Beats Executive Over-Ear ANC Headphones
$129.99
$299.99
57% off
Reference Price
Condition: New
Color: Black
Top positive review
1 people found this helpful
Let me tell you something about Executive
By Master Fan Xia on Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2013
I bought this headset a few days ago and decide to provide some comments and hopefully offer some useful advice to those who have been eyeing on it. First things first, the Beats Executive is designed for travelers. If you are someone who loves to listen to music in a silent ambiance, the Executive is not the right selection that you should go to. The hissing sound that is produced for noise-cancelling purpose will be "happiness-cancelling" or even "anger-triggering" if you try Executive at home. The noise-cancelling function is enhanced if you have tried Beats Studio before, although I would say Bose QC15 might still have the better if not the best noise-cancelling performance. The downside of it is that the hissing sound of the electric flow is also enhanced. I can hear the hiss very clearly even when I listen to music in the subway (30%-40% volume). However, if you adjust the volume to above 50%, the hiss is barely audible. The hiss will also disappear when the volume is pulled up to 60%-70% in a quite environment. I listen to a lot of pop and hip-hop genre songs, therefore the hiss might be less prominent for me. For those who prefer quite songs, Executive is not your best fit. Secondly, let's talk about the building quality and some details about this headset. I personally love the design very much, it's sleek, laid-back yet fashionable. I intentionally bought this headset for business travel purpose since I don't like the looking of Bose headsets. Beats Executive is well built in quality and I love the headset case that is almost only half the height of Beats Studio's case, which allows you to fit the case much more easily into your bag-pack. I would suggest Beats to include some compartments in the case though. The color of the cable does bother me a bit, since both cables are red although I think black suits the headsets much better. I have to steal the black remote control cable from my beats studio and they look perfectly match, the remote control functions properly as well. However, I ordered the black universal ControlTalk cable originally designed for Monster Inspiration because it has volume control and better looking, I really hope it will work on my Executive. The comfort of this headset is great - if you do not wear glasses, I personally have to take off my glasses whenever I put the headset on. I didn't encounter such problem when I was using Beats Studio. But I still want to give a plus to Executive's enhanced comfort compared to Studio, it offers more softness while the weight remains pretty much the same. Last but not least, the sound quality. I'm not an expert in this, so I'm only going to give my perception. I agree with the common comment that the sound quality is improved compared to the Beats Studio. The bass is less embellished but the overall sound offers more clarity and detail. Therefore for those of you who primarily listen to hip-hop and rap with strong bass, you might prefer the sound effect of Studio. All in all, I would say that the Executive caters to more music genres, which fits my taste. But do keep in mind that the hiss issue might ruin your experience if you are not using this headset in the right situation. After all, I think that the Beats Executive, instead of being built for hi-fi, is built for people who usually listen to music on the run. Hence the negative reviews do not fully justify its value for YOU, so pick your right pair of headphones and enjoy!
Top critical review
7 people found this helpful
Not great as expected, but pretty good.
By Jacky Cheung on Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2012
I bought these cans because of its look and noise cancellation feature. However the problem with it is obvious: the headphone itself creates too much noise. I understand that for a active noise canceling headphones, this kind of noise is virtually inevitable, but the noise from this phone is so loud that I can't bear after listening for a long while. But I use this for on-the-go listening, so I won't notice the noise from itself when I'm on the bus and street. And the noise canceling feature is really good. It does cancel majority of out noise! If you like noise canceling and hate the look from Bose, this would be a wise choice! On the other hand, the sound from these cans is decent, not great though. I use my sr325 (also costs me $300) for a head to head comparison. I used "wake me up when September end" by Green Day. For sr325, the guitar at beginning makes me not want to take my headphones off. I can feel every string! For beats executive, the guitar is still clear but not as alive as sr325 does. I mean, if you are no audiophile and never listened to headphone at this price range, Executive may impress you. But for me, sr325 is better in terms of playing instrument. When the vocal comes, I feel the Executive is nearer than sr325 but the Grado did a better job on resolution. In the refrain part, I feel I was surrounded by a band with Executive. From sr325, the sound just like comes from two sides off me, the sound is still clearer but not makes me immersed. I guess the reason for this issue is that I didn't use my amp and DAC when I did this comparison. Finally, comfort. I think this is an issue no less important than sound quality. I have to admit that the beats executive is very comfortable! sr325, however, failed when it comes to wearing. My ears hurt after one hour of listening. Overall, executive is a good choice for no audiophile listeners! Personally, I used it only for travel to avoid the "inside noise" issue. So for its decent sound quality, comfort, noise canceling, look and price, I'd like to rate 4 stars. This is my first review, so if there is anything not clear enough, please let me know. Update: well, when I wrote my first review, I said the sound quality is good enough for a non-audiophile listener, I was wrong. I wrote that way because at the time I thought i haven't broken them in. But two weeks after my first review, I still can not notice a significant improvement in sound quality. Given this situation, I have to give one star reduction from original rating. And btw, if you are looking for an upgrade from Beats Studio headphone, this is not a good choice. They are technically the same.
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