Monster Turbine in-ear speakers

Monster Turbine in-ear speakers
Reviewed by: Bill Henderson
Monster® Turbine™ High Performance In-Ear Speakers™
Price: $179.95

In between budget in-ear headphones (hereafter called earphones) and uber-expensive models, there are earphones that exist in what is known as a sweet spot. Priced between $75 and $150 these earphones sound almost as good as the $300 + models, but WAY better than the under $50 ones. There are exceptions to this rule, but it’s generally a dependable measure.

At the high end of this sweet spot, you will find the Monster Turbine in-ear speakers. Not only do these sound almost as good as most $300 earphones, they even surpass some of them. The Turbines seem exceptionally well built. Of course, time will tell just how sturdy they are, but the metal black-chrome exterior exude toughness and an aerodynamic style. And weight. They’re heavy. If you have an issue with earphones slipping out of your ears while exercising, pass on these. But if you just like to walk or use earphones lounging around, you will get a lot out of your favorite music that you didn’t get before. A word of warning here: A good set of earphones will make badly ripped music sound even worse. Use earphones with music files that have higher bit-rates and you will immediately appreciate how good your music can sound.

After reading a white paper from Monster explaining all the technology behind headphone/earphone design (not just Turbines), I realized all of that doesn’t matter if the earphones sound lousy. The Turbines don’t. They sound pretty fantastic, actually.

To test them, I decided to listen to Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” album from beginning to end to see what I had missed. Apparently, I missed a lot. We’ll get to that in a minute. But first, lets talk heartbeat. Everyone knows that the beginning of “DSOTM” is a speaker-tester. There isn’t much that can vibrate windows like the thump of a heartbeat played loud. But with the Turbines, you don’t get that rattle, even in your head. That’s because the bass in the Turbines is more accurate than boomy. At first, its kind of disappointing, until you realize that if the phones were that bottom-oriented, fatigue would set in at about the time all the clocks start chiming (if this makes no sense, you need to listen to Dark Side of the Moon). And when earphone fatigue sets in, fun time is over. During “On the Run,” I could hear that heartbeat under all the synth and airplane noise going from the left speaker to the right. I had never heard it that clearly before because it always got lost in the mix. In the brutal stereo separation of the cash register noise in Money, there is no aural bleed between the speakers.

Listening to Enigma’s “Love, Sensuality Devotion” album, the bass kicks at your ears, but again, it’s not overdone. it’s more natural sounding. As I’ve said in previous reviews, bass is easy, bass that doesn’t exhaust your ears isn’t. The Turbines don’t exhaust. They just make you want to listen to more.

Leon Russell’s “Back to the Island” from “Will O’ the Wisp”, shimmers with echo from synthesized waves punctuated by tropical animal noises amid a heavenly female chorus. Having lived at the beach as a child, it brought shivers. Each element played off the other without blending into a muddy aural mess.

One of the best live tracks (sonically) out there is Lou Reed’s “Intro/Sweet Jane”  from “Rock and Roll Animal.” Although recorded in analog in 1974, the pristine quality of the two lead guitars playing off each other shines through with these earphones. This is a song you want to play loud. On Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side” from “Transformer,” you can hear the vibration of the individual bass strings as they are struck. It’s a very intimate connection to the song you don’t get with lesser speakers.

What you get with the Turbines is pretty basic. Along with the earphones, you get a big selection of eartips, both regular and flanged (my favorite). The flanged tips are much longer than other flange-styled tips I have used. I like that. Also included is a soft leather case lined with suede (it smells nice). It would have been cool to have a mic included (I am reviewing for iPhones). I don’t know whether or not Monster plans to release a Turbine headset in the future.

When you open the Turbine’s box, you are presented with the slogan “Life is Too Short to Listen to Bad Headphones.” That may be, but I’m convinced most people will never know how bad their headphones really are until they actually hear a decent pair. And  although the Monster Turbines may not be the last word on in-ear headphones; after hearing them, a lot of people will never look any farther than this – their newly-found sweet spot.

Tags: app, case, earphones, headphones, iPhone, OS, review

Related posts:

1. Monster Turbine Pro Copper Professional In-Ear Speakers
2. New Monster “Turbine Pro™ Copper In-ear Speakers Released
3. Monster iSplitter 200 Mini Headphone Y-Adapter for iPhone Review

Sign up to receive latest iPhone World news and updates via e-mail, RSS, Twitter or Facebook!