JimmyNeutron
Super Member
I was going to continue this on my other thread about Monster's warranty, but since that thread was headed south real fast, and because this is a review on the Tributes I felt it deserved it's own thread. First, a recap: I originally bought the Monster Copper Pro IEM's (In Ear Monitors) back over the summer. The Copper Pro's retail for $399.99, a substantial amount for IEM's. Monster claims to have a lifetime warranty no questions asked on thier phones, and I was able to put that to the test when my wife washed my Copper Pro's when I accidentally left them in my pants pocket (pendejo) 
.Well, off they were returned to Monster. 4 months later (this January) and the Copper Pro's are still on backorder. The Manager asks if I'd be interested in the Miles Davis Tributes instead ($499.99 retail), and still be able to return to the Copper Pro's in the future. I agreed, and today they arrived via 2-day Fed Ex. 
Hot Dang! These are an experience while still in the box!!! They ooooze class all over and show incredible attention to detail. The box is a leather grained cigar-shaped box with a velvet flap. In gold pressing is the Miles Davis logo with "the man and his trumpet" embossed on the front. Opening the box reveals a felt lined interior fold-out type flaps. On one flap in a double CD of Miles Davis "Kind Of Blue" Legacy Edition, and underneath that a small blue carrying pouch with a magnetic latch for the phones. The pouch is velvet lined and stitched - very expensive quality for such a small part. On the right side of the box is the top layer which holds the Tributes and underneath them another "flap type" pouch of similar stitching with an embossed logo badge. Removeing the top layer reveals another lower layer that holds a packet holder of various sized ear tips, and below that another (!) very awesome looking hard case that is velvet lined with a steel trim for your new Tributes. This case is very sturdy, very beautiful, and also includes a velvet cleaning cloth for the phones. There is a lot of "blue" and "velvet" going on here and it's because, from my understanding, that Miles Davis favorite color was blue and his favorite cloth was velvet. Hmm...who knew. Still, lifting even that layer revealed 4 additional bags of various sized ear tips, an instruction (!) manual, user's guide, and warranty card. All this was in addition to the Tribute phones!!! This kind of detail and expense is just absurd and shows how special these IEM's are even before putting them in your ears. :thmbsp: Now, the Tributes themselves. Wow.....:drool: These things are lovely. They really are, and seeing pictures of them do no justice at all. They are heavy (which could be a good thing, or a bad), they are insanely detailed with the Monster logo, color, shape, and the Miles Davis name. I have never seen any IEM come close to these Monster IEM's. They are serious gems, no doubt. The cord is thinner than my Copper Pro's for some unknown reason, and are blue (the color grows on you). They retain the same 90 degree headphone jack that makes it fit nicer on a portable, and the cord has minimal micro-phonics. Let me just say this about IEM's in general - no matter how much they cost they will all sound like crap if you don't use the proper ear tips. From my experience with the Copper Pro's I knew which ones I needed - 2 different sizes actually, as one of my ear canal's seem to be smaller than the other. Thank God Monster supplies you with such a huge assortment of shapes and sizes.
I intend to use these Tributes mostly with my iPod running 160 gigs worth of pure lossless ALAC files
. The Monster line of IEM's are so revealing that you just cannot have anything less than the best in files and formats - mp3, regardless of bit rate, just won't do. I understand that these Tributes cost twice that of my iPod, but it's well worth it. They will show what your player is capable of and will make it shine. But at the same time if you feed it anything lower than the best it will too show you the ugliness of lower bit depth files. With that said, I had no burn-in time on these Tributes and expect them to fully bloom within 50 or so hours, but man.....what music they can play .
They sound very similar to the Copper Pro's, with maybe an ever so slight bit less midrange (or maybe a midrange not emphasized as much) than the Copper Pro's. But bass is there - articulate, deep, realistic bass. Finally to have this low end in IEM's is a welcome. The highs are clear, and the midrange very revealing. When listening to Rodrigo Y Gabriela's 11:11, you can easily hear the plastic pick hitting each string, then the note, then the "natural" decay of not just the note, but of the steel strings as well. This kind of micro-texture is uncanny. Adele's voice on her 21 album is beautiful. But with these Tributes you can hear the raspines and throaty texture. Her music takes on new dimensions when you hear these small details that just lack on other IEM's. The width of the soundstage is wide and deep. I found that listening to the Tributes (or the Copper Pro's too) is like listening to a home sound system rather than headphones. This is almost like the holy grail of headphones -- to be able to dissappear and totally immerse you in a soundfeild that is both wide and non-fatiqueing - just like your home system. You will get frequent goose bumps listening to these - no doubt. Warm, inviting, lush, deep and impactfull , and always natural sounding is how I describe them. They sound "real" . These will most probably be the last set of IEM's that I will ever buy - I mean with a lifetime warranty I'm always guaranteed of getting a new set every time these need replaceing. :thmbsp:
For the last 6 hours that I've been using them I've cycled some Sarah Maclachlan, Adele, Rodrigo y Gabriela, RUSH, Dream Theater, Miles Davis, Al DiMeola, Carly Simon, Norah Jones, and Acoustic Alchemy.
Breathtaking is how I describe them. For comaparisson I used the Klipsch S4 IEM's. I bought these as an interim while waiting for my beloved Copper Pro's to return from warranty. They cost me $100.00 at Best Buy. I believe most people will stay in the $100.00 range when buying a pair of IEM's (I really don't know for sure). These are nice, but pale in comaprisson to the Monster's. The S4 are light - too light. They feel cheap. I know this does not play on performance, and most people want a light set of IEM's, but to me I have to have something with some weight behind it. The weight of the Copper Pro's and the Tributes do not detract from, or make it harder to wear them in daily use. They have a excellent balance of weight and size. And although the S4's soud is very good, they do not have the finesse of the Monsters. I think I will continue to use the S4's on my HTC Sensation phone, and the Tributes will stay on my iPod.
It's too bad Monster gets a bad name as a blanket just because they cater to a huge swath of people and needs. They make some incredible stuff too, and very easily set the bar and standard. I expect the next few days will prove to be more revealing as I listen to more music and allow more burn-in time.
Because of the limitation of how many pics can be posted, I will continue with the pics next.
Jimmy
UPDATE: I've been burning in the Tributes and have probably about 50 hours on them so far. I don't believe in burn-in on some things like cables, wires, solid state devices, etc, but on a mechanical *thing* like headphones I do. These phones have changed their sound considerably since they arrived. The bass is loosening up. At first I thought it was that the crystal clear highs were dulling somehow, but what is going on is in the bass section. This "looseness" seems to melt over onto the lower mids and overtake the highs a bit. Not muddy them out completely, but instead you notice this bass exaggeration a bit more. I've read many reviews say the same thing, but that in about another 20 to 30 hours and the diaphrams will settle and the bass will sit and stay at a tight and deep signature. I'll post back next week to report on this.
The build quality is holding up very well. One of the week spots in the Turbine line is the wire that goes into the earphone tends to pull down - actually not the wire but the rubber boot. No sign of that happening on mine. Some people also have reported that the LEFT earphone will stop working. Strange that it's always the LEFT - proves it's a design flaw. This particular Tribute that Monster sent me is new and directly from the latest batch that was made and suppossedly the problems were fixed. I have no issues so far. I still am amazed at the quality of these Tributes. They feel nice, they look nice, and they sound nice. If they had any other name on them I'd bet they would be recieved even better than they are now. But once you hold them in your hands and listen to them, then your opinion starts to change... for the better .
Finding the right tip is essential and proving to be a learning experience for me. These are In Ear Monitors, and so they require that they sit inside your ear canal. They also require that you completely seal off the outter ear and all outter sounds in order to get that accurate deep bass and crystal clear highs. Monster sends about 15 different types and sizes of ear tips, and believe me, I've been trying on each and every one trying to find the right tip for me. Everyone will be different, and because many people may not find the right tip for them they might interpret the lack of highs or bass, or just plain quality of the Tributes (or Turbine in general) as haveing a cheap and not worth it sound. That's why it's so very important to find that perfect tip for your ears in particular. Only then will these babies really show you what they can do.
.Well, off they were returned to Monster. 4 months later (this January) and the Copper Pro's are still on backorder. The Manager asks if I'd be interested in the Miles Davis Tributes instead ($499.99 retail), and still be able to return to the Copper Pro's in the future. I agreed, and today they arrived via 2-day Fed Ex. Hot Dang! These are an experience while still in the box!!! They ooooze class all over and show incredible attention to detail. The box is a leather grained cigar-shaped box with a velvet flap. In gold pressing is the Miles Davis logo with "the man and his trumpet" embossed on the front. Opening the box reveals a felt lined interior fold-out type flaps. On one flap in a double CD of Miles Davis "Kind Of Blue" Legacy Edition, and underneath that a small blue carrying pouch with a magnetic latch for the phones. The pouch is velvet lined and stitched - very expensive quality for such a small part. On the right side of the box is the top layer which holds the Tributes and underneath them another "flap type" pouch of similar stitching with an embossed logo badge. Removeing the top layer reveals another lower layer that holds a packet holder of various sized ear tips, and below that another (!) very awesome looking hard case that is velvet lined with a steel trim for your new Tributes. This case is very sturdy, very beautiful, and also includes a velvet cleaning cloth for the phones. There is a lot of "blue" and "velvet" going on here and it's because, from my understanding, that Miles Davis favorite color was blue and his favorite cloth was velvet. Hmm...who knew. Still, lifting even that layer revealed 4 additional bags of various sized ear tips, an instruction (!) manual, user's guide, and warranty card. All this was in addition to the Tribute phones!!! This kind of detail and expense is just absurd and shows how special these IEM's are even before putting them in your ears. :thmbsp: Now, the Tributes themselves. Wow.....:drool: These things are lovely. They really are, and seeing pictures of them do no justice at all. They are heavy (which could be a good thing, or a bad), they are insanely detailed with the Monster logo, color, shape, and the Miles Davis name. I have never seen any IEM come close to these Monster IEM's. They are serious gems, no doubt. The cord is thinner than my Copper Pro's for some unknown reason, and are blue (the color grows on you). They retain the same 90 degree headphone jack that makes it fit nicer on a portable, and the cord has minimal micro-phonics. Let me just say this about IEM's in general - no matter how much they cost they will all sound like crap if you don't use the proper ear tips. From my experience with the Copper Pro's I knew which ones I needed - 2 different sizes actually, as one of my ear canal's seem to be smaller than the other. Thank God Monster supplies you with such a huge assortment of shapes and sizes.
I intend to use these Tributes mostly with my iPod running 160 gigs worth of pure lossless ALAC files
. The Monster line of IEM's are so revealing that you just cannot have anything less than the best in files and formats - mp3, regardless of bit rate, just won't do. I understand that these Tributes cost twice that of my iPod, but it's well worth it. They will show what your player is capable of and will make it shine. But at the same time if you feed it anything lower than the best it will too show you the ugliness of lower bit depth files. With that said, I had no burn-in time on these Tributes and expect them to fully bloom within 50 or so hours, but man.....what music they can play . They sound very similar to the Copper Pro's, with maybe an ever so slight bit less midrange (or maybe a midrange not emphasized as much) than the Copper Pro's. But bass is there - articulate, deep, realistic bass. Finally to have this low end in IEM's is a welcome. The highs are clear, and the midrange very revealing. When listening to Rodrigo Y Gabriela's 11:11, you can easily hear the plastic pick hitting each string, then the note, then the "natural" decay of not just the note, but of the steel strings as well. This kind of micro-texture is uncanny. Adele's voice on her 21 album is beautiful. But with these Tributes you can hear the raspines and throaty texture. Her music takes on new dimensions when you hear these small details that just lack on other IEM's. The width of the soundstage is wide and deep. I found that listening to the Tributes (or the Copper Pro's too) is like listening to a home sound system rather than headphones. This is almost like the holy grail of headphones -- to be able to dissappear and totally immerse you in a soundfeild that is both wide and non-fatiqueing - just like your home system. You will get frequent goose bumps listening to these - no doubt. Warm, inviting, lush, deep and impactfull , and always natural sounding is how I describe them. They sound "real"
. These will most probably be the last set of IEM's that I will ever buy - I mean with a lifetime warranty I'm always guaranteed of getting a new set every time these need replaceing. :thmbsp:For the last 6 hours that I've been using them I've cycled some Sarah Maclachlan, Adele, Rodrigo y Gabriela, RUSH, Dream Theater, Miles Davis, Al DiMeola, Carly Simon, Norah Jones, and Acoustic Alchemy.
Breathtaking is how I describe them. For comaparisson I used the Klipsch S4 IEM's. I bought these as an interim while waiting for my beloved Copper Pro's to return from warranty. They cost me $100.00 at Best Buy. I believe most people will stay in the $100.00 range when buying a pair of IEM's (I really don't know for sure). These are nice, but pale in comaprisson to the Monster's. The S4 are light - too light. They feel cheap. I know this does not play on performance, and most people want a light set of IEM's, but to me I have to have something with some weight behind it. The weight of the Copper Pro's and the Tributes do not detract from, or make it harder to wear them in daily use. They have a excellent balance of weight and size. And although the S4's soud is very good, they do not have the finesse of the Monsters. I think I will continue to use the S4's on my HTC Sensation phone, and the Tributes will stay on my iPod.
It's too bad Monster gets a bad name as a blanket just because they cater to a huge swath of people and needs. They make some incredible stuff too, and very easily set the bar and standard. I expect the next few days will prove to be more revealing as I listen to more music and allow more burn-in time.
Because of the limitation of how many pics can be posted, I will continue with the pics next.
Jimmy
UPDATE: I've been burning in the Tributes and have probably about 50 hours on them so far. I don't believe in burn-in on some things like cables, wires, solid state devices, etc, but on a mechanical *thing* like headphones I do. These phones have changed their sound considerably since they arrived. The bass is loosening up. At first I thought it was that the crystal clear highs were dulling somehow, but what is going on is in the bass section. This "looseness" seems to melt over onto the lower mids and overtake the highs a bit. Not muddy them out completely, but instead you notice this bass exaggeration a bit more. I've read many reviews say the same thing, but that in about another 20 to 30 hours and the diaphrams will settle and the bass will sit and stay at a tight and deep signature. I'll post back next week to report on this.
The build quality is holding up very well. One of the week spots in the Turbine line is the wire that goes into the earphone tends to pull down - actually not the wire but the rubber boot. No sign of that happening on mine. Some people also have reported that the LEFT earphone will stop working. Strange that it's always the LEFT - proves it's a design flaw. This particular Tribute that Monster sent me is new and directly from the latest batch that was made and suppossedly the problems were fixed. I have no issues so far.
I still am amazed at the quality of these Tributes. They feel nice, they look nice, and they sound nice. If they had any other name on them I'd bet they would be recieved even better than they are now. But once you hold them in your hands and listen to them, then your opinion starts to change... for the better .Finding the right tip is essential and proving to be a learning experience for me. These are In Ear Monitors, and so they require that they sit inside your ear canal. They also require that you completely seal off the outter ear and all outter sounds in order to get that accurate deep bass and crystal clear highs. Monster sends about 15 different types and sizes of ear tips, and believe me, I've been trying on each and every one trying to find the right tip for me. Everyone will be different, and because many people may not find the right tip for them they might interpret the lack of highs or bass, or just plain quality of the Tributes (or Turbine in general) as haveing a cheap and not worth it sound. That's why it's so very important to find that perfect tip for your ears in particular. Only then will these babies really show you what they can do.
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I'm guaranteed to have them, and so on, and so on.... Think about it.... I never have to buy earphones again. The Turbine line is a very good and highly recieved line (unlike that horrendous Beats line), and I never have to buy one again. 
Ha! Ok, ok. Fixed. It should be an easier read on the eyes of old farts like us. I could have just written one long sentence with no periods and capitalizations and have it be one long 500,000,000 millions word like this you know what i mean and then at band camp i bought some new shoes i took my kids to the park soon afterward there was a break in the earths crust and swallowed everyone then the army came and we ate chicken........ :drool: