Elements Over-Ear Wireless Headphones provide superior listening experience.
I’ve been an audiophile for many years. I’ve always loved to listen to music and a great pair of headphones is just what you need to make a good listening experience truly great. I’ve had lots of different pairs of headphones throughout the years including the very expensive Beats brand headphones. Surprisingly enough, those wildly expensive cans don’t really do it for me. But where the Beats fail, the Monster Elements succeed.
A couple of months ago, Monster, a world leader in high-performance personal audio, announced the Elements Over-Ear Wireless Headphones. These headphones were designed to redefine the wireless headphone category. They feature sleek lines in two luxurious finishes – Monster Rose Gold and Monster Slate. Monster promises a brand new way to immerse yourself into a world of sound with these headphones.
The Elements were designed as Over-Ear cans to provide maximum sound isolation and comfort. The ear cups are flexible. They swivel and will fold up for easy storage. DJs will love this style of headphone because of how well you can hear details and nuances within tracks. While the headphones are wireless through a Bluetooth connection, you do have the option for wired listening, too, as there is a jack for an auxiliary connection. You could also use the PurePath USB audio option (built-in direct full-digital high-quality D-A Converter).
Monster is dedicated to providing the very best sound and as such, they include Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX technology to provide tight, deep bass and dynamic sound throughout all tracks. The engineers at Monster actually created two custom sound profiles, too, for your personal preferences and moods – “Natural” and “Club”. With all of this detail, Monster hopes to deliver the ultimate listening experience with total emotional impact.
The most innovative feature of the Elements is the on-ear swipe controls. There are no buttons on the headphones. The swipe controls give you full control over the audio you are listening to. You can play/pause, change tracks, or increase/decrease the volume with just a brush of your fingers. The Elements have an impressive battery life. You can listen to them for nearly 24-hours straight without a charge. The headphones have weeks of standby time, too. In addition to being wonderful for listening to music, the Elements also have a built-in microphone for phone calls. The mic uses Monster’s VoiceThrough technology and Active Echo Suppression for crystal clear communication.
My Experience
As I mentioned, I have a lot of experience with different styles of headphones. Each time I try a new set out I try to look at various points of contact with them – listening experience and quality, comfort level, and ease of use. Each of these categories weigh-in against the cost of the headphones at large. I’ve tried Monster products out in the past (Monster SuperStar BackFloat Speaker) and I’ve always been very impressed by their attention to detail as well as the build quality of their products. For these reasons, I was eager to try out the Element headphones.
The headset arrived in the standard high-quality Monster product branded box. It’s an impressive bit of packaging and holds the headphones safely inside a molded plastic interior. Monster includes a semi-hard shell case to store your headphones in, a Micro USB to Micro USB cable (with Standard USB adapter), 3.5mm stereo cable with 1/4″ stereo adapter, and a cleaning cloth, which you will need more than once because these headphones attract fingerprints like no one’s business.
Monster also provides a very detailed set of instructions, which you will actually need. While most wireless headphones behave the same way and have the same functions, the Elements are special because of their touch controls. While the booklet is quite thick, the first couple of pages are the main instructions in English and then the same instructions are repeated in multiple languages.
I have the Monster Rose Gold headphones, which are a rich gold with red tones. It’s not the ‘pink’ color that Apple boasts as ‘rose gold’. They are fairly heavy and feel well made. Pairing was very easy. When you first take them out of the box and power them on, the headphones immediately enter pairing mode. I used my iPhone to pair to and the device showed up instantly in my Bluetooth menu. It was only a couple of seconds before pairing was complete.
One of my primary music sources is Pandora. I love the variety I get with my customized stations and I’ve never really had a problem with the quality of sound. So, I tapped on my Pandora app and pulled up a 90s Hip Hop station I set up. I thought this would be a good way to test the bass depth with the headphones. The Elements push out a very rich sound. I’ve tried out some headphones that end up sounding very hollow. The Elements do not. In fact, they have a sound that feels ‘whole’ and well-rounded. All the highs and lows are audible and it’s a very enjoyable listening experience. My favorite station for testing out bass has to be my Beastie Boys station – particularly the song Brass Monkey. While it might seem like I’m dwelling on the bass portion of the sound, it’s only because so many other headphones do not take it into consideration. Monster’s product designers and sound engineers did a great job of integrating this aspect of the listening experience into the Element headphones. The Beastie Boys station had some great bouncy bass sound along with beautiful timber with the higher pitches.
The last station I visit when testing out sound is my Disney station. Even if you aren’t a Disney fan, you have to admit that some of the best music ever written resides within Disney movies. They have a fantastic depth of sound from vocals all the way to individual instruments’ melding with sound effects. If you really want a great listening experience, pair the Monster Elements with Disney music. It’s an awesome way to really get it. I will admit that I didn’t really appreciate the full range of sound that the Elements provided until I cranked up Hakuna Matata. It’s fantastic.
As far as comfort goes, I would rate these around 4.5-stars out of 5. The only reason for that is because of the headband. The headband padding is very firm, which helps distribute the weight of the headphones, but they did tend to make my head sweat a bit after longer periods of use. The shape of the ear cups paired with the incredibly soft padding make for very comfortable home for your ears. Even though my head felt some heat, my ears did not. I will say this, because they are a little heavier, you do feel the headphones on your head. Some headphones – even high-quality cans – are so featherweight that you don’t notice you are wearing them. You can feel the Elements.
The last main area I look at with headphones is their ease of use. As I mentioned above, the detailed instructions really come in handy. As cool as the touch controls are, they are different enough that there is a learning curve when it comes to using them. You have to hit just the right spot on the side of the ear cup. It can be a frustrating time while you try to master the touch controls, but once you do, it adds positively to the overall experience of the headphones. With that said, I would not say these are the easiest headphones I’ve ever used, but I feel like the benefit of the innovation takes precedent over my learning curve.
Conclusions
The Elements Over-Ear Wireless Headphones provide a wonderful, superior listening experience. I love all the detail and thought that went into their design and think they are a better overall product than its competitors. They are a gorgeous product and they really add to the enjoyment of sound for users.
For more information, visit monsterproducts.com.
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