On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop receives an ideal amount of high-mid presence, allowing its attack to retain its punchiness. The drum loop itself has some extra thump to it in the lows, and the sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are delivered with powerful bass depth. Plenty of headphones don’t quite reach low enough to nail the sub-bass presence here, but the Solo Pro definitely provides a subwoofer-like experience without going overboard. The vocals on this track are delivered clearly, with a hint of added sibilance, but not enough to ruin things.
The Solo Pro sound best with active noise cancelling turned off, producing deeper, richer bass including the pulsating low tones in Crystallize by Lindsey Stirling. From an audio perspective, the Beats Solo Pro headphones handle bass well without going overboard. It’s a fair point, but if you want the best ANC out there, you’ll need to spend more.
After 5 seconds, the indicator light started flashing and I was sharing my music with my coworker. Using the iPhone, I controlled the volume and song choice, which was cool. What wasn’t as fun was the fact that my coworker heard me typing on the keyboard. I’ve heard pass-through modes on other ANC beats solo pro wireless headphones, but the Solo Pros may be the best at this to date. When enabled, the headphones allow ambient noise into the soundstage, mixing it into the music. It meant that when I was listening to Big Sean’s “Paradise,” the already aggressive bass line got an assist from the passing C train.
This is a really nice feature for those who are in a rush to get out the door. Plug in these headphones while you shower and get dressed and still have enough juice for your beats studio3 morning commute. These headphones use a USB connection to charge the battery. You can top up the battery from your laptop or with a USB-adapter for electrical sockets.
Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the Solo Pro’s general sound signature. The drums on this track get some extra bass depth, but they aren’t pushed to an unnatural place—they sound deep and full, but not overly thunderous. Callahan’s baritone vocals get a rich low-mid presence that’s matched with crisp treble edge. Those who enjoy a bass-forward audio experience will like the Solo Pro’s dialed-up lows without the clarity and definition in the highs being sacrificed. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 8, we could understand every word we recorded.
Beats Solo Pros are still one of the best noise-cancelling headphones around. And if you don’t want to spend $549 on the Apple AirPods Max , this deal offers beats studio3 a cheaper alternative. The Solo Pro promises up to 22 hours of listening time (and that’s with ANC turned on), and for iPhone users it offers always-on Siri.
Transparency mode, which uses built-in mics to let you hear your surroundings, is quite effective. And switching between the two modes is as easy as a button tap, so there’s no need to remove the headphones in order to hear someone speaking. A handsome zip-up soft-shell case houses the headphones when they’re folded up, and Beats includes a carabiner that can attach to a loop on the exterior.