Monster Inspiration Headphones

As someone who loves listening to music, you’re thrilled for the opportunity to link up with Monster in order to put a pair of their Inspiration headphones to the test. For the record, you like to think you know what sounds good, but by no stretch of the imagination are you equipped to discuss technical merits like frequency response, optimum impedance, or ambient noise attenuation. You apologize to all the hardcore audiophiles.

Founded in 1969, Monster is best known for making top-notch cables to connect audio and visual components; however, in recent years the brand made quite a splash in the headphone game. Actually, it can be argued that Monster is in large part responsible for the existence of said game. In 2008, Monster and rapper/producer Dr. Dre released Beats by Dr. Dre, which set off the explosion of headphones as fashionable accessory. With their sleek design, thumping bass, and high-end price point, the Beats represented a significant shift in headphone usage and audience.

With the partnership between Monster and Dr. Dre dissolving in January 2012, Monster released its own line of headphones. There’s no drop-off in style, as the Inspiration over-ear model is available in several different base colors (black, white, and silver) and can be customized with any number of magnetic headbands. The fashion-conscious folks will be stoked. As will the jet-setters. The Inspirations are easily foldable for travel and come with a cleaning cloth and leather case. They also come with three 3.5mm interchangeable cables, two of which (one for Apple and one for Android devices) have built-in remote controls for taking calls and controlling playback of music.

Looking crispy is all well and good, but you’re also wearing these jawns to pipe in the tunes, so it’s of the utmost importance to you that they sound amazing. And they do. You continue to be impressed with the overall audio quality. Inspirations are equipped with active noise-cancelling (powered by two AAA batteries, which are included), though they sound better than most headphones even with the feature turned off. This is obviously excellent for when you're on a long flight and they run out of juice. However, with the noise-cancelling switch flicked on, there’s a noticeable boost in performance.

The Inspirations’ overall sound is more balanced than the bass-heavy Beats Studio model, with which you’re familiar. Where the Beats excelled bumping hip-hop and similar beat-driven genres, the Inspirations cover significantly more ground. You delightfully spun through everything from classical to folk to indie pop to rap. The sound was bright, clear, and sharp with no discernable distortion. You're hardly going out on a limb to say these are a worthwhile investment. 

Big thanks to models Jacob and Duncan.