When I first came across these Dre Tour Earbuds I saw the 299$ dollar price and was put off right away. However, my inner impulsive buyer kicked in and I bought them despite that. The following is my more than personal review of this fancy device. Ironically, my first impression of the packaging was more like, "Wow I just spent an extra 30 on a box" than "These are so well protected!". Though I suppose this isn't a review of a box, so I'll get over my gripe. These earbuds came with multiple ear pieces that change the sound and outside noise canceling properties.
In the box is a tool for changing the ear pieces, a removable cable attached pocket clip and a nice little carrying case that's more useful than you would think. The carrying case is nice... and its a hard composite material that has a stretch like pocket to put spare ear pieces inside if you ever feel like changing or that you lose one. The individual ear pieces surprised me ... each of them really do change the dynamics of the audio. While some enhance treble, some bring out the mid-range, then others enhance the bass, but there's only one in-particular that did all of the above the right way.
Let's talk about the flat linguini looking cables, the bright red obviously stands out much more than the typical ipod white, and of course the fact that they're flat makes them SUPER COOL. Believe it or not, this actually has a purpose, Monster (the cable company) found that making the cables flat made them resistant to tangling as they would if they were bunched into a pocket. In an attempt to see if this was true I ended up tying a knot in the cable, it wasn't tight, but they weren't tangled at any point so they are definitely tangle proof just not knot proof.
Aside from this, the cable is a nice length you can manage easily, just shy of four feet, giving you an optimal length between your pocket and ears. The tours also have a nice little cable slide that presses the two earbuds together at the end for easier storage. I found the pocket clip to be actually more of an annoyance than an aid though, so I was never able to use the earphones with it attached. The most important part of these earphones is undoubtedly the audio quality which is superb and what you'd expect for a pair of Dre Beats Ferrari Limited Edition at the $100 dollar high price range.
The bass is present but not overwhelming, the mids are clear and powerful, and the highs are enough to make you go temporarily deaf. I CANNOT recommend you crank the volume past reasonable levels on your iPod or Zune or whatever you're using with these little masterpieces of techno innovation, as they will destroy your hearing. Rap and hip hop is VERY well done, clearly the genre in which these were designed around; Dr. Dre of course, having a Ph-D in Beat-ology. ;)
In the box is a tool for changing the ear pieces, a removable cable attached pocket clip and a nice little carrying case that's more useful than you would think. The carrying case is nice... and its a hard composite material that has a stretch like pocket to put spare ear pieces inside if you ever feel like changing or that you lose one. The individual ear pieces surprised me ... each of them really do change the dynamics of the audio. While some enhance treble, some bring out the mid-range, then others enhance the bass, but there's only one in-particular that did all of the above the right way.
Let's talk about the flat linguini looking cables, the bright red obviously stands out much more than the typical ipod white, and of course the fact that they're flat makes them SUPER COOL. Believe it or not, this actually has a purpose, Monster (the cable company) found that making the cables flat made them resistant to tangling as they would if they were bunched into a pocket. In an attempt to see if this was true I ended up tying a knot in the cable, it wasn't tight, but they weren't tangled at any point so they are definitely tangle proof just not knot proof.
Aside from this, the cable is a nice length you can manage easily, just shy of four feet, giving you an optimal length between your pocket and ears. The tours also have a nice little cable slide that presses the two earbuds together at the end for easier storage. I found the pocket clip to be actually more of an annoyance than an aid though, so I was never able to use the earphones with it attached. The most important part of these earphones is undoubtedly the audio quality which is superb and what you'd expect for a pair of Dre Beats Ferrari Limited Edition at the $100 dollar high price range.
The bass is present but not overwhelming, the mids are clear and powerful, and the highs are enough to make you go temporarily deaf. I CANNOT recommend you crank the volume past reasonable levels on your iPod or Zune or whatever you're using with these little masterpieces of techno innovation, as they will destroy your hearing. Rap and hip hop is VERY well done, clearly the genre in which these were designed around; Dr. Dre of course, having a Ph-D in Beat-ology. ;)
About the Author:
Cyndi Whittel owns theinternetbiz.com and sells watches and electronics including Beats Earbuds and Beats By Dr. Dre Earbuds