Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review

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Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review

We all love buying new gear.  That’s why we’re here right?  But when is the last time you bought an amazing gadget and made a donation to a worthy charity at the same time?

The Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red headphones not only look and sound great (we’ll get to that in the review), but a portion of the profits from every pair of headphones sold goes directly to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa.

These headphones are made from a proprietary titanium coated driver technology ensures they preserve every “bit of the lush bass and vital details of your music.”

They fold easily for storage and portability and feature Monster’s ControlTalk for iPod which allows you playback control and iPhone hands free calling.

Monster was kind enough to send me a pair of these beauties for review.

Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review

These headphones ooze luxury from the moment you slip the cardboard sleeve off and revel the red box.  The box itself is one of the heaviest, thickest I’ve seen.  It’s also minimalistic, which I like.  No fumbling around, opening multiple boxes inside boxes.  Everything is laid out and presented in a straight forward, easy to follow manner.

Once you open the flap you’ll notice the included items have been divided into two sides.  One side of the box contains the headphones themselves which come folded inside a neoprene travel case …

Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review

… while the other side contains the additional accessory items and paperwork hidden under flap.

Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review

This second side  includes the cable you’ll need to connect to the headphones, a cleaning cloth and the manual.  You don’t get the large adapter needed to use headphones with a home audio receiver, so if you plan to use these with one you’ll need to pick up an adapter on your own.

Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review

The cord, which is about 3 ft. long, is made from a heavy-duty, tangle free material. It contains a microphone and the mechanism for controlling either the audio playback on your Mp3 device or the telephone features of your iPhone.

Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review

When you’re ready to use the headphones you simply unravel the cord and plug it into the bottom of the left ear piece.  The other end plugs into your audio device.

Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review

The case Monster includes fits the headphones and cord perfectly.  Not much room for anything else though, and it’s a soft case so you’ll want to be mindful when you carry it in your gear bag along with other items.

Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review

The headphones fold neatly and are easily stored in their included case.  They are small enough and light weight enough to be transported virtually anywhere.  Their smaller size also makes them very versatile.  I wore them while working out, for Skype conversations, and with my iPhone and iPod Touch.

Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review

The Solo HD model is smaller than their larger, big brother the Beats Studio version.  I’ve tried on the larger Studio model and the Solos feel about half the size.  The Studio model is great but they are large; that’s where the Solo model steps in and offers a fit that’s more versatile and allows you to use them in more places while doing more things.

Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review

The leather ear cushions are super soft and when placed over your ear work to create a seal which blocks out noise from interfering with your listening experience.  There’s no powered noise cancellation, but the fit you get with the Solos does a superb job at stopping noises from getting in the way of your music.

Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review

The thickness of the ear cushions really helps to block out the outside world.

Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review

The top of the headphones feature the Beats By Dr. Dre tag line.

Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review

The underside of the top frame is also cushioned, which makes for an even more comfortable fit.  I wore the headphones all day while computing and found them to be some of the most comfortable I’ve tried.

Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review

The headphones are fully adjustable and should accommodate any sized head.  I have a very large head (7-5/8), and I found that I didn’t even have to fully extend the headphones in order to achieve a good fit.

Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review

The headphone’s exterior is made from an ultra glossy finish that’s sure to garner some attention.  It’s also scratch resistant so they should maintain their “out-of-the-box” look for some time.

Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review

Let’s get this part out of the way: these headphones are not inexpensive, but really good things seldom are.  And from the moment you start pumping your music through the Solos you know you’re dealing with a high-end pair of headphones.  There’s no denying the difference one hears when listening to music via a low-end pair of headphones versus a pair like the Solos.

Listening to tracks with high amounts of bass is actually a pleasure with the Solos.  I found little to no distortion when doing so.  On the flip side songs with higher notes and tones also sounded equally as smooth.

Monster says the Beats series of headphones allows you to hear music the way the artist intended you to do so, and I fully see where they get this from.  While listening to various tracks through the Solos I was able to pick up subtle sounds that I normally don’t hear through my lessor quality set of headphones.  There’s simply nothing better than quality like that.

I also tested the Solos with my iPhone and made several calls.  In all cases the recipients could not tell me whether I was calling them on a hands free unit or not, and this is something I appreciate.  Using my iPhone 3Gs, I was able to answer and initial calls via the button located on the microphone as well as start my iPod playing. I also could raise and lower the volume on both calls and music, which is pretty much everything you’d want in a hands free unit.

The Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red edition are available directly from the Monster web site here, or at Apple Retail Stores nationwide.

M.S.R.P. – $229

What I like – crisp sounds, great on high and lows, comfortable fit, portable, part of sale goes to charity.

What I don’t like – no included adapters.

You can learn more about the Global Fund to Fight AIDS in Africa here.

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Gear Diary Staff
Gear Diary was founded on September 30, 2006, with the goal to create a website that would not easily be labeled. Everyone who is part of Gear Diary is a professional who uses technology in their work and daily lives. On this site, we share our enthusiasm while exploring the gear we use — the equipment that makes our lives easier, more entertaining, more productive, and more manageable. Our hope is that Gear Diary visitors find this site to be a welcoming, friendly, and accessible place to learn about and discuss interesting topics — and not only those that are tech-related! Gear Diary is a place to discover and explore all kinds of new gear, including smartphones, computers, kitchen gadgets, Toys, EDC, camping gear, or even your next new car! You can follow us on Twitter @GearDiarySite.

20 Comments on "Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red Review"

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  4. Review: Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red | Gear Diary: These headphones ooze luxury from the moment you slip the cardb… http://bit.ly/8XuLW3

  5. Great new review of our @BeatsbyDre Solo HD (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition headphones from @GearDiarySite: http://ow.ly/1wBd5

  6. Beats fans! Check out what @GearDiarySite had to say about the Solo HD (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition headphones: http://ow.ly/1wBrX

  7. topsy_top20k | April 9, 2010 at 1:43 pm |

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  14. RT @joinred: RT @beatsbydre Beats fans! Check out what @GearDiarySite said about the Solo HD (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition headphones: http://ow.ly/1wBrX

  15. One of the most perfect birthday gifts for this year…! XD http://ow.ly/1wBrX

  16. Great visuals 🙂 I’ve been looking into investing in a quality pair of head phones! I love that Beats paired with product (RED) for this. I really want to know if there’s a different being the solo HD and the regular solo, but that’s another story. 🙂 LOVE that it works with the iPhone 3Gs!

  17. RT @joinred: RT @beatsbydre Beats fans! Check out what @GearDiarySite said about the Solo HD (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition headphones: http://ow.ly/1wBrX

  18. Review: Beats By Dr. Dre Solo HD Red | Gear Diary – http://bit.ly/hRWrI5 via @geardiarysite

  19. I have it in black and i just love it. Because the sound is awesome and it looks good. The only problem is that i wish there was more plastic fomaing for your head. other than that i love them

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