Apple Said to Be in Talks to Buy Beats for $3.2 Billion

Re:Apple Said to Be in Talks to Buy Beats for $3.2 Billion by batiudrami on Thursday May 08, 2014 @09:14PM (#7718771)

This is exactly it - they give a 'fun' listening experience that people enjoy, and mistake for sound quality. They're paying a high price for a brand and experience, rather than for the quality of the components, like many other premium brands.

I don't wear them, but I don't hate the people who do (though I'm not huge on Beats' "the way it was meant to sound/the way the musician intended" branding)

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Re:Apple Said to Be in Talks to Buy Beats for $3.2 Billion by mrexroad on Friday May 09, 2014 @04:01PM (#7722948)

"they give a 'fun' listening experience that people enjoy"

ding that's the crux of it. people want something that makes them feel good, which often isn't something you can quantify in a lab. so rather than trying to build a better headphone, beats built the equivalent of a booming car stereo strapped to your head, and that evokes a very specific emotional response for most of their customers.

fwiw: i have a pair of Bose QC15 cans that i got as a gift from work. i think they're crap for reproduction purposes, but the experience they're designing for is noise cancellation.

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Re:Apple Said to Be in Talks to Buy Beats for $3.2 Billion by hessenwolf on Friday May 09, 2014 @04:30AM (#7719932)

Quality is in the eye of the beholder, and there were several blokes sporting them on the U-bahn train this morning, all much cooler than me.

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Re:Apple Said to Be in Talks to Buy Beats for $3.2 Billion by batiudrami on Friday May 09, 2014 @05:02AM (#7719997)

It's not really, when frequency response is a measurable quantity - sound quality can be, and is defined, and Beats do not fare well[1]. But you're right, they do look cool, and they have a fun listening experience.

[1] http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/monster-beats-dr-dre-so...

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