To say that I, like the Kiki Dee Band, "have the music in me," is an understatement.  I’ve been surrounded by music, serious music, most of my life. My father and uncle had a wedding and party band, The Quarter Notes, when I was growing up.  I was raised on Chicago, Jim Croce, Three Dog Night and Blood, Sweat and Tears. I think I’ve found a near perfect way to listen to my music, too. The Monster Turbine Headphones offer speaker like performance in an ear bud form factor. Let’s take a quick look and see how they did…

The Monster Turbine Headphones

I took my father’s music influence beyond a simple pair of maracas in front of his band stand as a kid, and made it my own. I’ve cut a couple of albums, done some light studio work, and had a tape audition with Wayne Newton (yes… THAT Wayne Newton, all back in the day, of course…, and before you start goin’ "WOW!!", please remember, I DO have a day job for a reason…and at 44, I am (unfortunately) NOT the next American Idol. Oh well… it ain’t gonna be easy; but I’ll get over it somehow…maybe).

So with this music background you know I’m passing it on to my kids.  I’ve got my daughter in band and have been trying to coach her vocals as much as a perfectionist like myself and a stubborn teen will allow that to happen. As such, Amanda and I are constantly singing together (this holiday it was Bette Midler’s "Winter Wonderland/Let it Snow!" duet with Johnny Mathis from her Cool Yule album), especially in the car where there’s usually one or two iPods and an FM transmitter handy. So yeah… I’m serious about my tuneage.

The Monster Turbine Headphones have a number of different kinds of ear attachments that will allow you to find not only the right size of ear but will also allow you to find the best fit for noise reduction. The cone attachments were the ones that I liked and the ones that provided the best sound for me.

I listened to the following on my iPod during my recent evaluation period:

Sam Tsui – Michael Jackson Medley

Sam Tsui – Don’t Stop Believing 

For those that don’t know, Sam Tsui is a YouTube phenomenon that has gotten a lot of notoriety for both of the above videos.  You really need to give them a look, and check out his YouTube Channel (available via the above 2 links).  With the Monster Turbine Headphones, you’re going to hear details in the music, mostly all a capella, you never thought were there.  For example, without the headphones, I had a very hard time hearing Sam’s cohort in crime, Kurt Hugo, doing all of the beat box sounds in the Michael Jackson medley.  With the headphones, they came in loud and clear, and made the medley all the more enjoyable. This is a HUGE deal for me, as I have a very noticeable hearing loss due to standing in front of one too many amplifiers during my music career.

The headset is actually noise reducing because of the shape of the Sound Isolating Eartips I liked.  They totally block out anything else other than the sound produced by the headphones.  The cones best fit my ears and provided me with the best sound.  I loved them to death!

How the Sound Isolating Eartips work…

However, I got to spend a long time with them on the 27th of this month when I covered the Apple Press Event for JAMM.  I had the headphones in my ears and plugged into my PC at work.  I wore them the whole time, and after about an hour or so, they got very uncomfortable.  I don’t think it was the type of ear piece, but because I had something in my ear canal for that long.  Be mindful… your mileage may vary, but I’d be surprised.

If you’re curious, I was able to convert the YouTube videos into MP3’s with the following website:

Free FLV Converter

Please use it responsibly, and only on things you know you can capture without copyright issues.

Cost: The Monster Turbine headphones list for $179.99, but I was able to find them at Amazon for $106.99, and as low as $99.65 at Buy.com.  You can also purchase them directly from Monster here.

What I liked: Awesome sound, comfortable fit; provided you didn’t wear them too long.

What Needs Improvement: Depending on which ear attachments you wanted to use, the speakers fit differently. The cone shaped buds, my personal favorite, often took a bit to fit correctly in my ears (my left ear, especially). After about the 5th-6th try of getting the speaker in my left ear, it got really frustrating.  After a couple of hours with the ear buds in my ears, they became increasingly uncomfortable.  However, that’s more the nature of ear buds and not specifically the Monster Turbine Pro’s.

You also need to be cautious regarding the volume you place your music player at with these babies.  They can seriously pump out the tuneage; and you really don’t want to blow a drum, if you know what I mean.  I have hearing issues enough as it is as a musician and music nut.  I don’t need to damage my hearing any more.  Keep an eye on your volume levels.  You’d be surprised at how loud they get at such a low player volume.

Conclusion: I personally have a great deal of trouble paying over $50 bucks for ear buds, because they are, after all, ear buds.  However, you really need to hear these to understand how wonderful they are.  At nearly, or well over $100 US, they are a premium item and purchase; but if they are within your budget range, they are definitely worth the purchase.  Even with my reduced hearing ability, I was able to hear things in new and familiar music that I either haven’t heard before, or haven’t heard in a long time.

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