Our Verdict
The Monster Inspiration are mediocre everyday headphones. They leak a little too much for office use and have an average at best sound quality that's not ideal for critical listening.
- Sturdy build.
- Interchangeable headband.
- Poor noise isolation.
- Heavy.
- Poor audio reproduction.
Average-at-best for critical listening. They have a skewed, bass-heavy sound and a poor soundstage because of their closed back design.
Below average for commuting. They have a decent control scheme, and they're moderately comfortable, but their noise isolation is too weak for noisy commutes.
Mediocre for sports use. They're moderately stable a have a decent control scheme. However, they are a little too cumbersome for strenuous exercise.
Subpar for office use. They leak a lot and don't block much ambient noise. You will be able to hear the rest of the office, and they will be able to hear your audio.
Average for home theater use. They have a decent enough sound for watching movies, and they also have no latency since they're wired. However, their short audio cable won't be ideal for watching tv from your couch, unless you have an extension cord.
Changelog
- Updated Aug 10, 2017: Converted to Test Bench 1.0.
- Updated Feb 26, 2016: Review published.
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Test Results
The Inspirations are available in many colors. The silver version we reviewed looks great. Their rectangular ear cups, highlighted by the faux metal finish, give them a unique and premium feel. The headband is thick, heavily padded and offers multiple unique designs that can be clipped on, so you can change the look to suit your style.
These headphones are a bit heavy, and you are likely to feel their weight on your head. They also feel a little stiff overall and don't have the best fit.
Simple, functional design with only one button on the headphones. It provides track skipping and music/call functionality but no volume control which is a little disappointing.
These headphones are moderately stable. They stay in place during casual listening sessions. Unfortunately, they feel too bulky and heavy for gym use. The slightly heavy ear cups sway a lot while running and will slip off your ears during high-intensity activities. On the upside, audio cable is detachable and won't yank the headphones of your head if they get hooked on something.
The Monster Inspiration are moderately portable headphones. They fold into a compact format that will easily fit into a backpack but may be a bit too cumbersome for smaller bags. They're too big to carry around on your person as they won't fit in most pockets, even larger jacket pockets.
Comes with a soft case that doesn't add too much bulk to the headphones and protects them from scratches and mild water damage. However, the case is not robust enough to shield the headphones from hard falls or high physical stress.
The headphones are fairly solid and well-built. However, the headband does not to retain its position and the hinges where the ear cups meet the headband could be weak points susceptible to breaking. Also, not all the parts that look metallic are made out of metal.
Comes with three cables; 1/8" TRS-TRS with no in-line controls. 1/8" TRRS-TRS with in-line mic and call/music control. And a 1/8" TRRS-TRRS with call/music control and volume up/down.
- Monster Inspiration Headphones
- Extra interchangeable headband
- AAA battery (x2)
- Audio cables (x3)
- Carrying case
- Cleaning cloth
- Manual
These headphones don't provide any isolation from 20Hz - 100Hz and only a modest amount of isolation above that. Most of the isolation is provided passively by the ear cups and not the ANC (Active Noise Cancelling).
These headphones leak a considerable amount of sound, starting from around 300Hz and up to 6KHz (from low-mids to mid-treble).
The Monster Inspiration use two AAA batteries to deliver an excellent battery life of 75.5 hours. They can also continue playing audio passively once the batteries are dead. This means you won't have to change the batteries for a couple days, which is great for long flights or weekend trips where you don't have access to a store to purchase new AAA cells. Unfortunately, they do not have any battery saving features like an auto-off timer.
