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A Fresh Look
With almost a quarter million views, a lot of people have experienced my opinion regarding the original Beats Solo in this video. I've been quoted in the New York Times, Huffington Post, and numerous places elsewhere expressing my distaste for their products. I now find myself with the unenviable task of reversing my opinion, at least in part, with the introduction of their new Beats by Dre Solo2—a very fine headphone indeed. Unfortunately praise doesn't seem to get the attention that negative criticism does, but I…

Sound Quality
The sound quality of the Beats Solo2 is very good indeed for an on-ear, sealed headphone and, to my ears, makes a hearty attempt at best-in-class sound in a number of ways. In the end, however, the niggly details have it meeting, but not exceeding, the best performers in the field.

Bass is solid, tight, and impact-full, though mildly over-emphasized. I would venture to say maybe 3dB too much bass tilt overall. The bass emphasis extends to about 500Hz, where it should stop at about 120Hz in my opinion. The result is a warm headphone (due to the overall…

Uncompensated frequency response plots show very little variation with headphone movement between measurements indicating an ear-pad that does an excellent job. The plot shows good similarity with the Harman target response, but for the bass boost extending to around 500Hz (when it should stop at about 120Hz) and a too severe drop off at 10kHz. Otherwise it's quite good, especially the treble response between the peak at 3.5kHz and 10kHz that appears very smooth. This is an area that often shows severe peaks…

It's super-duper when headphone manufacturers include the community when developing products...for the enthusiasts. It makes for great entertainment and developing interest among the headphone faithful. But, whooo boy, what a chore for the manufacturer. Herding cats is an understatement.

Many others noted as I did in my Oppo PM-1 review that the headphones were somewhat overly polite. It's a sound I tend to like, but a coloration none the less.

So, with the lower cost PM-2 model about to be released, the folks at…

Sennheiser Urbanite ($199)
Seems like nobody can talk about the new Urbanite and Urbanite XL without concluding it's Sennheiser's response to Beats. I don't quite buy it. Sure, Sennheiser is aware of Beats' colossal market share....who isn't? But Beats' share is so huge you might as well equate chasing Beats to chasing the entire market.

Beating Beats means you've got to get the attention of all market segments—teens, millennials, hipsters, urban youth, yuppies, aging hippies, baby-boomers, you name it. You're not…

Sound Quality
The Urbanite is a moderately warm sounding headphone that's somewhat rolled-off from the mid-treble up giving it a somewhat veiled sound. Bass response is well proportioned relative to the mid-range response and is terrifically tight and impactive. Likewise the mid-range response is clear, well balanced, and dynamic. Where these cans fall a little flat is a treble response that starts rolling off at 2kHz and remains some 5-10dB too low through the bulk of upper octaves resulting in a veiled sound. However, it might be back on track between 10kHz and 20kHz giving…

Measurements

Raw frequency response plots show the Sennheiser Urbanite has a seal that's reasonably easy to achieve and delivering reliable bass response. Raw plots also show the desired hump centered at around 3.5kHz is basically missing, which produces there marked drop off after 2kHz in the compensated plots. Response above 10kHz is about right.

Compensated plots do much to reveal a pretty obvious lack of energy above 2kHz. Response below 2kHz is excellent.

30Hz square wave displays very good…

Oppo PM-2 ($699)
The Oppo PM-2 was released not long after the Oppo PM-1 as a lower cost alternative. The PM-2 forgoes the fancy presentation box, extra ear-pads, and balanced cable, leaving the denim clam-shell case, short mobile cable, and longe unbalanced cable (OFC instead of OCC) as the included accessories. On the headphones themselves, ear-pads and headband pad coverings switch from lamb-skin to synthetic leather, and a couple of the trim pieces on the ear capsule are now plastic instead of metal. All told, I think these…

Sound Quality
With two pairs of quite similar headphones and four pairs of likewise similar sounding ear pads, listening test for these cans was arduous and somewhat frustrating. Hair splitting isn't particularly fun or easy, especially when faced with the mailability of subjective impressions. I wish I had two pairs of each pad so I could switch more quickly between the PM-1 and PM-2 with the same pads on each. None-the-less, I did find some lasting impressions.

When the…

Philips Fidelio X2 (~$299, expected availability November 2014 on Amazon)
About a year and a half ago I reviewed the Philips Fidelio X1, the precursor to the X2. I felt at the time (and still do) that it was one of the very few open headphones that might satisfy bassheads, but I didn't consider it an audiophile headphone like the Sennheiser HD600 as the bass was too warm to be considered neutral. I also had some issues with some aspects of the build: the headband was too small; the cable resistance was too high; and the earpads…