Beats Solo 2

Beats Solo 2
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The Beats Solo 2 on-ear headphones are sturdier and better-sounding than the original Solos, with somewhat more balanced sound and strong, tight bass. They offer a relatively comfortable fit and have an inline remote and microphone for making cell phone calls. The headphones fold up to fit in a nice carrying case (included).

Fairly pricey; some people may find they fit too snug.

These Solo 2 may not win audiophile hearts and ears, but for its intended audience -- namely, folks who are looking for a fast, exciting headphone with lots of high-quality bass -- this is an excellent on-ear headphone.

Design 8 Features 8 Sound 8 Value 8
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Beats' successor to its bestselling on-ear headphone is a distinct improvement over the original, both in design and sound quality.

Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET's Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He's also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Nook e-books and audiobooks.
It's been a long time coming, but a day after Beats officially announced its sale to Apple for $3 billion, it released the successor to its on-ear Solo , one of the most popular headphones in the world. The new, improved Solo 2 carries a list price of $200 in the US and £170 in the UK, and comes in a variety of glossy colors. (Australian details aren't available yet, but the US price converts to about AU$215.)
The Solo 2 looks a lot like a mini version of Beats' revamped over-ear Studio (2013) headphone. For starters, the earpads have been redesigned with swankier materials that make the headphones slightly more comfortable and should hold up better over time. Those pads do offer a slightly tighter seal to prevent sound leakage, as well as better noise isolation form the outside world.
Like the new Studio, the Solo 2, which weighs in at 7.2 ounces (205 grams), is built more sturdily and has no visible screws. The curve of the headband has been changed to deliver a snugger, more ergonomic fit too. At times, it can feel a little too snug, and while this is relatively comfortable for an on-ear model, it's certainly not the most comfortable on-ear I've tested (I prefer the Beyerdynamic T51p and Bose OE2 , which has been updated to the Bose SoundTrue On-Ear). And for the record, I found both the over-the-ear Beats Studio and Studio Wireless more comfortable.
The headphones fold up (but not quite flat) and come with a soft carrying case and a detachable cord with an inline remote and microphone for making cell phone calls. (It's worth noting that the cord color matches the headphone color, which wasn't the case for the Studio Wireless I reviewed.) This on-ear model doesn't have the active noise-cancellation of the step-up Studio and Studio Wireless models.
I personally wasn't a fan of the original Solos and thought they were overpriced and lacked clarity. As with the new Studios, Beats has tamped down the bass a little and gone with a somewhat more accurate sound profile with better detail -- that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of bass, but it isn't as hyped.
After I tested the headphones for a few days, I handed them off to Steve Guttenberg, who writes our Audiophiliac blog . Steve had a similar view on the headphones and felt the bass was better balanced with the midrange and treble than it used to be (in the original Solo). But, he said, no one would accuse the Solo 2 of being mellow.
For starters, it's very up front and in your face (we refer to this as a fast, or forward headphone). Also, you don't have to crank the volume to feel the bass, it's all there, even at hushed, late night volume levels.
Steve said the Solo 2's bass prowess was evident when listening to the the Nine Inch Nails' "Hesitation Marks" -- the visceral impact pulsing through the album was "super impressive," even compared with one of our favorite over-the ear-headphones, the Audio Technica ATH-M50x .
"The M50x has plenty of oomph," he reported, "but the Solo 2 makes an almost physical connection with your ears, you feel it as much as hear it." That said, the M50x's stereo imaging is more spacious and open, the Solo 2 seems cramped by comparison.
The sound of another highly rated on-ear model, the V-Moda XS , was closer to the Solo 2's. The XS' treble detail was less aggressive and sweeter -- the XS has more of an "audiophile" sound -- but the Solo 2's richer balance flattered vocalists (the XS's sound thinned the voices) and the Solo 2's low bass oomph outpaced the XS's.
Depending on your sound tastes, you may prefer one over the other (we found the V-Moda XS a little more comfortable to wear), but it's hard to declare a clear winner on the sound front.
Stepping up to the more expensive Beyerdynamic T51p you get even cleaner, more refined sound. The Beyerdynamic has the best balance of overall detail and resolution without any of the Solo 2's aggressive edge. The T51p's bass -- deep, solid and full -- is also slightly better and its low-end oomph on EDM and rock is quite impressive.
That model has a colder, metal design, but as I said, it's a bit more comfortable headphone overall and has a higher-end look and feel. (Note: It's also available as the T51i, a version geared toward Apple iOS users).
Beats has been gradually updating its product line after severing its partnership with Monster in early 2012. It's moved away from its bloated-bass roots and staked out a more refined sound while upping the build-quality of its headphones (that said, while they seem sturdier, they're still a mostly all-plastic design).
These Solo 2 may not win audiophile hearts and ears, but for its intended audience -- namely, folks who are looking for a fast, exciting headphone with lots of high-quality bass -- this is an excellent on-ear headphone.
Steve Guttenberg contributed to this review.

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Pros

Powerful, distortion-free audio with boosted bass and bright highs.

Lightweight, comfortable fit.

Inline remote control and microphone for mobile devices.

Cons

Big bass sound isn't for purists or anyone seeking flat response.

Slightly overpriced.

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I've been a contributing editor for PCMag since 2011. Before that, I was PCMag's lead audio analyst from 2006 to 2011. Even though I'm a freelancer now, PCMag has been my home for well over a decade, and audio gear reviews are still my primary focus. Prior to my career in reviewing tech, I worked as an audio engineer—my love of recording audio eventually led me to writing about audio gear.
Fans of booming low-end won't be disappointed by the Beats Solo 2 headphones' powerful bass and distortion-free audio performance.
By now, headphone enthusiasts should know the drill with Beats: If you love big, booming bass, read on, and if you want a flat-response, critical listening-appropriate headphone pair, move on past the Beats Solo 2 (maybe to the Editors' Choice Sennheiser HD 558 ). The $199.95 Solo 2 is all about streamlined design that's focused on being lightweight and comfortable over long listening sessions, and with very few design flourishes. The drivers deliver seriously deep bass that balances out against heavily tweaked high frequencies. Beats headphones often feel a bit overpriced, but the Solo 2 manages to offer compelling value—even if you're still paying a bit of a premium for Dr. Dre's name and the allure of wearing the same headphones you see on celebrity athletes and musicians.
Design Available in glossy pink, blue, or gray along with the more traditional Beats colors of red, black, or white, the Solo 2 looks similar to other Beats headphones. The on-ear (supra-aural) fit is extremely lightweight, with plush earpads and enough cushioning under the headband to stay comfortable. You can fasten on a little too tight and create some unnecessary pressure on the ears; loosening them a bit eliminates any tension issues without making them less secure on the head as it might with most headphones.
While not really marketed for it, the Solo 2 is a decent passive noise eliminator. The earcups block out a healthy amount of ambient room noise, and while you shouldn't expect anything close to active noise cancellation, it's a nice fringe benefit of the comfortable earpads.
The removable audio cable, which connects to the left earcup, includes an inline remote control and microphone for mobile devices. The three-button remote has dedicated volume controls and a center button that answers and ends calls, or plays, pauses, or skips tracks depending on how many taps you give it and whether you're on a call or not. The Solo 2 ships with a carabiner and a black zip-up, padded protective pouch into which the headphones, which fold down at hinges on the headband, fit inside.
Performance On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the Solo 2 delivers a subwoofer-like assault with absolutely no distortion even at maximum, unsafe listening levels. At moderate levels, the sense of bass response is powerful, but well-balanced with the rest of the mix to produce a sculpted, tweaked response. Purists won't love it, but the Beats brand is a trailblazer in the big bass headphones era.
On Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track that doesn't have much in the way of deep, subwoofer-style low-end, the Solo 2 refreshingly doesn't try to create it out of whole cloth. The drumming gets a decent dose of low-end with some definite boosting, but not to the point that the drums sound unnatural or overpower the mix. Callahan's baritone vocals hardly need any help in the lows, and though they also get a little boosting, they don't sound muddy even if I would've liked to hear a tad more high-mid presence to bring out a treble edge. The highs are boosted enough to give the guitar strumming and the consonant sounds of the vocals more presence, but they're never overly sibilant or too bright.
Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild" is the kind of track that really tells us about the Solo 2's sound signature. Here, the sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the drum loop are intense, delivered with the kind of power we expect from a club PA system. The attack of the kick drum loop, however, lacks the treble edge (like with Callahan's voice) it gets with some other pairs. That edge is what allows it to slice through the dense mix, so it sinks into the background without it. Meanwhile, the highs are boosted enough to really bring out the crackle of the vinyl, which on some headphones would be an afterthought. The vocals are delivered with strong clarity and manage to float over the mix.
Classical tracks, like the opening scene of John Adam's "The Gospel According to the Other Mary," have a slightly unnatural sound to them through the Solo 2. They don't sound bad at all, just a bit boosted in the aforementioned bass and high frequency ranges, which lends transparently recorded pieces like this the feel of a cinematic score. The lower register strings at the opening of this track have an immediately strong presence through the Solo 2, which is too much for some classical purists to take when the lower register instruments increase in depth and intensity later in this track. It's an exciting sound, to say the least.
If $200 is your budget for on-ear headphones, you have a plethora of options. If you'd rather have a more dialed-back bass experience without foregoing bass response completely, both the Sennheiser HD 558 and the Marshall Monitor ($330.90 at Amazon) (Opens in a new window) offer excellent, rich sound signatures with crisp, clean highs. If you're looking to spend far, far less money, the Scosche Lobedope SHP451M ( at Amazon) (Opens in a new window) delivers big, deep bass response on a serious budget, while the Skullcandy Crusher ($99.25 at Amazon) (Opens in a new window) allows you to adjust bass levels yourself. The Beats Solo 2 sounds and feels like one of the least overpriced options from Beats, which normally prices its headphones at a premium. I suppose they could be sold for a bit less than $200, but even at that price, the Solo 2's comfortable, well-made design delivers thunderous lows without a hint of distortion.
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I've been a contributing editor for PCMag since 2011. Before that, I was PCMag's lead audio analyst from 2006 to 2011. Even though I'm a freelancer now, PCMag has been my home for well over a decade, and audio gear reviews are still my primary focus. Prior to my career in reviewing tech, I worked as an audio engineer—my love of recording audio eventually led me to writing about audio gear.
PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering lab-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.
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