Ben WesthoffBeat By Dre headphones helped buy Dr. Dre his dream home. They're also partly funding the Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy at USC, as its benefactors, who founded Beats, chipped in $70 million.
But are the headphones any good? Survey says no. In fact, according to a new report by FixYa, a crowd-sourcing site offering help fixing broken devices, tools, and appliances, users complained of subpar noise-canceling abilities, unreliable sound and malfunctions in one ear or another. We'd imagine that would be frustrating to someone who spent $280 (!) on a pair. The report includes input from 25,000 people, and also tested were headphones endorsed or branded by 50 Cent, Bob Marley, Jay-Z, and Ludacris. Here are the results:
Soul, by Ludacris
Atlanta rapper Ludacris has a line called Soul. (Dude is a marketing machine.) They got low marks in many of the same fields as Beats by Dre, but users thought they were good for genres with heavy bass. Unfortunately, that includes dubstep, so what are you going to do.
Jay-Z's Skullcandy Roc Nation Aviators
These have the most terrible name, but what about the headphones themselves? They got high scores for their relative affordability (they start around $140) but were knocked for lack of durability and poor bass delivery. Turn the music up in the headphones, Jay! (That joke makes more sense if you listen to the first few seconds of the song above.)
50 Cent's SMS Audio 50
These headphones were picked as the worst in the report, “riddled with issues, ranging from poor wireless quality, to a muddy sound experience, to overpowering bass.” Ayo, technology.
And, the winner is….
House of Marley
Bob Marley's House of Marley brand was deemed the best, “far and away,” due mainly to users having fewer issues with these headphones than the others. Folks also responded to something about an “eco-friendly mission,” as apparently these are not made of illegal wood.
So there you have it. Here's the full report. Something else to consider: Earbuds. They're like, two bucks, and we're betting you can't much tell the difference.
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