Beats Tour with Control Talk & A-Jays Four Comparison: Battle of the f(l)at cables.
I'd like to start off by disclosing the fact that I am not an expert with loads of technical knowledge. Instead, I'm a recent university graduate who enjoys music enough to invest in better-than-stock earphones and yet can't afford the creme of the crop. There was some interest in these two earphones in different forums so here are my personal and subjective comparison of Beats by Dr. Dre Tour with Control Talk and A-Jays Four.
Design:
Very subjective here. You be the judge. Both sport the flat "tangle-free" cables and L-shaped jack. A real advantage of having flat cables is its durability. They feel solid and I don't have to cringe each time something tugs on my earphones. I would say A-Jays are subdued while Beats standout. Both good looking earphones.
Remote:
While they function just about the same, I personally prefer Control Talk on Beats over A-Jays' remote. If you look carefully, three buttons found on A-Jays are round. Only the middle (play/pause) button is convex while the volume buttons are concave. Control Talk has differently shaped buttons. This is a minor detail to most people, but I find the play/pause button on Control Talk much easier to find. Instead of double-pressing the play/pause to skip to the next track, I wish double-pressing or long-pressing on volume up/down buttons will skip tracks. Unfortunately, the mic on these headsets do not work properly with my Bold 9780 so I won't comment on those.
Packaging/Included Accessories:
Beats Tour include: 3 pairs of standard silicon tips, 2 different sizes of "triple layer" silicone tips, and a carrying case. Mine also came with those U-shaped attachments to Beats that fit around the ear; I didn't see those in other reviews though.
A-Jays include: 5 different sizes of silicon tips.
Fit/Noise Isolation:
This may also vary from individual to individual. Neither isolated noise as well as my last earphones: Etymotic Research ER6. Between these two, I was able to achieve a much better fit/seal with Beats since the earbuds go deeper into the ears. Some may find this uncomfortable. A-Jays simply don't fit in deep enough to create that seal or even fit securely. I have Comply foam ear tips on the way for both of these earbuds so the fit is subject to change.
Sound profile:
I try to steer away from calling it sound "quality" since it may insinuate that I know what I'm talking about. Anyway, continuing with my personal take. Again, neither of these sound as clear and detailed as ER-6 I had.
Beats don't disappoint with bass as advertised. However, I'm just barely satisfied with mids and highs. For the price, I feel like they should offer better in this department. Overall, Beats have a smooth profile that is fairly pleasing to listen to.
A-Jays can't cope with Beats in terms of bass. But it's better in other departments. They're fairly detailed for half the price of Beats Tour. I listen to wide genres of music. But my favourites definitely call for greater overall detail than distinctive bass.
The Verdict:
I will have to give A-Jays more time. Unless the Comply foam tips changes things significantly, however, I'm going with Beats Tour. Better fit means better noise isolation which means I can listen to music at lower volumes. I work at an orthopaedic lab with loud grinders operating all day. A-Jays didn't block out sound sufficiently.
That's all. Hopefully this was helpful if you happen to be in the market for either one of these.
