Monster Gratitude In-Ear Headphones

Introduction:

Do you consider yourself an audiophile? Do you just so happen to have $200 laying around and can’t stand it? If you answered ‘yes’ to either of those questions, stop whatever you’re doing and go grab Monster Cable‘s new Gratitude headphones right now; don’t worry, I’ll wait. Needless to say, I’m a bit of a fan of these headphones, which can be described as simple audio bliss.

 

Styling:

 

Just in case it isn’t immediately obvious from the pictures, the Gratitude headphones are simply stunning to behold. The rose gold finish pops without being overly gaudy, and while wearing them around I had several people ask what brand they were, etc. I also very much appreciate how tastefully the Monster/Gratitude logos are placed on the headphones themselves; they are prominent and easily read, but not pasted all over the product.

Strangely, Monster has chosen to stray from the typical wiring of every headphone I have ever used or seen, and instead went with a flat variation (in an attempt to prevent tangling), which doesn’t appear to affect sound quality or typical in-ear issue of transferring any contact with the wires themselves directly into your ears. Neither does it negatively impact anything about the sound, but it does become slightly annoying that I now have to worry about possibly crimping the wiring of (rather expensive) headphones, and doesn’t prevent tangles nearly as much as one would expect.

 

 

But How Do They Sound?

Just for those of you that like to skip over incredibly well written intros (shame on you), the Gratitude headphones sound better than any sub woofer-less system I have ever listened to. That being said, if you prefer Rap, Techno, House, or any bass heavy music, in ear headphones are probably not for you, as they lack the ability to produce any real ‘umph’ that these genres require.

 

My absolute favorite aspect of these headphones is the required sound levels for quality. Any of you audiophiles out there will know that with most sound equipment, the volume needs to be relatively high to achieve the best sound quality that the equipment can produce, but not so with the Gratitudes. Thanks to the assortment of included earbuds, almost all sound is blocked out simply by placing them in your ears, and the high quality drivers allow amazing sound quality at incredibly low levels. This means that for those of you using a bus or subway on a regular basis can happily shut out the world during your commute, all without having to blow your eardrums out.

 

In the next few segments, I’ll go through a few genres, describing how the headphones perform with individual songs. Every song mentioned will be pulled from Youtube in the highest available quality if you feel the need to compare the descriptions to whatever sound system you are currently using.

 

Classic Rock

Journey – Faithfully: Before the music even begins, the Gratitudes replicate the ‘fuzzy’ sound of older recording equipment, which is virtually unnoticeable on any other speakers or headphones. The intro piano comes in as if from a distance and as the other elements begin to layer over, there is absolutely no distortion of sound. The drums, piano, guitar, bass, and vocals are all crisp and clear, easily distinguished from one another, and sound better than a 480p video has any right to.

 

AC/DC – Thunderstruck: Having seen AC/DC live, I can guarantee you that the Gratitudes replicate the experience in an incredibly eerie manner. Take out the screaming crowds, the slight echo of a stadium, and this is what AC/DC sounds like. The opening guitar lick is clear and chill inducing, and as the song goes into full swing, the Gratitudes produce every note clear and crisp, in some cases sounding superior to a live performance.

 

Bruce Springsteen – Dancing in the Dark: If you can’t tell by now, these headphones play Classic Rock music like there’s no tomorrow, and The Boss is no different. Once again it’s astounding just how amazing these headphones can sound. Not only is every note once again crisp and clear, but they continue to sound as if the music is coming from about ten feet away, rather than inside your skull like most in ear headphones. Every syllable Springsteen sings comes across sharp and clear, without muddling any of the band’s contributions in the least.

 

Country

Trampled by Turtles – Wait so Long: This is perhaps the best example of the performance quality that the Gratitude headphones are able to produce. During the intro violin solo, there’s a banjo playing in the background, which sounds just fine until you realize that there is also a rhythm guitar playing, which I had no idea about until listening in with the Gratitudes. Every single layer: guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin, violin, vocals, it is all easily distinguishable and clear, and in many cases sounds like it is being played live in the same room.

 

Lynyrd Skynrd – Sweet Home Alabama: You might think this song should be in the Classic Rock section, but I put it here, so that’s where it goes. The opening guitar comes in crisp, clear, and beautiful, and when the vocals kick in, it’s actually possible to tell that he’s holding the microphone slightly too close initially, something that is virtually undetectable on any other sound system. Not only do the solos sound fantastic, but when the band plays together, it is still possible to distinguish each individual part of the whole.

 

Rock

10 Years – Wasteland: Before we get into the actual music, it is worth noting that my roommate walked in during this song, and it took me a few seconds to distinguish that his voice had nothing to do with anything running on the computer, but was coming from within my room. If that doesn’t adequately describe how eerie the sound quality of these headphones is, I don’t know what will. Back to the music, on every other sound system I have listened to this song on, it becomes fairly difficult to distinguish the bass from the rest of the background music during several parts of the song, but with the Gratitudes it comes through crisp and clear for the entire four minute song.

 

The Fall of Troy – F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X: The intro solo to this song becomes muddled and a confused on nearly every system I have heard it played on, with the echoing effect distorting the sound quality. Though it’s not perfect, the quality on Monster’s headphones is far and away the best I have experienced. Not only does the guitar sound fantastic, but once the bass and drumset are layered in, the sound quality does nothing but improve. As stated before, the bass is insufficient for any window shaking, but for rock music, it’s absolutely perfect.

 

A Day to Remember – All I Want: As can be expected by now, every aspect of the song sounds absolutely beautiful, is easily distinguished from the rest of the song, and sounds as close to a live performance as you can get. Surprisingly, this is far and away the best sounding bass I have been able to produce from the Gratitudes, with a ground trembling ‘umph’ being pumped directly to my brain.

 

Comfort

These are far and away the most comfortable earbuds/in ear headphones I have ever worn, only being trumped by some incredible over the ear competitors. For those of you that have used in ear headphones before, yes, they do become uncomfortable after an extended period of time (you’re basically wearing earplugs), I have successfully worn these for long durations with virtually no discomfort.

 

Though it may not seem like a huge deal to some, Monster has created a set of headphones that can be comfortably worn while sleeping, with pressure being applied to the outside of the headphones having no impact on comfort whatsoever.

 

Conclusion

Monster has managed to produce a pair of headphones which exceeded my every expectation, providing excellent sound quality, comfort, and style, which allows for a near-live performance quality listening experience that is hard to match with far more expensive home theater systems. At a relatively expensive price point of $200, it would be nice to see a few less expensive models that sacrifice packaging and style, without lowering the incredible sound quality.

A brief note on the in line volume/call control: it’s location and implementation are perfectly fine, and it works as advertised with iOS devices (iPhone etc), but only the volume control worked on my Android phone (running version 2.3.6), any attempt to use the call controls did nothing.  By no means does this ruin the product, but it’s worth noting for those of you who feel this is a necessary feature.