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You are here: MacNN Forums > News > Tech News > Viral Beats Solo 2 headphone teardown likely not of genuine product

Viral Beats Solo 2 headphone teardown likely not of genuine product
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NewsPoster
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Jun 27, 2015, 12:20 PM
 
A recent critical teardown of Beats headphones claimed to shed some light on the "generic" nature of Beats headphones, including extra metal being inserted into the set to give the appearance of more quality than actually exists. However, a recent post mortem of the teardown sheds some doubt on the source of the original headphones, claiming that the set that was actually torn down was a Chinese knockoff of the popular audio brand.

Enthusiast site Core77 posted a breakdown of the original disassembly, identifying several contradictory factors originally pointed out by an Imgur user. Color discrepancies between products were noted, as well as inconsistencies with known factors about the headphones, such as number of drivers, missing circuitry, and other issues.

Core77 points to a video discussion packaging issues between real and fake products, to assist users in determining if the fashion icons a prospective purchaser may buy is real or fake, and pointed out that Avery Louie, despite being a prototype engineer, may have been fooled by the near exactness of the product.


( Last edited by NewsPoster; Jun 27, 2015 at 12:20 PM. )
     
Inkling
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Jun 27, 2015, 12:59 PM
 
Yeah, but why spend $257 (Amazon's price) for any set of headphones, real or fake.
Author of Untangling Tolkien and Chesterton on War and Peace
     
Mike Wuerthele
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Jun 27, 2015, 04:32 PM
 
Audio is very much subjective. I wouldn't personally, as I find that the acoustical differences are hard for me to truly appreciate. That's why when I am tasked with reviewing an audio product, I corral my testing panel.

It all depends on your "thing," I suppose.
     
just a poster
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Jun 27, 2015, 05:37 PM
 
audio is a very subjective thing and this is why it is one of the scam-iest industries. That said, among overpriced speakers/headphones at any price point, there are high-quality, great-sounding, durable products that are better values for the money than others.

As you move up in price points, the most honest and best-qualified reviews are those that find fault with the product, rather than those that extoll its virtues. One does not need to be told $80,000 speakers "sound great", have "smooth midrange", "articulate bass" and "amazing clarity". We can judge that by listening to them rather than reading about it. It is more important to know their cabinets are manufactured by a third party in China of "high density" particleboard with a thin maple veneer, for instance.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jun 27, 2015, 09:40 PM
 
Originally Posted by Inkling View Post
Yeah, but why spend $257 (Amazon's price) for any set of headphones, real or fake.
I spent WAY more than that on a set of in-ears after comparative testing and did not opt for the even more expensive set.

Several reasons:

They sounded better. (In fact, they sounded better than the more expensive ones, which had considerably louder, but less precise, bass response. Something about the extra bass driver that gave it more oomph but reduced overall clarity.)

Nah, actually, that was the only reason.
     
   
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