Although I have been reviewing headphones for several years here at JAMM (as well as other sites), pretty much every pair of headphones I have had the opportunity to review has been the in-the-ear style with flexible buds, creating a noise isolating environment.  After having spent so much time with in-the-ear headphones, I had been considering checking out some different styles when, completely out of the blue, Monster Cables sent me a pair of the latest headphones in their Beats By Dr. Dre line, the Solos.  These are a traditional “can” style headphone, which fit over the ear.  I was pretty intrigued by them and eager to check them out. 

The first thing I noticed was the impressive presentation the folks at Monster Cable put together with these.  The headphones are packed in a box secured with a magnet snap on the flap.  I was already happy to know that I would not have to tear through a solid plastic blister pack.  Once inside the box, the headphones, along with a soft case were securely held in one side, while the manuals, cable, and wipe cloth were tucked under a flap on the left.  Overall, it presented quite an introduction to the headphones.

As soon as I got the Beats Solo out of the box, I was really impressed by the the compact size of the headphones.  One of the reasons I have stayed away from this style headphone is they tend to be bulky and unwieldy, which is fine for use around the house, but really does not work well when you need to toss them in your briefcase and carry them on your commute.  So, I really did appreciate this design.  They even fold up (as you can see above) for increased portability.

Once unfolded, the stems expand to ensure a perfect fit, regardless of the size of your head.  I also really liked the feel of the speaker cans.  This is frequently the most oversized part of any outside the ear headphone system, so I was pleased to find how small these were. 

They fit great over my ears, creating a perfect seal over them.  When I wore these headphones, even with no music playing, they created an exceptional noise isolation environment.  Once the music gets going, you might as well forget about any outside noises.

Speaking of turning things on, let’s go ahead and turn on the music and take a look (or listen) to how these sound.  I was quite impressed by the sound quality.  The Beats Solo offered a rich and crisp sound.  I did feel like it leaned more heavily toward the bass end of the spectrum than I would have liked, but not so far that I felt like it was problematic.  They really did a fantastic job of capturing all of the nuances of whichever genre of music I threw at them.

The Beats Solo also features a detachable cable which connects to the headphones on one end and your mp3 player on the other end.  This is fantastic, because the cable is typically the first part of any headphones to get damaged.  So, if you do have problems with the cable, you can easily replace it, rather than purchasing an entire new set of headphones.

As you might expect from Monster Cables, the headphones cable on this one is plenty long to fit all of your needs, and extremely durable and well constructed.  Additionally, since it is thicker than most headphone cables, it seems to present significantly less danger of the dreaded headphone cable tangle which has become all too common lately. 

The most significant feature on this detachable cable, however, is the inline controls, which Monster calls ControlTalk.  This is a small control nodule, which will hang close to your left shoulder when in use, allows you to control your music by pausing, advancing to the next song, or even adjusting the volume.  I was pretty excited by the prospect of these inline controls, because fishing my Zune HD out of my pocket on these cold winter days to skip a song or adjust the volume is simply not a pleasant prospect.  So, I connected the Beats Solo to my Zune HD and away we went…or not.  The Zune HD did not recognize the inline controls at all.  No volume control, no pausing my music, no advancing to the next song…nothing.   so, I connected it to my iPod Touch, with the same results.  That makes the inline controls 0-2, with only my Android-based HTC Hero to go.  We’ll call this one a foul tip.  Not quit a strikeout.  The controls connected.  I was able to toggle between playing and pausing the music; though I was not able to advance songs or control the volume.  I also found it to be awfully finicky. During my testing, I constantly bumped it, causing the phone to dial instead of playing music.

Yes, you read that right, you can even use the Beats Solo as a wired headset for your phone.  Using the inline controls, you can redial the last call, answer an incoming call, or ignore an incoming call.  As I mentioned, I found these controls to be a little touchy.  They often got bumped and dialed inadvertently or did not take quite the correct action (a double tap would be interpreted as a long single tap or vice versa). 

As we get more into converged devices, though, the ability to have converged accessories becomes ever more important.  If you are listening to music on your phone, you do not want to have to take off your headphones and switch to a different headset or fish out your phone to answer it.  You want to be able to simply use the headphones you are already wearing, and the Beats Solo makes it easy to do so.

While I thought the inline controls did a good job of muting the music and picking up the call, they did not work well while in the call.  The sound coming through the headphones was pretty good.  It did feel like there was a bit of a delay transferring the sound to the headphones, which gave it a sort of choppy feel.  The microphone, however, simply did not work at all.  Even when I held directly in front of my mouth, it barely was able to pick up the sound of my voice.  Disappointing to say the least.  Fortunately, I tend to listen to music on my Zune HD, not my phone; so this should not be an issue for my use.  You on the other hand…will have to make your own judgment about the importance of this feature.

I have to say that I was quite impressed by these headphones.  My trepidation about this form factor proved to be completely unfounded as the Beats Solo were both compact and comfortable.  I was disappointed that the inline controls and phone interface did not work well with my devices, but that was not a large concern for me.  What was far more important was the sound quality, which was one of the best I have used.  Comfortable, compact, acoustical, and fantastic noise isolation.  You just cannot ask for anything more from a solid pair of headphones.

The Beats Solo are available from Monster Cable for $199.95.

What I Liked:

• Compact size
• Portability
• Detachable cable
• Great sound

What Needs Improvement:

• ControlTalk inline controls did not work well

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