If you own a pair of Apple-friendly Monster headphones that haven’t been very Apple-friendly lately, you’re not alone. A source at Apple recently told BGR that customers are complaining en masse of “erratic behavior” associated with music playback on Apple devices. The problems affect the iPhone, iPad and Apple’s iPod range, and include random pausing, playing and skipping forward or back through songs. Apple has determined internally that these problems are being caused by a variety of Monster headphone models that make improper use of Apple’s Remote and Mic technology despite advertising compatibility with Apple products. Specifically, the problematic models “use conductive flanges, which can result in electrical shorts that cause an iPod or iPhone to pause and play erratically.” According to Apple, these headphones “do not meet Apple’s technical specifications,” and the company is afraid customers might think Apple products are responsible for the associated malfunctions. Offending Monster headphones include the Jamz, Lil Jamz, Turbine Basic, Turbine Pro and Heartbeats product lines.

UPDATE: Monster has issued the following statement to BGR:

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™.

Hit the jump for another screen shot showing Apple’s full list of problematic Monster headphone models

If you’ve been dying to grab some Apple gear but are waiting for a tiny bit of incentive (seriously, we mean tiny), today might be the day. Available online from Apple’s online store as well as in all Apple retail stores (with extended shopping hours), you can currently save a little money on practically anything they carry. Here’s what your savings will look like, just as we reported:

• iMacs are discounted $101
• iPod nanos are discounted $11
• iPod touch in 8GB, 32GB, or 64GB are discounted as much as $41
• Apple TVs are discounted $21
• AirPort Express is now $88 instead of $99
• Magic Mouse and Wireless Keyboards are $5 off each
• Monster Beats headphones in exclusive Apple silver are discounted $71

There’s a lot, lot more so click on over, or head on over depending on how social you want to be today.

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If you haven’t heard about these yet, then you need to hear them! Dr. Dre teamed up with Monster a couple years back to design a fantastic pair of studio headphones. Though it was probably Jimmy who put the deal together. What you get is a listening experience that puts a pair of tuned studio monitors on your head, and that’s a good thing. There are some headphones that offer decent low-end reproduction, but they’re smoked by the Beats. Plus, mids and highs come through incredibly clear with some of the best audio reproduction we’ve ever heard on some ‘phones. There are a couple minor downsides, though. First off, since they offer noise-cancellation, they are powered by two AAA batteries. Secondly, they are sort of a mix between open air and closed headphones, so when you’re crankin’ Soulja Boy on your next flight, expect the seven closest passengers to start doing the superman because they’ll likely hear your music. Open airs let the sound pass through the headphones which is why you get that full natural sound — the drivers are a little exposed to the outside — and not that distorted mess some of us are accustomed to. They’ve even included a special cable which houses a call answer button and mic, so you can take your calls while listening to music on your iPhone or BlackBerry. Nice! Industrial design? Please, this is Dr. Dre. You know they’re going to look great, and they do. With a black lacquer finish and red color scheme, they’ll definitely stand out from the crowd, for better or worse. They’re a tad bit large, and while well constructed, we can’t help but feel that the folding mechanism to store the headphones is going to be a problem. Oh well, Monster will just send us another pair if that happens…

Click on over to our Monster Beats headphones gallery!