ludacris

Celebrity-endorsed headphones: Some good, some bad

Monster and Dr. Dre spearheaded the trend of celebrity-endorsed headphones, starting with the eponymous Monster Beats by Dr. Dre and Lady Gaga's own signature earbuds. But an increasing number of artists are partnering with other manufacturers for their own collaborations.

Signeo announced the Soul by Ludacris headphone series at CES 2011, and 50 Cent stopped by the CNET stage this year to demo his own wireless cans, but does a celebrity shout-out mean that those devices sound better than the competition?

Check out the following list to get the real scoop on all these new headphones supported by famous musicians.… Read more

Shaken and stirred by Bob Marley headphones

I was treated to a nice sampling of House of Marley audio gear at a trade show recently, and came away impressed. HOM offers a wide selection of distinctly styled in-ear and full-size headphones, docks, and other gear, but when it came down to what I wanted to review I gravitated to the Stir It Up on-ear headphones ($200 with free shipping).

The Stir It Up won me over even before I heard it. Construction quality is a step up from the mostly plastic Bose Quiet Comfort, Monster Beats by Dre and Ludacris headphones. I realize a lot of folks … Read more

Musician-inspired headphones dominate CES 2011

LAS VEGAS--There's no denying it: the trend for headphones at CES 2011 was to have a musician's name attached to the product. Like it or not, the success of the Beats by Dr. Dre line from Monster has a lot to do with the current undercurrent in this market. Of course, one would hope that any earphones made in conjunction with a musical artist sound spectacular, and for many of those announced during this year's show, that remains to be seen. However, we can take a closer look at the exterior design featured by the models shown … Read more

Soul by Ludacris continues the celeb headphone tradition

LAS VEGAS--In what is becoming a CES tradition, yet another rapper has announced his own name-branded headphones. In this case, we're talking about Ludacris and his new Soul headphone line.

Whether or not you give weight to audio products endorsed by musicians, I will say this about Luda: he is undoubtedly invested in high-quality headphones. When I interviewed him at the 2009 show, he was so engrossed by the new Turbine earphones he had recently acquired, he would barely look up from his iPod. Up until that point, he hadn't even thought to upgrade from the stock earbuds.… Read more

The 404 253: Where no one cares about Macworld

Greetings from sunny Las Vegas! It's sunny, but not hot at all, which is awesome. Today's CES show was a nice dry run, but tomorrow is when the real fun starts. So make sure to stop by the CNET stage at 5 p.m. pacific time to catch us live! Did we mention there will be giveaways?

On today's show Ariel Nunez joins us to talk about why Macworld was absolutely terrible and why you'll need an HDTV to listen to Ludacris' new record. Then we'll discuss Ludacris' comments about our own Natali Del Conte. … Read more

Ludacris gets down with Monster (and me) at CES 2009

Excuse me a moment while I brush the stars out of my eyes. I just spent the better part of my lunch hour chilling with a bunch of Monster executives and rapper Ludacris, who creates some of my favorite workout-friendly and anger-releasing tracks. OK, so maybe I only spent 5 minutes one-on-one with the guy, but it was enough to ascertain that he's not only a talented artist, but also an exceedingly nice and polite guy. He also has no idea what an MP3 player is. Well, now he does. But when I asked him what MP3 player he … Read more