In other words, Beats Solo provides users looking to tap into Dr. Dre's formidable experience in quality sound a third option that fits neatly between the Studio Beats and the in-ear Tour Beats product. It also features ControlTalk functionality for on-cable control of your music and phone calls. It's still not cheap by any means, but it seems to me that Beats Solo might be the porridge that's just right as far as high quality headphones are concerned. [BusinessWire via DVICE]

According to the lighthouse of journalism and one of its experts—reader and security guard Jason Cooke, 25, of Nottingham—this is it. The real monster. Jason's scientific description leaves no room for doubt:

I couldn't believe it. It's just like the descriptions of Nessie.

But if that white thing is the Loch Ness monster, what are the blue thingies next to it? The top one seems like a giant snake. The lower one... I think the lower one may be a Loch Ness monster's monster poop. And the snake is pissed off because it hates floaters, so it's running away. For shame! [The Sun]

The Monster MCC AV50 Home Theater Controller, $50 next month, is a "tabletop universal remote control" that has a "Web-based setup." We have no real grasp of what these descriptions indicate, but assume the device to be bulky as hell (that's the "tabletop" part) and have a simple onscreen setup (that's the "web" part).

Maybe there's a market for such big, easy to use controllers, but why anyone would want to wield a QWERTY-like keyboard without the keyboard is beyond us—especially one this ugly. Indeed, it's hard to believe that this announcement was coupled with Monster's new, aesthetically pleasing HDMI cables. [Gearlog and PCMag via Crunchgear]

Being Monsters, you know they're gonna cost a ton. Four feet of "high speed" SuperThin cable has a suggested price of $90, going up to $100 for 8 feet, and $120 for 16 feet. Standard speed cables start at $80 for 1 meter, $90 for 2 meters, $100 for 4 meters and $120 for 5 meters. I'll leave the judgments to you guys in the comments.

Monster Introduces Breakthrough "SuperThin Cable™ for HDMI™"
— Developed in Collaboration with RedMere, New Powered SuperThin Cables for HDMI Are
Ideal for Elegant Flat-Panel TV Installations and Use with Mobile HD Devices —

New York, NY, June 10, 2009 - Monster, the world's leading manufacturer of cables,
AV accessories, and power conditioning products, today announced the introduction of
a new line of "Powered" SuperThin Cables™ for HDMI™ Cables specifically designed
for use with a wide variety of electronics devices, ranging from today's super-slim flat-
panel TVs to digital video cameras, home theater systems, gaming systems or portable
computers. The new Monster SuperThin Cables for HDMI are the first fruits of a
recently announced collaboration with RedMere, a leader in advanced silicon chip
development. Monster Super Thin Cable for HDMI products will be available in 4-, 8-,
and 16-foot versions in the DigitalLife line of products (DL HDMI HSMI-4, DL HDMI
HSMI-8, DL HDMI HSMI-16).Monster's Core line of cables for HDMI will also offer a
SuperThin cable design in 1, 2, 4 and 5 meter lengths.

HD Signals Are Boosted in the Cable Itself
With the introduction of SuperThin Cable for HDMI, Monster is continuing to follow
through on its commitment to provide consumers with a comprehensive range of high-
quality, reliable connectivity solutions for every need and budget. The key innovation
that made the creation of Monster SuperThin Cables for HDMI possible is the
RedMere™ MagnifEye™ Active technology. Requiring no external power supply the
technology enables industry-leading data speeds and ultimate-quality performance by
boosting the HD signals directly in the SuperThin cable itself. This eliminates the need
for heavy-gauge copper, making the cables extremely light, thin and portable.
SuperThin cables measure just 3.5 mm in diameter, approximately 65% thinner than
normal HDMI cables.

Noted Noel Lee, the Head Monster: "Monster built our reputation on thick, heavy
gauge high-quality cables with unequalled performance capabilities. Now, thanks to
our alliance with RedMere and the leading-edge MagnifEye Active technology, we're
able to provide our customers with the same level of Monster quality and reliability in
a brand new type of ‘magically thin' cable. The difference is immediately apparent –
SuperThin cables are much smaller and lighter, matching the sleek appearance of
the consumer electronics products they connect. Whether you want a totally clean-
looking virtually invisible installation option for your HDTV or you just want a much
better and more convenient way to access HD content while on-the-go, there's never
been anything like our new super-thin cables."

Digital Life™ SuperThin High Speed Powered Cable for HDMI (SRP) 4ft. $89.95, 8ft.
$99.95 and 16ft $119.95

Digital Life SuperThin High Speed Powered Cable for camcorder; Mini HDMI to HDMI
8ft (SRP) $99.95

Monster's Core Line of SuperThin Powered Cables for HDMI 1m $79.95, 2m $89.95 4m
$99.95, 5m $119.95.

"Super-Slim TVs Need Monster SuperThin Cables"
Monster's new SuperThin cables for HDMI are poised to usher in a new era of
convenience and elegance in high-performance cable management, both at home and
on-the-go. Featuring a built-in LED indicator that instantly lets users know they are
active, the virtually invisible cables are ideal for use in aesthetically designed home
theater installations utilizing flat-panel TVs. Consumers can literally hide the cables
away in plain sight, as well as fit them into any tight corners for a new level of
installation flexibility. Additionally, the compact and lightweight cables, which include
handy cable ties, are ideal for taking on the road with camcorders or other mobile digital
devices. Their easy portability provides users with a fast and convenient way to connect
camcorders or other digital devices to notebook computers or other display. For total
reliability and performance, the new cables feature corrosion-resistant 24k gold
contacts.

[Monster]

Incidentally, the rep claimed all of Shure's buds would fit on the Turbines perfectly, in case you hate the pack Monster provides. But I don't think you will—they fit pretty nicely, and I have picky, small earholes that I apparently need to clean, since the buds pretty slimy when I plucked them out.

I suspected they added another driver to round out the sound—and the $250 pricetag, $100 more than the regular Turbines would support that—but apparently it's still a single dynamic driver, just made with a different designed and different materials. I'm interested to see how they stack up in a more comprehensive review scenario than my quick listen against similarly priced multi-driver buds. They'll be out next month. [Monster]

Now, founder and "Head Monster" Noel Lee is cutting prices on top-of-the-line cables for high-definition TVs, effective in June. An 8-foot HDMI cable that currently sells for $129.95 at Best Buy will be priced at $99.

On Monday, the company also lopped $10 off the price of its most basic—but rarely stocked—HDMI TV cable, to $29 for a 1-meter length. And it introduced two new lower-cost HDMI cables in 2-meter and 4-meter lengths for $39.95 and $59.95. Competitors' cables of similar length can be found online for as low as $5.

This just makes me laugh. As we pointed out in our "Truth About Monster Cable" series, buying high end cable is usually unnecessary. But hey, if people want to waste money on "the best" I can hardly blame Monster for selling it to them. As Noel Lee pointed out to USA Today: "It's ironic, when people buy Monster, they don't expect to pay (a) low price, so our lower-end cables don't sell very well." That's probably true—the people who buy these things might view the price as an exclusive barrier to entry, and therefore part of the allure. It will be interesting to see if this price tactic actually improves sales. [USA Today]

It's not uncommon for companies to ask about using quotes in ads—seen any Sprint or G1 spots lately?—which is fine. But it's not cool to use them without permission, even if Dr. Dre's Beats are pretty decent cans and yes, there is some difference in audio cables.

Engadget does have an endorsement for Monster now though: "Monster Cable sucks." Way to live up to your rep, Monster, as a pretty douchey company.

Update: Monster Cable has pulled the quote, but are still douches. [Engadget]

Their recent suit of Monster Mini Golf caused loads of backlash onto the company, making the founder Noel Lee declare that they were going to change the way they do business. And by that, apparently he means NOT change the way they do business, because they're suing a fucking TRANSMISSION COMPANY. [Audioholics via Engadget]

We love Colorware and their penchant for coating our favorite gadgets in a scratch-resistant quality finish, but to double the price? Colorware has never done that.

Gear Live finds that these limited edition cans will only be sold at the Ron Herman boutique store in LA, where these are pitched as not just a pair of headphones, but a fashion accessory. Only twenty pairs of these white Dr. Dre Beats will be made, which accounts for white a large chunk of that price tag. Head over to Gear Live to see how they look. [Gear Live]

The headphones in question are the Dr. Dre Beats headphones, a nice pair of over-the-ear cans with noise cancellation and a cellphone mic built in.

Now, Monster and some guy names Ron Herman are offering up white versions of the Beats in a limited edition run. The price for the new paintjob is $699. That is the only difference between the two sets of headphones: the color.

Seriously Monster, I know you like money, but good lord, at least try to disguise your unquenchable greed a little bit. [CrunchGear]

They're also the loudest pair of ear buds I've come across, blasting my iPhone and laptop to volumes I didn't know existed, without ever getting noisy.

The worst thing about the Turbines was discovering how crappy most of my MP3 files really sound. Songs purchased from iTunes or ripped from CD were fine, I was able to pick out each instrument and hear things I normally couldn't with lesser headphones, but files I've obtained with less reliable quality sounded like absolute garbage—the mix was all wrong, and the noise almost gave me a headache.

They're missing a microphone/toggle switch, which we expect by now in headphones of this caliber, and that's a little disappointing. On the plus side, they generously come with five sets of tips so there is definitely a size that will fit your ears. The Turbines are a nice entry into the in-ear headphone arena by Monster, and fantastic sound quality for the price—just make sure your music lives up to their high standards. [Monster]

They've released five different sprays for five different types of devices: a camera spray, a cell phone spray, an iPhone spray (Buchanan posits that this one is made of pure angel tears), a GPS spray and a laptop spray. Yes, Monster wants you to think that your GPS and your cellphone need separate sprays, lest your phone is destroyed by the magical chemicals that can only clean a surface that displays driving directions. While yes, perhaps laptop screens need a different spray than the glass iPhone, this is a bit beyond overkill.

Each bottle of these precious fluids cost $10, which is a pretty sizable markup seeing that they just took a bunch of Windex, watered it down and put it into tiny bottles with different colored labels on it. [CrunchGear]

The second line is aimed at audio systems, with GreenPower versions of the EPIR 2450, EPIR 3650, and HDP 2550 PowerCenters. These systems are designed to work with "any universal learning remote"—you simply program it with the right IR codes, and then with one flick of a button your HDTV and all its support audio and video gear will click off, protecting the environment and saving you a handful of dollars on your utility bills. It's not clear if you need line of sight to the power strip, but that's probably still pretty convenient for most users, and if you can do your bit for the environment without even having to leave your couch, that can only be a good thing.

The MDP650, 800 and 900 will set you back $70, $99 and $129 respectively, but you'd probably have to be an audiophile to consider the entertainment PowerCenter versions: the EPIR 2450 (with three socket outlets) is a whopping $500, as is the HDIR 2550 (which has just 2 socket outlets), whereas the EPIR 3650 is an even chunkier $600 and can switch off four items plugged into it. You could always just haul yourself out of the chair and flick the switch—I'm just saying. [Monster Power]

The Price: $350

The Verdict: Strong. The sound quality is pretty great, with good bass reproduction without being too heavy handed, and decent mediums and highs. Not the best all-around headset compared to Sennheisers, but pretty darn good. The Beats also ship with two headphone cables, one of which has an on-board microphone/toggle switch for taking and making calls. It performs this job quite admirably as well.

On the other hand, it might be because my head is too big or my ears stick out too much, but the Beats just barely fit on my head and grip my ears at its most extended. People with heads larger than me—there shouldn't be many of you out there—might want to try this on first before buying. The ear cups aren't extraordinarily comfortable, but they're wearable. Remember Dre's appearance at the VMA's last year? His head was pretty tiny on his buff body. Maybe that's why these are small.

But the most interesting feature is the noise cancellation. You have to have a pair of AAA batteries loaded in at all times, but the resulting isolation is more than enough to drown out an insanely annoying jackhammer that's been going at it outside my house for the past two weeks.

The Beats may not be the best at noise cancellation, the best at sound reproduction, or the best at making and taking calls, but it does all of the above well, and should be good enough for most people. [Beats]

Basically, on one end you have 2 HDMI ports, 2 component video ports and a composite port. Video from all your set-top boxes go in there, from the 480p Wii to the 1080p PS3. You select inputs the way you'd select them in a switcher—at any given time, the thing is only streaming one signal, upconverted to whatever resolution you choose. If you have an audio system nearby, you can send audio out of it via optical cable or digital coax. The system keeps the audio that goes out in sync with the picture that's distributed all over, so there's no lip-out-of-sync issues.

The video (and optionally, audio) is encoded and transmitted to a receiver unit with HDMI and optical outputs, so it can be the only thing next to your TV or projector. The transmitter also has a coax output, and the receiver has a coax input, to receive the signal. (When you're transmitting UWB through your house, it apparently doesn't interfere with your cable-TV signal.)

That means users could stream HD video content with full 1080p resolution between their HDTV displays, Blu-ray, DVD players and/or set-top boxes within a room or between adjacent rooms and transmit A/V contents up to 330 feet over existing coaxial cables. Monster expects their new wireless HD products to hit the market by this October. Check out the press release for full details.

Press release:

Monster Teams with Sigma Designs to “Go Wireless” in HD Home Entertainment with Exciting New Wireless HDAV and UWB-over-Coax Combination Solution

New Monster® “Wireless Digital Express HD” for HDMI Cable Replacement System Offers Both In-Room and Room-to-Room A/V Signal Distribution

New York City – June 12, 2008 – Monster, the world’s leading manufacturer of audio and video connectivity solutions, and Sigma Designs (NASDAQ: SIGM), a leader in digital media processing system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for consumer electronics, today announced a collaboration to create advanced wireless solutions for HDMI™ home entertainment distribution.

The first fruit of the Monster/Sigma Designs partnership will be the new “Monster® Wireless Digital Express HD” system, which will use Sigma’s Wireless HDAV™ for High-Definition (HD) A/V cable replacement as well as its UWB-over-Coax technology to offer consumers an elegant “wireless and no new wires” combination solution for enjoying HD content throughout the home. In addition to letting users stream HD video content with full 1080p resolution between their HDTV displays, DVD players (including Blu-ray), and/or set-top boxes within a room (or to an adjacent room), Monster’s Wireless Digital Express HD system will allow room-to-room HD entertainment streaming, transmitting A/V contents up to 330 ft. over a home’s existing coaxial cables. Monster’s Wireless Digital Express HD line of products was officially announced at Digital Downtown 2008, a CES showcase running June 12-14 in New York City. Monster® Wireless Digital Express HD products are scheduled to reach the market by October 2008.

“After evaluating other wireless solutions for A/V cable replacement, we chose Sigma as a partner for our entry into the wireless distribution arena simply because the company’s solutions proved to be the most reliable and because they meet Monster’s strict quality parameters,” said Noel Lee, The Head Monster. “In addition, Sigma’s UWB allows us to continue offering our customers the quality service levels they’ve come to expect. Together, we are achieving a “virtual wireless” solution for the whole home by combining wireless for in-room HD content streaming and UWB-over-Coax for room-to-room streaming.”

Monster’s Wireless Digital Express HD is powered by Sigma’s Wireless HDAV™ which features Sigma’s UWB Windeo® chipset and its Intelligent Array Radio™ (IAR) technology. Sigma’s IAR technology incorporates three antennas to deliver the industry’s most reliable wireless link that is uninhibited by walls, objects or people, also referred to as non-line-of-sight activity. Sigma’s Wireless HDAV solution will ultimately enable Monster’s customers to mount their HDTVs on walls without the need for multiple HDMI and A/V cables spread throughout the room or hanging across the walls. Meanwhile, users will experience the same advanced high definition signal quality they have come to expect via traditional wires.

Sigma’s Wireless HDAV and UWB-over-Coax combination solution also powers the Monster Wireless Digital Express HD product with long range capability to cover the whole home with wireless connectivity that achieves mobility and flexibility for in-room video streaming. At the same time, the solution maintains the highest quality of service that is required for HD content that travels from room-to-room. Finally, Sigma’s UWB technology is based on the most preferred WiMedia™ Alliance standard supported by many of the world’s leading technology companies. The WiMedia standard-based architecture and interoperability enables economies of scale and rapid market adoption.

“We are excited that Monster has chosen Sigma’s wireless HDAV and “no new wires” UWB-over-Coax solutions to power the new Wireless Digital Express HD product,” said Hung Nguyen, vice president and general manager at Sigma’s Wireless Products Division. “Monster’s selection of Sigma’s UWB technology further validates that advanced wireless home connectivity is here now, ready for our home high def products. We are delighted to offer Monster customers a simple way to set up and experience broadband wireless connectivity between their home entertainment products, and once and for all eliminate the need for any new complex wiring.”

More about Monster Wireless Digital Express HD

Monster’s Wireless Digital Express HD product includes transmitter and receiver elements inside box equipment that encodes older video formats to 1080P HDMI, can upscale all inputs to 1080p format, and offers in-room and adjacent room wireless connectivity, and 330 ft. plus range of coax connectivity room-to-room. In addition, the product offers a fully integrated Infrared (IR) distribution solution as well as inputs for two HDMI ports, two component, one composite video/S-video with audio, coax digital, optical digital with outputs of coax digital, optical digital F-connector for coax, 3 IR emitters and a serial communication input. The input switching is IR controlled for advanced whole home control capability. The Wireless Digital Express HD can be software updated through its included USB port.

More about Sigma’s Wireless HDAV Solutions

Sigma’s Wireless HDAV streaming is a technology for transporting HD multimedia using standard-based encoding technologies over Ultrawideband (UWB) to replace high definition audio/video cables. Sigma enables developers of home networking systems to eliminate cables between a television and set-top box or High-Definition DVD player using wireless HDAV, the first technology solution to support both the H.264 format and UWB based on the WiMedia® standard. Wireless HDAV streams high-definition content from device to device at distances up to 330 feet.

Sigma’s wireless solution combines the Fujitsu H.264-compliant MB86H52CODEC with Sigma Designs’ SMP8634 Secure Media Processor decoder and UWB Windeo® chipset, the only UWB chipset that uses Intelligent Array Radio (IAR) technology. IAR ensures the highest reliability in wireless connections between devices and also delivers through-wall and range extension capabilities. Using the MB86H52 to compress raw video allows wireless HD video streaming without compromising visual quality.

• The Green Monster, Boston's left field wall at Fenway Park
• The Flying Spaghetti Monster
• Monster Trucks
• A town in the Netherlands
• Hillary Clinton
• The Cookie Monster
• Giant Monster Movies
• The Monsters of Rock Tour
• Monster Sushi, a sushi chain in NY
• The dance The Monster Mash
• Everybody named "Noel Lee"
• Ugly people who look like monsters
• The Loch Ness Monster
• Unreal Tournament for their M-M-M-M-M-Monster kill
• This wikipedia entry for monster
• Charlize Theron for acting in the movie called Monster
• The cartoon show Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
• An arrangement of matter that has maximum disorder
• The Ducati Monster motorcycle
• The cataloging app Delicious Library's creator
• Monster Park, the ballpark in SF, even though they're the ones who bought out the name

Monster's Noel Lee responded back in April to then-recent criticism about their perceived litigiousness.

This time it's Monster Mini Golf, an actual mom-and-pop operation that was started four years ago by a woman and her husband. The chain has been successful enough to spread to 22 locations. MSNBC says that the "owner" of Monster Cable, which is Noel Lee (their "Chief Monster") says the public will be confused by the similarity of the names. Last time we checked, the public wasn't quite as confused as the people at Monster Cable who decided to sue. [MSNBC]

Oh look, it's a list of things Monster Cable has yet to sue!

Apparently, Monster Cable's Noel Lee issued a response to some negative publicity they got back in April (around the time Monster issued Blue Jeans Cable with a C&D). Noel says they didn't actually sue ballparks or other random places because their names were too similar, they just file objections to trademarks with the USPTO. Noel blames federal trademark law saying that they're required to "police [their] marks or [they] will lose them," and that they "didn't make these rules." [Audioholics]