By WILLA PLANK (WSJ)
The pop star Lady Gaga is just as well known for outrageous costumes as for her catchy tunes. So it's not too surprising that she's come out with a slightly outrageous pair of headphones as well.
Lady Gaga's headphones are called "Heartbeats" and with a triangular metallic shape, they look a bit like jewelry. Heartbeats are the latest artist-branded product in Monster Cable's Beats by Dr. Dre line.
Pop star Lady Gaga has lent her name to a set of attractive, but somewhat painful, earphones. Willa Plank reviews.
But in my tests, the headphones were more style than substance. The biggest problem was that the bulky triangular portion of the headphones – which look cool – were uncomfortable to wear.
The black headphones I purchased came with different earpiece sizes. The small earpiece was too small, and thus the triangular piece hurt my ears. The bigger earpiece was too big, and kept falling out of my ear.
The earbuds' maker, Monster Cable Products, originally supplied me with other sized earpieces not included with the product in stores, including three-flanged ones which fit my ear best. The company said it plans to include extra-small earpieces with the basic model I tested, and is considering including the three-flanged earpieces in the higher-end model coming out for the holidays.
Once I got the earbuds in my ear, the sound quality was impressive. But I didn't hear the club-quality bass beats the company touts as a feature. Even after following the company's advice to wear the earbuds correctly, including wearing the earbuds in the correct designated ear and pointing the ends away from my ear, I still couldn't perceive a difference. I listened to a couple of hip-hop and rap songs, and didn't hear a strong bass sound.
This is unlike the Beats by Dr. Dre Tour earbuds, which have a distinct thumping bass sound to them. But again, this could be because I didn't have the perfect fit with the Heartbeats eartips included with the product.
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Still, the Heartbeats won points for its linguine-style cable, which prevented serious tangling, and for its noise-isolating qualities, which were better than standard iPod earphones but not as good as noise-cancelling headphones.
The packaging and the look of the earbuds is stylish. The carrying case for the earbuds is triangular, which of course matches the shape of the earbuds. The basic model I tested out also comes in three different colors including rose red, chrome and black.
The company plans to come out with two other models of the earbuds, including a haute couture ultra-high definition headphone with a crystal earpiece design for the holidays at a suggested retail price of $179.95.
For true Lady Gaga fans, the discomfort might be worth the price (currently $99.99 at Best Buy). But I wasn't gaga over these high-priced uncomfortable headphones.
