The Gear Live crew got the only private listening session of the newly-announced Beats by Dr. Dre headphones during CES, and our thoughts are in this episode. Be sure to check out our other Beats by Dr. Dre video, and our Beats by Dr. Dre photo gallery.

I’m what you would refer to as a cost-sensitive buyer. I’m obsessive about value propositions with my purchases. And I would buy the $400 Beats by Dr. Dre headphones by Dre & Monster Cable.

We got a private demo with Monster and had the opportunity to listen to what’s amounted to more than two years of obsessive research and attention to detail. All the materials, the drivers, the amplifier and more are clearly thought out and it shows. The response from these is absolutely incredible. Their intent was to allow you to listen to the music as the producer intended and dare I say it’s as faithful reproduction as you’ll find on a $400 set of headphones. It’s enough that I would buy these before buying the nearest-priced Logitech system for my computer. The bass response was impressive to the Nth—low bass held its tonal quality through a great deal of dynamic range, something not usually seen. The midrange was rich and warm and perfectly presented and the high ends came out just as well.

I’m sad because I really want these. I mean, I was upset that I had to go home tomorrow to my sound system, and that it’s nothing close to how these performed. They were comfortable, sexy, and sounded absolutely incredible.

Try these when they come out in June. But only if you’re prepared to buy them.