“Though a little heavy and slightly cumbersome, the DiddyBeats look and sound fantastic with sound on par with their more expensive cousins.”
- Revealing, powerful sound
- Unique and stylish design points
- Wide range of ear-tip sizes
- Bass response may be heavy for some
- Bulky earpieces
- iPhone ControlTalk attachment weighs down left earpiece
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Introduction
From Puff Daddy to P. Diddy to Diddy and now: DiddyBeats. Whatever you choose to call him, it’s clear that the fashion icon and R&B mega-star is a polarizing figure. One tends to love him or hate him. So, it isn’t all that surprising that there are many who have been quick to judge this new product based on its endorsements rather than on the merits of its function. The latest headphone offering from team Monster/Dr. Dre promises to marry substance and style in a hip-looking set of headgear that is uniquely Diddy. In this review, we open our ears and take a moment to listen to what the DiddyBeats have to say for themselves. You might be surprised. We were.
Out of the Box
The DiddyBeats are packaged with the same buffet of ear-tips that we’ve seen in Monster’s Miles Davis Tribute and Turbine Pro model earphones. We consider this no small feature, since proper fit in the ear is so crucial for the best possible sound. We like to have options and the DiddyBeats offer you eight of them. The DiddyBeats package also includes a soft carrying pouch and a security clip for the earphone’s 3 foot long wire.
Features and Design
We’re not sure how involved Diddy was in the design, engineering or voicing of these earphones, but we’re pretty sure he wouldn’t have signed off on anything unless he was confident they upheld his image. Considering that style can be subjective, we feel the DiddyBeats deliver on their promise to integrate well with the wardrobe and other wearable accessories-if you’re concerned about that sort of thing. They certainly seem to fit in with Diddy’s preference for luxury and bling.
In general, the DiddyBeats are well constructed. Clearly, Monster used high quality materials and put some extra care into designing robust strain reliefs that will keep the earphones from breaking down due to wear and tear. You can get the DiddyBeats in iPod White, Powder Pink or Black; Monster gave us the black version.
The earpieces are wrapped in black leather and fitted with a polished aluminum and enamel end-cap. These earpieces are a bit on the large side of the scale but are thankfully much lighter than the Turbine Pro model earphones. It took us a while to find the L and R markings that indicate which headphone should go in which ear. It turns out the markings are located on the underside of the earphone, just above a small screw head and in grey writing on polished silver. Don’t bother hunting for the markings; it’s really not worth the time, effort or eye strain. Instead, try to remember that the iPhone Control Talk piece is just under the LEFT earphone.
Speaking of the iPhone ControlTalk module, it is located just five inches below the left earphone and offers volume control and a pause/play option. While we do appreciate the ability to make and receive calls with minimal interruption, the ControlTalk piece weighs down the left ear just enough to be noticeable. While a security clip is included, we found it to be ineffective at relieving the excess strain on the left ear. On its own, this issue wouldn’t be so bad, but a one inch metal cylinder that joins the left and right cords into one just adds more unneeded heft to the product.
The “tangle free” cord is unique in that it is totally flat but we didn’t find it to be entirely without tangle issues. The cord does maintain its shape pretty well, but is susceptible to kinks when folded or sat upon. At the end of the day, we felt the flat cord did more to help the earphones stand out from a stylistic point of view rather than serve a practical benefit.
Performance
The DiddyBeats received the same rigorous listening tests that we’ve employed with other high-end earphones and headphones in the past. We used just about every style of music in all sorts of listening conditions and with a wide array of equipment. In short, The DiddyBeats did remarkably well. Sonically speaking, we liken them in many ways to the much more expensive Miles Davis Tribute earphones reviewed earlier this year.
Bass response seemed more pronounced with the DiddyBeats, but it was smooth, deep and articulate when asked to be. When we listened to a track involving upright acoustic bass, it sounded natural. Even unprocessed electric bass sounded raw and woody, not bloated and monophonic. At no point did we ever feel like we were listening to jazz through “Hip-Hop headphones”.
Midrange frequencies sound clear and natural. Often, in-ear headphones with a lot of bass have a mid-bass hump that gets in the way of natural vocal reproduction, but the DiddyBeats didn’t suffer from that problem. Instead, they transitioned very well between the low midrange and bass frequencies.
The high frequency response was generally very good. Depending on our choice of ear-tip, high frequencies flirted with being a bit hot. We found the foam ear-tips smoothed the highs out to a level we liked but even when the high frequencies were forward, they had a crystal clear ring to them rather than the aggressive metallic sizzle that we’ve heard from so many other earphones..
The more we listened, the more it became clear that Monster had built a great sounding pair of in-ear headphones that, sonically speaking, would have been as comfortable with a Quincy Jones endorsement as the Diddy name.
Conclusion
Though a little heavy and slightly cumbersome, the DiddyBeats look and sound fantastic. Apparently it is possible to integrate fashion and technology without making sacrifices in performance. With sound on par with their more expensive cousins, handy iPhone ControlTalk on board and a slick look to boot, the $149.00 (at BestBuy only) DiddyBeats deserve a serious look.
Highs:
- Revealing, powerful sound
- Unique and stylish design points
- Wide range of ear-tip sizes
Lows:
- Bass response may be heavy for some
- Bulky earpieces
- iPhone ControlTalk attachment weighs down left earpiece
