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Beats Music launches

beatsmusic.com

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Re: Beats Music launches

#41

Post by timje1 »

edgarallenbro wrote: post #24
TomGullen wrote: post #5

Not a fan of Beats. Tried a pair of their headphones in a shop and they sounded terrible. Build quality was flimsy as well. I think the only new thing they bring into the market is style, and that's not enough for longevity imo. This new service, $10 a month. Not quite sure what it offers over Spotify. Anyway, past experience with their product means I'm just not going to be interested in this.

Beats are EQ'd to increase the volume of the high and low end frequencies. These frequencies sound good to human ears. So, when someone compares Beats to non-Beats, they hear that those frequencies are louder and the very fact that there is a noticeable difference is enough to create the illusion in some gullible people that Beats 'sound better' Of course, in the long run, they don't.

I bought a nice, high quality pair of headphones and was disappointed to find that sound was quite 'crisp'. Fortunately there's an equaliser in the Spotify app... I cranked up the lower and highest end frequencies, and now Meshuggah sounds nice and crunchy again.

I'm not defending Beats at all, but I'll defend that low frequency / high frequency setup all day. Not everyone listens to classical.

Re: Beats Music launches

#42

Post by alanctgardner2 »

brentm wrote: post #12

Whenever a brand like Beats lends their name to or builds a service like this with a much hyped press launch I feel like it's almost always doomed. I tried my account this morning and that's probably the end. It's just another streaming radio app, nothing at all new. Their entire value claim is based around the idea that not just an algorithm is picking the music, humans are involved too. That's great, who cares? Hum…

The point is that democracy is not always good if you want to be exposed to new and interesting things. A million people will listen to Justin Beiber, or Katy Perry, but how does a new/obscure band get traction? It used to be radio spins, but radio is a dying medium. Beats is trying to give you something like your favourite local radio station, with an interesting mix of old favourites and new tracks that haven't reached a critical mass of listeners on other services.

In other words, if you only use people's listening preferences, you can only recommend established tracks well. Adding an editorial component lets you get ahead of the curve.

Re: Beats Music launches

#43

Post by ohwp »

Why would I like to listen to curated music !?

Problem is: I like some harcore, some jazz, some classical, some punk. Taste is very personal. That's why I like to curate my own music.

Re: Beats Music launches

#44

Post by jfoutz »

TomGullen wrote: post #5

Not a fan of Beats. Tried a pair of their headphones in a shop and they sounded terrible. Build quality was flimsy as well. I think the only new thing they bring into the market is style, and that's not enough for longevity imo. This new service, $10 a month. Not quite sure what it offers over Spotify. Anyway, past experience with their product means I'm just not going to be interested in this.

They have(had?) a microphone like the apple earbuds. A couple years ago, being able to take a call was pretty important. I couldn't find any similar headphones with the integrated mic, so those are what i got.

Re: Beats Music launches

#45

Post by timje1 »

alanctgardner2 wrote: post #42
brentm wrote: post #12

Whenever a brand like Beats lends their name to or builds a service like this with a much hyped press launch I feel like it's almost always doomed. I tried my account this morning and that's probably the end. It's just another streaming radio app, nothing at all new. Their entire value claim is based around the idea that not just an algorithm is picking the music, humans are involved too. That's great, who cares? Hum…

The point is that democracy is not always good if you want to be exposed to new and interesting things. A million people will listen to Justin Beiber, or Katy Perry, but how does a new/obscure band get traction? It used to be radio spins, but radio is a dying medium. Beats is trying to give you something like your favourite local radio station, with an interesting mix of old favourites and new tracks that haven't rea…

That's the purpose of the 'hot' algorithms that you get in a lot of ranking sites. In order to keep new content rising to the top, you can build algorithms that prioritise the rate of increase as well. Even weight the listens of users who historically listened to successful tracks before they got popular ('trendsetters' etc.).

So there are other alternatives to human curation when it comes to getting ahead of the curve.

Re: Beats Music launches

#46

Post by JonnieCache »

timje1 wrote: post #41
edgarallenbro wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Beats are EQ'd to increase the volume of the high and low end frequencies. These frequencies sound good to human ears. So, when someone compares Beats to non-Beats, they hear that those frequencies are louder and the very fact that there is a noticeable difference is enough to create the illusion in some gullible people that Beats 'sound better' Of course, in the long run, they don't.

I bought a nice, high quality pair of headphones and was disappointed to find that sound was quite 'crisp'. Fortunately there's an equaliser in the Spotify app... I cranked up the lower and highest end frequencies, and now Meshuggah sounds nice and crunchy again. I'm not defending Beats at all, but I'll defend that low frequency / high frequency setup all day. Not everyone listens to classical.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contours

The problem is, a lot of modern music has this same curve (the "smile") heavily applied to it already, so it can disintegrate into a mess quite quickly.

Re: Beats Music launches

#47

Post by baldfat »

edgarallenbro wrote: post #24
TomGullen wrote: post #5

Not a fan of Beats. Tried a pair of their headphones in a shop and they sounded terrible. Build quality was flimsy as well. I think the only new thing they bring into the market is style, and that's not enough for longevity imo. This new service, $10 a month. Not quite sure what it offers over Spotify. Anyway, past experience with their product means I'm just not going to be interested in this.

Beats are EQ'd to increase the volume of the high and low end frequencies. These frequencies sound good to human ears. So, when someone compares Beats to non-Beats, they hear that those frequencies are louder and the very fact that there is a noticeable difference is enough to create the illusion in some gullible people that Beats 'sound better' Of course, in the long run, they don't.

as a former sound engineer and tiny record label owner. They mix pop music and high bass music for scooped out eq, headphones and systems.

Re: Beats Music launches

#48

Post by rawrBeats »

Raphmedia wrote: post #2

I don't understand the text on the website. Is it some kind of attempt to look funny? " home.whatever.p", "HOME.ELEGANT-AND-FUN.LI3.HEADING"... ?! Or is the website completely busted right now? Edit: What it looks like to me and everyone I asked to have a look. Big bug. Can't even see the pricing. http://imgur.com/ydTIPso

Google Search has an amusing result as well... http://imgur.com/2ycZr0X

https://www.google.com/search?q=beats+music

Re: Beats Music launches

#49

Post by JonnieCache »

ohwp wrote: post #43

Why would I like to listen to curated music !? Problem is: I like some harcore, some jazz, some classical, some punk. Taste is very personal. That's why I like to curate my own music.

To branch out without getting completely lost, assuming that isn't what you want.

Re: Beats Music launches

#50

Post by JonnieCache »

epaladin wrote: post #39
TomGullen wrote: post #5

Not a fan of Beats. Tried a pair of their headphones in a shop and they sounded terrible. Build quality was flimsy as well. I think the only new thing they bring into the market is style, and that's not enough for longevity imo. This new service, $10 a month. Not quite sure what it offers over Spotify. Anyway, past experience with their product means I'm just not going to be interested in this.

I can hardly believe that people buy them at all, let alone pay so much. I have to give them credit for the marketing, but still- my $50 refurb Sony MDR-V6 sound much better. Maybe if we paint decent headphones blue/red/green/pink we can resell them for $300? Anyone know if the beats products are better or worse since their deal with Monster Cable ended?

How do you know that you're not fooling yourself with the low price you paid, via the same mechanism beats fans are fooled by the high price?
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