New in OS X: Get MacRumors Push Notifications on your Mac

Resubscribe Now Close

Apple Investigating Issue With Monster Headphones [Updated]

Monday November 1, 2010 9:25 am PDT by Eric Slivka

Apple is reportedly investigating an issue with a number of Monster-branded headphones designed to use Apple's Remote and Mic technology. According to photo screenshots of an internal Apple service bulletin, headphones included on the extensive list do not meet Apple's technical specifications and can cause iPods and iPhones to play and pause erratically.

Several Monster headphone models using Apple's Remote and Mic technology do not meet Apple's technical specifications. These headphones use conductive flanges, which can result in electrical shorts that cause an iPod or iPhone to pause and play erratically. Customers may not be aware that the issue is caused by the headphones and may believe that the iPod or iPhone is defective instead. There are no known safety concerns and no known risk of damage to the iPod/iPhone or headphones.

The list of nearly two dozen headphone models affected by the issue include representatives of Monster's Lil Jamz, Jamz, Turbine (Pro and Basic), and Heartbeats lines. The service bulletin does not appear to recommend a specific course of action for Apple representatives or the customers affected by the issue, but they should presumably contact Monster for support.


Update: Monster has provided BGR with a statement on the situation:

Monster was recently made aware by Apple that some of our Jamz, Turbine and Heartbeats headphones with ControlTalk may experience some irregularities under certain circumstances (it does NOT affect ControlTalk Universal). This irregularity potentially affects a very small fraction of our headphones and to this date we have received no customer complaints. However, because the customer experience is our top priority, Monster immediately stopped shipment of all potentially affected products.

With the exception of the black or chrome Heartbeats with ControlTalk, this issue does not affect any other of the Beats by Dr. Dre products. If you think you are experiencing a problem with one of the headphones listed below, please contact Monster customer service [http://www.monstercable.com/service] to receive a replacement.

Potentially affected products include ControlTalk versions of Lil Jamz, Jamz, Turbine, Turbine Pro and Heartbeats.



[ 72 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Avatar
tivoli2
108 months ago
Monster is hyped up blah.

In my opinion, Monster is over-hyped, over-priced mediocrity for people who want better stuff without knowing any better.
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
Dooger
108 months ago
Headphones for tossers
Rating: 2 Votes
Avatar
kinnetics
108 months ago
I despise anything from Monster too. Their business practices are so horrible (ridiculous patent lawsuits and false advertising) that Engadget stopped posting any news related to the brand on their site.
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
Goldfrapp
108 months ago
Just stick to Sennheisers. :rolleyes:
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
mobi
108 months ago

Just stick to Sennheisers. :rolleyes:


I use a lower end Sennheiser headset and it rivals many $$$ Megabuck models!
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
Xtremehkr
108 months ago
Anything made by Monster is overpriced junk. Truly, nothing shows the power of advertising and branding like Monster when it comes to getting people to pay too much for so little.
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
rsands1
108 months ago
Monster Cables and products are nothing but overpriced garbage. Do yourself a favor and hit up www.monoprice.com if you want cables. My $5 set of HDMI is 50x better then any cheaply made monster cable. I used to purchase that crap years and years ago until I woke up and learned that their cables are junk. The ends come disconnected from the cables, they frey everywhere and they are just poorly made...not to mention OVERPRICED! Everyone, everywhere should completely ban Monster Products...lets put these scumbags out of business.
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
Astro7x
108 months ago
I'd NEVER spend more than $30 tops on headphones. Between sitting on the cords and having them snap, accidentally stepping on them, my cat deciding to chew them, just flat out losing them, and normal wear and tear I go through a pair of headphones on average once every 6 months. Words would not describe the anger I'd have at dropping $150 on quality headphones to come home and see my cat using them as a chew toy...
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
Furrybeagle
108 months ago
Garbage headphones from a garbage company. I love people who walk around and think they’re trendy with their Beats/Monster/Skullcandy headphones. :rolleyes:

Protip: Do some research on a site like Head-Fi before you buy your next pair of headphones.
Rating: 1 Votes
Avatar
John.B
108 months ago
Curious how well Apple has documented this.

Was thas a case of Monster reverse-engineering the inline connector protocol and guessing wrong in some instances? (For example, the logic for data on the 30-pin connectors is pretty convoluted based on what voltages do or don't exist on certain pinouts.) Or did Monster just fail to properly test a documented protocol?
Rating: 1 Votes

[ Read All Comments ]