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In marketing materials for its new $150 in-ear headphones, Monster headlines its package with the question, "The world's best-sounding earphones?" I'm not sure if we should take this as a declaration or an actual question, but so far the answer from Amazon reviewers and some blogs is a pretty stiff "no."

Monster's new $150 earphones promise great sound.

(Credit: Amazon)

To be fair, some blogs have reviewed the Turbines favorably. It's also worth noting that Amazon reviews can be written by anyone, including PR reps from other manufacturers (not that we're accusing anybody of anything). But it's rare that you see a product get a one-star rating from virtually every "reviewer" (at the time of this writing there were 11 one-star reviews and one four-star review).

Part of the problem stems from the fact that Monster has its share of both fans and detractors. As one reviewer from Amazon's End User blog notes, "Monster Cable has always had a bit of an embattled reputation amongst enthusiasts--strong opinions on both sides fly back and forth on message boards and newsgroups like verbal trebuchets whenever their name comes up."

Personally, I think it's risky for a manufacturer to go overboard with marketing hyperbole, especially when you're entering a fairly mature market. Yes, you want to make a splash, but there's the danger of over-promising and under-delivering.

In its press release, Monster says the Turbines are the "world's first high-performance in-ear headphones with specially engineered drivers that deliver impeccable audiophile-quality sound." Well, that's simply not true. Shure makes earbuds that deliver audiophile-quality sound. Etymotic, too. And several other companies would make the same claim.

What do you guys think? Is Monster getting a bum rap? Or are the Turbines as good as the company makes them out to be?

P.S. We'll have our own review of the earphones early next year, after the holiday break.

(Credit: Etymotic)

If you've ever shopped around for a pair of headphones, you've probably noticed a trend: there is a seemingly endless array of choices in the ultracheap, sub-$50 range; plenty of options in the $80 to $110 range; and quite a few luxury selections that run for $200 or more. There are surprisingly few models that list around $150, which might just be the sweet spot between "nice" and "ultra high-end." Etymotic seems to have recognized this deficiency and answered it with the hf5 High-Fidelity Noise-Isolating Earphones. These sleekly stylish in-ear 'phones strike an excellent balance between price and sound quality, offering audio on par with some pairs priced well above them. Read the Etymotic hf5 review.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

"Justin...Justin...JUSTIN!!!"

This happens at least once a day...I'm at my desk, typing up a review or blog post on my computer, when all of a sudden someone sneaks up behind me and unintentionally make me jump 10 feet in the air with a simple tap on the back. How do I allow this to happen? Am I deaf? Well, not right now, but it's quite possible that I might be if I continue to constantly blast music out of my Princess Leia headphones.

A recent report out of Australia titled "Is Australia Listening?" reported 70 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 34 experience a constant ringing in their ears, which can be a symptom of permanent damage to the ear canal. The report goes on to claim that 76 percent of young adults in Australia listen to music through headphones on portable MP3 players, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a higher number in relation to the United States.

At 24, I represent the first generation to see the rise of portable music players. I remember when the headphones to my first Sony Walkman cassette player might as well have been glued to my ears. Since then, I've been addicted to personal, portable audio and I fear that I, along with the rest of my generation, will soon experience severe hearing loss due to years and years of listening to loud music through headphones. Professor Harvey Dillon of the Hearing Australia program says his general rule of thumb is if "people have to raise their voice or actually shout at you to make themselves understood while you are listening to music in your ears, then that is loud enough to be potentially damaging." As a self-professed audiophile, I take every opportunity to listen to my music. It moves along a boring work day, drowns out crazies on the subway, and helps put me to sleep at night. Some days, I feel like I spend more time with my headphones in than out. I also listen to a lot of different kinds of music, from hip-hop to metal to classical to Disney, but no matter what the genre, I must admit that I crank up the volume to the highest possible level to experience the bliss of surround sound. It sounds like my days of listening to music might be numbered...

But what about these new noise-cancelling and inner ear-canal headphones that are starting to pervade the industry? I wonder if those particular types of monitor earphones pose a greater danger than the over the ear style? Either way, my future doesn't look very bright. Are there any Millennials out there who have already started to experience hearing loss? I'd love to hear other opinions on how these listening trends will affect our health down the line.

(Credit: Koss)

Koss has a bad reputation for manufacturing terrible audio products, but it struck gold back in 1984 with one set of headphones, the PORTAPROS. They're still being produced with continued success after 23 years and are, in my opinion, the most underrated headphones on the market, and here's why:

1. Price: $35 with free shipping on Amazon. Maybe less on eBay.
2. Sound quality: Best sound I've heard out of sub-$200 cans. Instead of telling you how awesome these are, I'll let these 249 people do the work for me:

CNET Review (Review on its way, but check out the user section, 8.8 average rating from 12 users.)

Amazon.com User Reviews (4.5 stars out of 237 reviews)

3. Design: Love them or hate them, you have to admit that they look insane. Koss hasn't changed the design since 1984, and personally I love the retro Tron look. People stop me all the time asking about them, and I always give them this exact same speech about how much I love them.
4. Super comfortable: I've worn them for the last two years for at least a couple of hours everyday, if not a full eight hours and never felt any irritation, mostly because of the side padding and the adjustments you can make to width of the band. Other headphones I've owned (Grado SR-80, Sennheiser PX-100, Sony MDR-V700DJ, Shure E3c) start to irritate my ears after prolonged usage, but the PortaPros are so comfy that I sometimes forget that I have them on.
   (Credit: Koss)
5. Versatile: I've used these during all day cycling trips, at the desk, at home, and a during a million other activities and they've withstood the worst: liquid and food spills, long drops, heat, snow, and rainstorms.
6. Warranty: Koss offers a lifetime warranty on them. No questions asked. The appeal here is that you can drop $35 once and never buy another set again.
(Credit: Koss)
7. Longevity: These phones have become something of a cult favorite among audiophiles. They aren't sold in stores so they're kept in production by word of mouth purchases such as these, and I'm more than happy to pass on the good word. Having used the PortaPros for years in a million different applications and environments, I can say without exaggeration that these are my favorite headphones I've ever heard or purchased. This isn't a "best headphone for your buck" talk, the low price is just icing on the cake. If they were $100 I'd definitely still throw down for them.

There's something to be said about a product still going strong after 23 years in this evolving industry.

If you know your high-end earphone manufacturers, you'll have heard of Etymotic. It's made a whole bunch of earphones over the years and we at Crave are massive fans. So we're not going to pretend we weren't excited when Etymotic slipped us a pair of its new hf2 earphones. But we're more excited still to say they're really rather terrific.

(Credit: Crave UK)

So fresh are they there's no confirmed price, but 99 pounds (about $197) is the rough figure we've been given to work with, putting them in Shure SE310 and Denon AH-C700 territory. Like those two models, the hf2s are sound-isolating 'phones, meaning they passively block out ambient noise by using either flanged silicon or foam tips. The silicon tips are less intrusive in the ear, but the foam ones are better at isolation, with the advantage of giving bass an extra kick.

Inside each 'phone is a balanced armature driver with a frequency response of 20Hz-16KHz. This is much less responsive than Denon's old C700s, which rock 12Hz-24,000KHz, but arguably on a par with Shure's SE310s, with their response of 22Hz-19KHz. For those of you scared of frequency tables, that means on paper the Denons have better bass and treble, but the new Etymotics have a lower bass-response rate, so bass will be that bit fuller.

But numbers mean about as much as the opinions of Jade Goody if performance is rubbish. Fortunately, it's on a par with what we'd expect of Etymotic. The hf2s have a balanced sound, with strengths in overall clarity and definition. Bass isn't a strong point, so they're not a pair to consider if you thrive on bass, but if you want terrific clarity they're a good choice, with extremely punchy mids and a bright treble.

There's one more thing though: a microphone sits in-line for iPhone chin waggery. A button lets you mute your music when you answer a call, and apparently this works with some music phones, though we're yet to discover which.

For the full-pelt, full-power, red-hot maximum bass lowdown, check back soon for our full review. It'll be an adventure of intrigue, mystery, double-crossing and backstabbing. Oh wait, that's the book we're reading. Yeah, the review's just a review. But it'll be a good one, and you won't want to miss it. No, really, it'll have pictures and everything!

(Source: Crave UK)