I travel. A lot. A truly obscene amount for a “stay at home mom”. I also have small ears. And small ear holes. As such, I have a hard time using in-ear headphones. They are too big, they fall out, I cram them in, they hurt, I throw them away. Luckily the old-school over ear headphones are back in style. Finally a fad I can get on board with.

I was so happy to stumble upon Beats by Dre. The company hit the scene in 2006 as the creation of Dr. Dre, legendary (and one of my favorites) artist and producer, and Jimmy Lovine, Chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records. The company’s mission is to provide a superior music experience through devices that allow fans to feel the emotion and hear the music the way the artists intended. I’m going to jump right in here and say this is absolutely true – I’ve feel like I hadn’t *truly* heard my music prior to using these.  The songs have so much more depth and personality to them.

The Beats Solo HD Over Ear Headphones are a lightweight headphone, featuring high-definition sound and retro sex appeal. I’ve never been one to stick out from the crowd, but the moment I saw these, I knew I had to have them. They have titanium coated drive technology (said to be for producing amazing sound) and are constructed with super-durable and flexible material to virtually eliminate cracking and breakage (a common issue with a previous model).

I’m not a guy (obviously) and this isn’t a gadget/tech geek blog (well sometimes it can be) so if you’re looking for specs or benchmarks or geek speak, you’re going to be disappointed. I’m a girl and this is my take on the headphones.

• They travel well (the tri-fold design and travel case makes it easy to bring them with you where ever you go)
• I like the way they look (on and off my head)
• If my toddler gets ahold of them, I don’t have to worry about them breaking easily
• The over ear design helps block out background noise (like that baby that always seems to be crying behind me on every flight I’ve ever been on)
• I can’t remember the last time my music sounded so good. The club is always too loud with too much base and my car system is just <sadface>
• They make me a better dancer (quite possibly a subject up for debate if you ask anyone but me)

It comes with 2 sets of cords, in which I initially said, “How thoughtful”. But then I discovered that one is a standard cord and the other offers a handy playback control feature (for your iPad, iPod or iPhone) along with ControlTalk and built in mic for phone calls. I still think its pretty cool that if I lose or leave a cord somewhere (which I am prone to doing), that I still have a spare.

Radio Shack is currently offering a great deal on Beats headphones, 10% off, but only through September 3. If you act now, you can get $20.00 ($179.99) off any pair white or black or save $30 ($269.99) on a pair of Solo headphones, which comes in a variety of colors. Also on sale are Beats Solo Over Ear Headphones ($161.99) and Powerbeats by Dr. Dre In-Ear Headphones for $134.99.

Thank you to Radio Shack for providing me with my new favorite travel partner. No additional compensation was received and all opinions are my own.