Beats’ Studio Pro are an almost-awesome pair of everyday headphonesApple-owned Beats has been slapping the words ‘Studio’ and ‘Pro’ on its headphones since Dr Dre’s inaugural 2008 release. But anyone who’s taken a passing interest in the brand’s lineup knows that Beats headphones are for everyday use – gym sessions, travelling entertainment, listening in the office – not for the recording studio.

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Still, the latest Beats Studio Pro headphones are comfortable and boast an exciting, bass-heavy sound and excellent ANC. They also pack modern features such as spatial audio with head tracking and lossless audio via USB-C. Audiophiles should look elsewhere for their fix, but even ‘pro’ listeners shouldn’t scoff at these slick cans for casual listening. They’d be far too easy to recommend if they had just a few more features.
How comfortable are the Beats Studio Pro?
The Studio Pro’s understated aesthetic follows previous Beats models, with the ‘b’ logo present on the outside of each cup. A hinged, plastic design lets you fold the headphones into the included carry case for protection and portability, which we find useful in our travels. It doesn’t make for the strongest headband design but, after six weeks of rigorous use, we’re yet to detect any signs of breakage.
The headband is comfortable and easily adjustable, too. Through our hours of listening, the UltraPlush earcups rarely become uncomfortable. However, other reviewers with different-sized ears bemoan the one-size approach here. The earpads aren’t replaceable either, which is a disappointment – if the leather begins to deteriorate after the warranty expires, you’ll be forced to buy a new pair.
Image: Beats
The stripped-back design also extends to the tactile buttons – pressing the logo on the left cup will play/pause a track, while buttons above and below manage volume. The system button is on the right cup – we’ll dive into the functions of that shortly.
Do the Beats Studio Pro sound good?
Review channel Snazzy Labs slams the Beats Studio Pro for their poor sound but, remember, these aren’t audiophile headphones or studio reference headphones (despite the name).
For £350, they still pack a powerful sound to our ears. Punchy, deep bass and a crisp high end, the sound profile will suit the target demographic – movie and TV watchers, video game players, and music listeners interested in a diverse range of genres.
Kaytraminé’s K&A sounds awesome on the Beats Studio Pro – the bassline is incredibly deep, while Aminé’s vocal stands out nicely. Comparatively, Shure’s similarly-priced AONIC 50 GEN 2 boast a more natural sound and, as a result, Aminé sounds less sibilant but the overall track is less exciting. With the £999 Dali IO-12, we hear much more detail in the mix and notice that the Beats’ headphones sound a little compressed in comparison.
Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams shines with the Studio Pros. The kick drum and bassline punch through from the off, and Stevie Nicks’ vocal sounds familiarly stellar. The track’s chorus is bright but a little busy in the high end when compared to the meticulous Dali IO-12 – these also give a much better stereo image. The Shure AONICs are similar to the Studio Pros here, but noticeably lack the depth in the bass.
For dance music, we test the Studio Pros with deadmau5’s Alone With You. Interestingly, the kick drum that starts the track sounds more flat than on the AONIC, which better accentuates the weight of the drum. But, admittedly, the entire mix sounds more lively on the Studio Pros. Of course, it sounds its best on the Dali headphones.

The Studio Pros pack spatial audio capabilities with head-tracking. This works as expected, but whether you use spatial audio will be a matter of taste; it’s a nice feature to have, particularly for movies and TV shows.
For lossless listening, you can use the provided USB-C cable to connect to a device with a USB-C port. From here, you can choose from three EQ modes – Signature, Entertainment, and Conversation. Signature is the classic Beats sound, while Entertainment boosts the high-mids and the lows. Conversation effectively cuts the bass for when you need to chat with people nearby. You can also use the 3.5mm analogue input for other wired connections.
How good is Beats Studio Pro Active Noise Cancelling?
Honestly, the ANC on these headphones is superb. Trains, planes and the outdoors are subdued with satisfaction on the Studio Pro. It’s no match for our Nuraphones, but compared to the Shure AONICs, it’s a clear winner. As Soundguys points out, though, if these don’t fit your ears as well as they fit ours, your experience might differ.
You can toggle ANC on iPhone and macOS through your audio options, or via the System button on the bottom of the right can. You also use this to power on the headphones and swap between listening modes when connected via USB-C – the multiple uses of this button become a little frustrating, but it’s alright once you’re used to it.
Note also that they have a little sound leakage, so if you plan on cranking them up on a quiet train, those around you might be able to hear your music.
Beats Studio Pro – Apple’s best headphones?
Marques Brownlee reckons the Beats Studio Pro could be Apple’s best over-ear headphones yet, despite not having Apple’s in-house H2 chip found in the AirPods Max. You’ll still get a few of the Apple-esque features – fast pairing, for example – but, frustratingly, there are some features that Beats’ Studio Pros are missing that you’ll find not only on Apple’s AirPods Max, but in plenty of competing headphones.

For one, multipoint connectivity is only for Google Android users. For Apple users, this is a letdown and means you’ll have to manually connect the Studio Pros every time you want to change your audio device. For a product that could be seamlessly baked into the Apple ecosystem, this is just annoying. There’s also no dedicated app, as found on Android phones, for adjusting settings. You are able to use Siri and the Find My feature with Apple devices, at least.
However, the Bluetooth connectivity is Class 1, giving you excellent connection range. The 24-hour battery life (40 hours without ANC) is standard but they take a while to go into standby mode – instead, they deplete battery for a while when you take them. They also don’t auto-pause your audio when you remove them from your head, which many other headphones in this price bracket do. Apple’s fast-charge is on offer, at least, giving you four hours of playback on 10 minutes charge.
Should you buy the Beats Studio Pro headphones?
The Beats Studio Pro will be a fine fit for anyone who wants a simple, classy-looking and fun-sounding pair of headphones for various uses. They’re so close to being amazing, but sadly fall short on missing just a few features. And if you can try the Beats Studio Pro on before you buy to get a sense of the fit, definitely do that.

For the same price, there are plenty of other options that might pique your interest. It’s worth taking a look at Bose’s QuietComfort headphones and Sony’s reputable WH-1000XM5 if you’re unsure.
We wouldn’t use them for any critical listening sessions or for producing music, but the Studio Pros have been perfectly reliable for travelling, taking a walk, and other easy-going environments. We’ve already seen the Studio Pros out in the wild on trains, city streets and on planes. We were even sat in between two other passengers on a flight sporting them as we were. You can expect to continue spotting that iconic ‘b’ logo in your travels, too.
Key Features

Beats Signature sound
Spatial Audio compatibility
Active Noise Cancelling with transparency mode
Lossless audio via USB-C with three EQ modes
3.5mm analogue input
Foldable design
Carry case included
40 hours of battery life or 24 hours with ANC enabled
Class 1 Bluetooth

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Universal Audio’s LUNA DAW now free Having previously only been available to those with Apollo interfaces, UA's LUNA DAW is now supported natively on macOS and free to all. 

What is EQ? A comprehensive guide
In this comprehensive guide, learn about what EQ (equalization) is, its common types, and how to use it in your music.

BlackRock’s spot Ethereum ETF plan is confirmed after Nasdaq filingEarlier in the day, BlackRock registered corporate entity “iShares Ethereum Trust” in Delaware, the first hint that a filing for a spot Ethereum ETF filing was imminent.

Artist to Artist Tips: The Importance of Branding When Establishing Your ActHi! We’re Mom Rock, America’s #1 no-frills rock band. Here are five tips to build your b(r)and:

TIP #1: PEOPLE LISTEN WITH THEIR EYES FIRST

Never underestimate the power of a good outfit. When the band was starting out, we were playing a lot of basement shows with four or five different bands on the same bill. Most of the time, attendees weren’t specifically there for the music and just came for the party, and in a sea of skinny jeans and tee shirts, it was almost impossible to stand out.

One day, Curtis bought a purple and gold metallic sweats set off of a friend and wore that on stage, and everything clicked into place. We all found our own monochromatic jumpsuits and wore them every time we played, as well as did photoshoots in them in empty classrooms. Soon enough, the party people began to identify us from the outfits, and we gained a following around our city.

Like Taylor Swift, we had “eras” of our own; the jumpsuits gave way to all-silver numbers (sewn by Curtis’s mom!) and then we pivoted to a retro throwback baseball jersey look. Right now, we’re rocking some NASCAR fire suit-inspired coveralls with logos all over them. We believe our show clothes get us—and our fans—into the “Mom Rock” mindset.

TIP #2: THE BRAND IS BIGGER THAN YOURSELF

We’ve always been a fan of audience participation, so we wanted our fans to become a part of our brand, too. When we were in our “baseball era,” we wanted to give fans the opportunity to feel like they were a part of our “team,” so we sold the jerseys as merch with the opportunity to customize the name and number that appeared on the back. After performances at festivals, we would walk around and hand out baseball cards that doubled as business cards (wallet sized for easy storage!) It’s always so amazing to see showgoers wearing jerseys in the crowds and find some common ground with not only us, but also each other.

Nowadays, we have our NASCAR trading cards and NASCAR-dupe tee shirts, but we’ve been working on new ideas to flesh out the concept with even more opportunities to expand outward with efforts like brand collaborations and multimedia projects. If you have a solid foundation, building on top of it is easy!

TIP #3: BE AWARE OF TRENDS, BUT DON’T FOLLOW THEM

As music lovers, we always want to hear what other artists our fans are listening to. If we notice that our fans seem to like another band that we’ve never heard of, we’ll look into them and their brand, identifying our similarities and differences. If we see a band excelling in an area that we consider to be a weakness of ours, we’ll analyze them to see what they do and how their fans react to it. This is only helpful if you are self-aware enough to identify those weaknesses in the first place, so we try to “take inventory” every so often to gauge what we should be focused on.

That being said, we don’t like to be followers. With attention spans so short, micro-trends dominate the landscape, so if you try to chase a trend, you’ll likely end up missing the boat entirely. Hard-core trend-chasing also takes away the time, energy, and resources necessary to focus on any original concepts that may have been thought of and rolled out in the process.

TIP #4: COMMIT TO THE BIT

We’ve always gravitated toward big, high-concept ideas. Coming up with ideas is one thing; executing them the way we imagine them is a different story, requiring a lot of prior thought and preparation. We aim to align everything we do—stage wear, album art, merch, video content, and even social media posts—to our current aesthetic for a full package cohesive vibe.

We aren’t afraid to draw inspiration from some more unorthodox sources, so beyond music, we look to branding in film, television, literature, fashion, and sports. By diversifying our influence pool, we always have fresh ideas flowing.

Even if an idea seems too involved or difficult to pull off, go for it!

For example, for our debut album Now That’s What I Call Mom Rock, we took a very “meta” approach to its branding, playing with the irony of a musical artist being reduced down to a “brand.” From the parodied infomercial music video to the logomania on our stage outfits to the album art depicting ‘80s editorial-style print ads, we went all out, poking fun at consumerism while indulging in being the thing consumed.

TIP #5: BE YOURSELF, HAVE FUN

The corniest tip on this list, but by far the most important!

In the age of social media, brands are constantly faced with concerns of authenticity and fakeness. Fans can easily sniff out when someone or something is disingenuous, so sticking with ideas and concepts that are natural to you is always the best bet. The more that you genuinely enjoy an idea, the more invested you will become. The more invested you are, the more likely the execution will be better! This of course goes beyond building an image or a brand—sticking to your guns will benefit you immensely in the long run.

We started this band because we were some college kids who loved to play music and entertain people. We didn’t have all of the concepts from the get-go, but the more we got to know each other and the Mom Rock “identity” as a whole, the more naturally they came to us and the more we enjoyed building the brand. –Mom Rock

The Nashville-based trio, MOM ROCK — Curtis Heimburger [vocals, guitar], Tara Maggiulli [bass, vocals], and Wilson Reardon [drums] — craft bouncy rock & roll anthems charged up by airtight pop hooks and one-liners delivered with the swaggering aplomb of an Avenger. Following millions of streams, packed shows, and acclaim from the likes of Rolling Stone, the band might just rescue you(even for one night) with their 2023 eight-track debut LP — Now That’s What I Call Mom Rock.

Launch contracts are “basically worthless” until a rocket is proven and flying, Rocket Lab CEO saysRocket Lab is waiting until Neutron is more technically mature before signing launch contracts with customers, CEO Peter Beck told investors on Wednesday. The statements provided an inside look on how the space company is thinking about bringing the Neutron next-gen launch vehicle to market – and the lessons learned from selling its first rocket, […]
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Amazon’s music streaming division hit with round of layoffsOnline retail and technology giant Amazon has reportedly started making layoffs in its music unit
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Music funding programme beatBread offers new advances of up to $3 million for songwritersUtah-based indie artist and label music funding platform beatBread is now offering advances of up to $3 million to songwriters via a new Songwriting Advance Division.

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As of today, songwriters will now be eligible for advances of up to three million dollars against the publishing rights on their catalogue or catalogue plus future songs.
Like other advances given to independent artists, songwriters will have the ability to customise the scope, term length and size of repayments for the advances, which is completed through streaming and airplay revenues that are earned.
The company has announced that they are bringing in music publisher and former BMG executive Spencer LeBoff, who has worked with the likes of Dua Lipa and songwriters for Selena Gomez and Maroon 5, as the new General Manager of Publishing.
“We are providing a unique opportunity for songwriters to maximise the value of their copyrights while retaining ownership over their work,” LeBoff said in a statement. “The team at beatBread have done such a great job of paving this path on the sound recording side and I’m so excited to extend it into publishing.”
“We are excited to continue to expand the choices available to artists, writers and their partners on our platform.” beatBread Founder & CEO Peter Sinclair explained in a statement.
“We believe creatives should have more access, more choice, more transparency and more leverage than industry incumbents have traditionally offered. Creative empowerment is our north star, and with this new initiative, we are one step closer to our goal of creating a more open and creator-friendly music industry.
According to beatBread, the company distributed around 500 advances across multiple genres and continents as of late last year.
For more information you can head to beatBread.
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Las Vegas Sphere has reportedly made a loss of $98.4 millionThe Las Vegas Sphere has reportedly made a large financial loss of $98.4 million since its opening in September.
The colossal venue, which has a capacity of 18,000 people and cost $2.3 billion to build, is currently hosting a residency from U2 until February 2024. The run of shows were set to wrap up in December, but further dates have been added.

READ MORE: Las Vegas Sphere opens its first show with U2 – and it’s a mind-melting cocktail of visual effects, to say the least

The Sphere hosts the world’s largest LED screen, and was built to host not only live music but also sporting events and film screenings. It measures at 366 feet tall and 516 feet wide, also making it the world’s biggest spherical structure.
Despite the large investment in the dazzling venue, The New York Post reports that The Sphere is expected to post a quarterly loss of $1.27 a share, according to a survey of Wall Street analysts. Revenue from the venue so far includes $4.1 million from two sold-out U2 shows and $2.6 million from suite licensing and advertising on its exosphere.

The publication also reports that The Sphere’s chief financial officer, Gautam Ranji, has seemingly quit according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Though the filing says this was “not a result of any disagreement with the company’s independent auditors or any member of management on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure or internal controls,” The New York Post says that “a source with knowledge” claims CEO James Dolan was “yelling and screaming” at Ranji, who “calmly left the room and gave his notice to the company’s general counsel.”
U2 will be continuing their shows through to the new year, all of which are centred around their 1991 album, Achtung Baby. You can find out more about The Sphere and view its upcoming events via its official website.
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AI music platform Soundful launches “Soundful Collabs” series with big-name artistsThe AI music production platform Soundful has launched a new “Soundful Collabs” series campaign.

READ MORE: “She is a generation-defining artist”: Taylor Swift named Apple Music’s 2023 Artist of the Year

It’ll be working with some of the biggest artists and producers to capture their “Sonic DNA”, giving users of the platform the opportunity to create tracks that sound like them, as well as “simultaneously pioneering a clear and ethical path for content monetisation.”
Among the names involved in the initial launch are 3LAU, Autograf, CB Mix, DJ White Shadow, Kaskade, and Starrah. But Soundful will be working on numerous other names throughout the campaign. The programme will provide a new revenue channel for artists, producers and labels involved, too, as they can earn income from every tranasction.
Soundful’s founder and CEO Diaa El All said in a statement, “Working directly with this elite group of talented stars to adapt our technology to their signature sounds was a very ambitious undertaking, and quite honestly, took some world-class creativity and engineering to pull it off.
“I’m incredibly proud that our subscribers can now create tracks in the sound of some of their idols. It’s a huge step towards leveraging the promise of AI to inspire creativity while also rewarding artists and other rights holders with ethical and meaningful income.”
Premium subscribers to Soundful can access the collabs by paying an extra fee for finished track creation and downloads.
Soundful launched its beta a year ago, and has grown to have over half a million users – and brands are using Soundful for content for advertising, social media, promo videos and vlogs.
Soundful co-founder and board member Neil Jacobson, CEO of Hallwood Entertainment said, “My thesis is and has always been that the growing number of musicians coming online globally who are learning that they don’t need to be instrumentalists in order to be copyrightable musicians, is one of the most exciting movements in music.
He continued, “Soundful is the bridge to both creators and those who need affordable, licensable music at scale through the most seamless platform that exists. The more people learn to create music, the more their ear as a listener will be developed. The developed ear is what will drive sophistication, thereby higher quality music overall.”
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Hipgnosis Song Management appoints Daniel Pounder as CFO, Jonathan Baker as General CounselHSM currently services two clients: the Blackstone-backed private fund, Hipgnosis Songs Capital, and the UK-listed Hipgnosis Songs Fund
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Aux, RealCount win Music Tectonics 2023 music tech startup competitionTwo promising music tech startups were named the winners of the 2023 Swimming with Narwhals Startup Pitch Competition at the recent Music Tectonics Conference. AI-powered music samples creator Aux is the. Continue reading
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