Beats by Dre Mixr have been built with one purpose, to provide a pair of headphones that can do everything a DJ wants and survive the road...
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The Beats by Dre Mixr headphones are a unique part of their already well-established line-up. The company is already fighting for ground in the premium cans market thanks to the Philips Fidelio L1 and the B&O BeoPlay H6.
The Beats Pill is one example of this by moving from headphones to the portable speaker market. The Mixr is another. Whilst still headphones these are the first Beats headphones with a target audience in mind, the DJ.
With a brief to create a pair of super-strong, ultra-portable headphones that still provide the same sound quality as their Studio range the company were certainly up against it. Question is, have they succeeded.
Beats by Dre Mixr: Design
The first thing you'll notice about them is the size, these are probably the smallest and most compact Beats yet looking like a scaled down version of the Beats by Dre Solo headphones.
Don't be fooled though as these are not a lot more expensive, they're also completely different in terms of build-quality. The Mixr uses a sturdy aluminium frame where the Solo used plastic.
There's also an increased rigidity in the design, despite the fact they're surprisingly flexible when pushed and feel like they'd withstand a fair amount of daily rough and tumble.
Beats by Dre Mixr: Comfort
Of course the design is only half of the equation with the feeling of wearing them being just as important. Thankfully the Beats by Dre Mixrs are comfortable enough with the soft cushions providing ample support for your lugholes.
Where things get a bit more complex is after long bouts of wearing with the stiff aluminium design beginning to create a pinching sensation leaving your ears aching after around three hours of wear.
It's not a complete disaster though as many headphones suffer from this problem however if you're particularly blessed in the cranial department we'd probably recommend trying them on before you hand over your cash.
Beats by Dre Mixr: Sound quality
Beats by Dre have declared the Mixr one of the lightest and loudest headphones ever created and while we might argue with the lightest we certainly can't argue with loudest.
Whilst some companies might claim to have a target audience in mind, Beats by Dre have clearly thought this through blessing the Mixrs with drivers that pump out incredibly loud volumes without any real levels of degradation in sound quality.
It's a neat trick but one for that, for the average users, may be utterly pointless due to the fact we don't all spend our waking moments stuck in the dark confines of a DJ booth.
What might attract you though is the bass reproduction. These are some of the deepest sounding headphones we've ever encountered providing incredibly deep bass without much distortion.
Unfortunately this does means that listening to anything that hasn't been produced by a computer could be out of the window, but if that's your thing then these are the cans for you.
Beats by Dre Mixr: Verdict
The Mixrs are an odd proposition. Created with the DJ in mind they've also been designed to be available and accessible to the average punter like you and me.
The sound quality is undeniably good whilst the build quality is excellent, where they fall short though is the price, these headphones cost £219.95.
That's £50 more than the SoloHD cans which may offer a slight decrease in build-quality but arguably throw in a much more balanced experience boasting the usual bass-heavy levels we've come to expect from Beats by Dre anyway but without the ear-splitting deepness that comes from the Mixrs.
Beats by Dre Mixr release date: Out now
Beats by Dre price: £219.95
