Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote & Mic

Design

The Turbines look better than the Apple In-ears. Again, if the design wasn’t beaten into the ground at this point, the Apple In-ears might’ve been a bit of fresh air. Unfortunately for them, the only fresh air in this scenario will be delivered by the jet-engine-like design on the turbines (we’ve been brainstorming ways to come up with a turbine pun now for almost three months). Both headphones also suffer from really bad plugs. The Monster Turbines gain a slight advantage here.

Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote & Mic	Monster Turbines

Frequency Response

While the Turbines’ issues are a bit less severe than the Apple In-ears’, they showcase the same plunge in the high end. Another slight advantage for the Turbines.

Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote & Mic	Monster Turbines

Distortion

The Turbines have slightly more distortion overall, but this section was close. The Turbines gently spread this distortion out over the full course of their spectrum, the Apple In-ears have their bump. Apple gains a bit of andvantage here.

Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote & Mic	Monster Turbines

Tracking

Here, again, the Apples win on tracking. The Turbines didn’t do half bad, however, with most of their point loss due to the erratic scribbling towards the high end. If you like even tracking, you will like the Apple In-ears.

Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote & Mic	Monster Turbines

Isolation

The Turbines have a very similar attenuation curve, but don’t perform as well when it comes to attenuation. They block out less noise towards the high end, but more sound overall towards the low end.

Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote & Mic	Monster Turbines

Comfort

The Apple In-ears were a bit more comfortable than the Turbines, if only because they fell out slightly less. That’s right, those Turbines were positively jumping out of our ears.

Wear
Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote & Mic	Monster Turbines

Verdict

We think the Apple In-ear Headphones with Remote and Mic win this performance test, but again, the victory was far from a landslide. The most compelling reason to pick up the Apples in lieu of the Monsters is the price difference: the monsters cost about $150 while the Apples cost $80.