Beats By Dre Beatbox

It was 2008 when Monster and Dr. Dre first paired up to launch a set of headphones that had his official stamp of approval, and more importantly to marketers, the name Dr. Dre.  Fast forward a couple of years, and various products, and the partnership proudly offer the Beats By Dre Beatbox.

The Dr. Dre Beatbox

The concept goes beyond a simple docking station for the I-Pod, although if you want to dock your personal music, it comes with just about every configuration that Steve Jobs came up with, and heads into the Bluetooth realm.  There is also a 3.5 MM input for various other smartphones.

The model I took for a test drive, or test listen, came from my friends at At&T, which started carrying the product in March.

Not owning an I-Pod myself…yes, I know, say what you want…I elected to put Beats through the paces via the wireless option.  Understand that I have tried the various wireless options that “broadcast” a signal to a station on my radio that is traditionally skip, so from the start, my bar wasn’t set very high.

I took it out of the box, and gave it a once over inspection.  Very slick.  With the docking station on the top, handles on both sides to tote it around, and man size speakers, which at least appeared to promise some very impressive sound.  In reading some of the press on the Beatbox promised “sound engineering to play the music how the artist intended.”

Although 6 D-cell batteries make it a totally portable sound source, I elected to plug it into the wall.  By holding down the power button for a few moments, it puts it into pairing mode, and with a tap or two on my phone to discover, the two devices were thick as thieves.

I quickly went through my musical playlist, selected a Bon Jovi tune, and stretched her legs a bit.  Quiet, yep…but how would “Lay Your Hand On Me” sound a concert level from the 5.25-inch woofers?  Freekin’ GREAT!

After a song or two, in which Jon and did a duet…me in my living room, him through the Beatbox, I decided to try it with my Samsung tablet.  After the same ease in pairing, I found the same audio response. 

The Beatbox in black

As of late, I have started watching entire runs of shows that may not always catch on primetime.  I fell in love with the Jason Bateman clan Arrested Development, and found myself walking around my house with Liz, Tracy, and Jack on 30 Rock, all through the $8 a month magic of Netflix.  Given this premise, I, of course, wanted to hear the sound of movies and other videos.  The Beatbox didn’t let me down.

Even the included remote control worked with the 4 different Bluetooth paired devices I tried it with, allowing me to turn the volume up and down, skip tracks, and quickly mute the audio.

So with rich sound, both with music and video, the Beats By Dre Beatbox is pretty solid, there are, however, a few thoughts I would love to offer the good Doctor for future versions.

First, the remote.  I understand that it would be hard to have a universal remote for all potential uses, and sources, however, perhaps one, since there is such a lean toward the I products, might be a link to play lists from the remote.

Also, understanding that in some cases, size matters, and to deliver the sound it does, there are certain physical requirements, taking a cue from other docking stations, perhaps a clock, or other useful cross gadgets might increase the overall usefulness of the box.

Let’s also take a moment and talk about the price.  I understand Dre has to eat, but with a price of $399, it will truly be a product for the enthusiastic music aficionado.

The bottom line: The Beats By Dre Beatbox is a solid docking station, delivering rich full sound with music or video, while remaining fully portable through battery power.  According to the AT&T website, it comes in white and black models, and includes all the various fittings for the I products.

TR

Here are some of the specs thanks to our friends at C-Net:

Speakers:

2x right/left channel speaker - 2 way
Right/left channel speaker: 1x Bass driver 5.25 in
Right/left channel speaker: 1x Tweeter driver 2 in


Connections:
1x Audio line-in 3.5mm

MP3 Player Compatibility:
iPod with video
IPod classic
IPod nano

iPod touch

iPhone