End User

Hands-On with Monster PowerNet

Monster recently sent me a product of theirs called PowerNet to use and review. I wondered why they felt the need to have a power strip reviewed to which they replied that PowerNet was not a power strip, but a powerline network adapter. I played along like I knew what that was and told them I would be happy to take a look.

Once the items arrived, I read the packaging and learned that powerline networks are a way to get much of the versatility of a wireless network coupled with much of the speed of a wired connection. In a nutshell, it works like this…

Under normal circumstances, your internet connection comes into your home from your internet provider, is sent through a router and then split out to every computer connected to your network, either wirelessly or by an Ethernet cable.  Pretty standard stuff.

PowerNet changes the game by taking one of those wired connections off the router and running it through an electrical outlet in your home. The adapter plugs into the wall and an Ethernet cord plugs into the bottom of the unit. From there, your internet connection is carried over the electrical wiring in your house, only to come out of any other outlet connected to the same electrical panel that has another PowerNet adapter.

Pretty cool, but why bother and does it work well?

First of all, while distance and quality of wiring do affect the performance of powerline adapters, their performance in large homes or spanning multiple floors is superior to most wireless connections. This is important any time you may be streaming large amounts of data, particularly video, where losing packets of information has a noticeably negative impact on what you are watching. While it is not as fast as a straight wired connection, you do avoid needing to run wiring through crawlspaces or having it installed in walls. The wires you are utilizing are already in place.

Secondly, while you are still tethered with a cord to a wall, you do get to roam around to nearly any room with an outlet. For any extended use of a laptop, you will probably already have the power supply plugged in, so you are already close enough to use PowerNet.

Third, there is a peace of mind that comes from knowing that your data is safe from people packet-sniffing. If you are able to exclusively use a combination wired and powerline networks, you will be able to turn off your wireless and not need to worry about encryption, keys, and all of the other liabilities and inconveniences of a wireless network.

As to how it performs, I tested PowerNet in my own home to see what kind of download speeds I could get. In my wireless test, I saw a 33% increase in download speed over my wireless G connection when using PowerNet (approximately 12 mb/s and 16 mb/s, respectively).

It also bears mentioning that, though I have not played any FPS online games since the days of Counterstrike, PowerNet would be an ideal way to avoid the lag issues that come from trying to play that kind of game wirelessly. With more and more consoles having internet connectivity for online play, powerline networking and PowerNet could provide a considerable advantage in your next contest.

As for me, I am pretty well smitten with my new ability to set up a fast reliable connection anywhere in my home, with any computer.

PowerNet adapters currently start at $66.52 through Amazon.com

Hands-On with Beats Solos by Monster

Beats Solos are the latest in the popular Beats by Dr. Dre headphone line by Monster.  While they appear to simply be a smaller version of the Beats Studio model, there are a number of distinctions that separate the two models in significant ways.

First and foremost, the Solos are a commuter’s over-ear headphone. In addition to the built-in Control Talk feature (making them compatible for use with media playing phones), the Solos are significantly smaller and lighter weight than the Studios, which is a nice change. As great as the Studios sound, their size eats up a lot of space in a backpack, even when collapsed. The Solos, on the other hand, collapse into a smaller package and, due to their smaller profile, fit more comfortably if worn around the neck.

Another change intended to benefit people using these headphones on the go is that the Solos are powered entirely by the device they are attached to, meaning that there is never a need to change a battery. Having listened to these through an iPod and a Blackberry, I can say that both devices had no trouble powering the surprisingly robust speakers.

If there is a downside to the Solos construction versus the Studios, it would be that the ear-cups do not isolate noise as well on the Solos. The padding is comfortable and does a fair amount to block out ambient noise, but street noise and conversation still float in. This, however, is probably intentional on the part of Monster, considering that these headphones are meant to be used in situations where complete noise isolation would be a bit of a danger.

Solos are available in black and white and have much of the same aesthetic as the Studios – so much so, in fact, that they can be easy to confuse.

But, of course, the ultimate question is how do they sound? In particular, how do they compare against the Beats Studio model?

For my initial reference song, I chose to listen to “Feel  Good Inc.” by the Gorrilaz. The Studio model had a deep bass that managed to be powerful without being muddy. The mids and highs were still there, crisp and clean. As I listened to the Studios, I started to think that it might be an unfair comparison for the Solos – They sound that good.

When I listened to the same track with the Solos, the first thing I noticed was that they were just not as loud – which is to be expected when comparing them against powered cans. The next thing I noticed, though, was that the bass was not as present – but not in a bad way. The mix seemed more balanced through the smaller speakers and, while the song was exactly the same, the slight change in levels transformed the track. The mids and highs were replicated in much the same way between the two models, but the bass was significantly different.

It appears that the Solos are a great option unless you are trying to rattle out your own fillings. They deliver a lot of quality for the price point and provide an over-ear alternative for commuting music lovers.

Beats Solos are currently available for  $179.95 from Amazon.com

Hands-On with the Monster Turbine Pros

I tend to be pretty hard on the gear I carry with me as I commute.  For that reason, I tend to shy away from spending a ton of money on headphones and ear-buds in particular.  After all, cords can get caught in car doors, jacks can bend, wires can pull out of the main housing or, far more common, a small break can develop in one of the conductors and render your stereo recording an incomplete mono. While the Turbine Pros do offer strain relief and stranded conductors to take away some of those risks, it still seemed inevitable that I would eventually break them.

Furthermore, every single piece of music I listen to via headphones is an mp3. My collection is fairly old, some of it dating from the dark ages where there was a real risk of having more songs in your library than you had room for on your player. That translates to pretty low bitrates - 128 in nearly all cases with the occasional 192 if I really felt like there was some depth to the music that was worth the extra space.

So, the Turbine Pros were up against my disregard for property and my pragmatism, but I tried to keep an open mind. The first thing I noticed, before I even hit play, was how comfortable they were. The rubber tips on the speakers were just the right size and sealed my ear off from the outside world without exerting uncomfortable pressure from being too large. For ears that aren't the same shape as mine, the Turbine Pros come with an assortment of tips, one of which is sure to fit. I had no idea that ear-buds could actually be comfortable. I had always assumed that mild discomfort to dizzying pain was the normal fitting range of in-ear headphones.

Comfort, though, is just a bonus. The primary function of these things is making noise - so I hit play. I listened, first, to a little Pink Floyd, figuring it would be a good test for distinctly hearing the layers of the mix. The good news is that I am sure I heard everything that was there. Where the bass was strong in the recording, it was strong in my ear, but without being overpowering or muddy. The middle and upper registers were clear without being piercing. The bad news is that I was listening to an mp3 that I had optimized to take up as little space as I could on my player. There were, certainly, some shortcomings in what I heard, but I am convinced that the problem was in the mp3 and not in the Turbine Pros.

That test, however, was conducted at my desk. Most of the time I am actually listening to headphones, I am on a train, at a bus stop or in my car. Though it is not a good idea to ever do this, I decided to test the Turbine Pros in my '62 Falcon which might have the loudest exhaust leak I have ever heard. It was the most hostile test I could think of without renting a jackhammer. Besides, I was familiar with how other bargain ear-phones performed in my car, so I had a basis for comparison.

Honestly, I was really surprised. As I climbed a particularly steep hill, I noticed that my motor was not drowning out the music to the same degree that it normally does. I was able, in fact, to keep my volume about a third lower than I normally keep it while I drive home due to the excellent seal of the aforementioned rubber tips. That, in addition to the better speaker quality, helped the music remain undistorted and crisp.

The long and short of it is that these headphones delivered a noticeable improvement in how my music sounded. Limited as I was by bitrate, this morning I still found myself listening to songs I thought I knew backward and forward only to discover harmonies, whispers, guitar fills and background percussion which I had missed before. I considered an ambitious plan to re-encode my music with improved quality – but that would take a lot of time. For those of you who were wise enough to encode your music at a level that maintained some sound quality or, better yet, if you still listen to portable music from CD, you will be able to get the most out of these headphones.

As for the durability issue, Monster seems to acknowledge that, no matter what protective measures they put in place, there will come a day when you break these headphones. It’s a fact of life that Monster attempts to circumvent with the one-time replacement warranty covering damaged caused by the owner. I’ve never heard of a warranty like that, but I imagine I will definitely be taking advantage of it at some point in the future.

The Monster Turbine Pros are available for $249.95.

-    Matt O.