Dr. Dre's Beats: Hot Performance, High Fashion

Nov. 30, 2009 — -- Here's the thing about music these days: You can have the hottest tracks of the moment on your iPod, on your Zune, on your 1985 Sony Walkman, on any device at all -- but if you can't rock out while strutting down the sidewalk, what's the point?

Thanks to headphones, tunes long ago transitioned from a treat only enjoyed in homes, cars, clubs and concerts to portable entertainment, consumable whenever and wherever you want it. The technology connecting ears to player is of supreme importance, but so is style -- white iPod earbuds scream minimalist conformist; ear-engulfing DJ pieces state "I want to hear my music, and I sure as hell don't want to hear you in the background."

Enter Beats by Dr. Dre, a line of headphones from the iconic rapper-producer designed to transmit music as artists intend it to be heard and set the wearer apart from the pack.

"People aren't hearing all the music," Dre says on the Beats Web site. "Artists and producers work hard in the studio perfecting their sound. But people can't really hear it with normal headphones. Most headphones can't handle the bass, the detail, the dynamics. Bottom line, the music doesn't move you. With Beats, people are going to hear what the artists hear, and listen to the music the way they should: the way I do."

Word. Sounds like a winning proposition. ABCNews.com tested out three of the latest offering from Dre's line: Beats Tour, an in-ear model; Beats Solo, with padded ear cushions and a built-in headset for hands-free calling; and HeartBeats, fashion-forward earbuds stamped with a seal of approval from pop star Lady Gaga.

Manufactured by Monster Cable, all three headphones boast superior sound quality, just like Dre promised. At their prices, they ought to: The Tour retails for $179.95, the Solo for $199.95 and the HeartBeats for $119.95.Let's start with the in-ear models. As a girl who loves Lady Gaga and all things shiny, the chrome HeartBeats sent my heart aflutter as soon as I ripped open their pint-size silver carrying case.

Adorned with blinged-out prisms, the earbuds look more like jewelery than technology. And it follows that trumped function; while I just wanted to dance to Gaga's "Just Dance," the buds kept popping out of my ears, even after I put on the smallest of the three sizes of tips included with the HeartBeats.