and "old crow coins."
PS, I'm actually from a part of America that's totally fake by Palin-standards, but I ain't payin' no $150 humdinger smack daddies for ear buds, boy howdie!
Guy_Whitey_Corngood
MagnoliaBoy
Posted 5:02 PM 12/11/08
What about build quality? Does $150 buy reinforced jackets and cables or just drivers.
MagnoliaBoy
gerbick
Posted 5:01 PM 12/11/08
Since when has $150 been a "reasonable price" for this type of headphone?
gerbick
Overheal
Posted 4:58 PM 12/11/08
Gizmodo giving praise to Monster?
I must have missed the weather report from hell today, but...
Overheal
FightingChance
Posted 4:52 PM 12/11/08
It's cute how the backs of the buds ape the style of 'turbine' connector Monster does/used to put on their RCA connection cables.
FightingChance
jamiesoncostello
Posted 4:52 PM 12/11/08
I bet like most Monster products, you can buy the Dynex brand at Best Buy for 4 dollars less.
jamiesoncostello
Sticky230
Posted 4:51 PM 12/11/08
V-moda FTW
Sticky230
aphex
Posted 4:45 PM 12/11/08
I dunno, I have a hard time putting Monster in the same group as Shure, Etymotic, Westone, Ultimate Ears, etc...
I'll wait until I hear them to pass final judgment, but since Monster's been ripping people off for years, I take any new product they release with a grain of salt.
aphex
redspectre
Posted 4:40 PM 12/11/08
still a little expensive.... the basic white headphones work fine for me though
redspectre
DucatiGuy
Posted 5:46 PM 12/11/08
Another HUGE factor is how well the rubber piece that goes inside your ears is designed... Make that fit and stay put and you can get $2 headphones to sound like a $200 pair!
DucatiGuy
Reil
Posted 5:30 PM 12/11/08
If it makes certain things sound -worse-, then isn't that a bad thing?
Reil
ezman
Posted 5:56 PM 12/11/08
@redspectre: I thought that too until I tried a pair of $20 Skull Candy "Smokin' Buds". They have basic noise isolation and they sound so much better than Apple's standard white set... I was pretty amazed. They almost do as good a job at noise isolation as my Bose Triports.
ezman