I want to get some high quality headphones, and not some random iphone/ random walmart brand. i've noticed the names skullcandy thrown around and ive been reading reviews on beats by dr.dre

does anyone have any opinions on these? i really dont want to spend too much money if i don't have to, and i might even prefer the earbuds compared to the ones that go over your head.

thanks in advance

You're asking for high quality but not too expensive, it's really hard to find that to be honest.

But as earbuds go, I wouldn't know how to suggest you, but I've heard (indirectly) that the Beats one were pretty good.

well beats go for 300, which i find expensive. i see skullcandy for 60 and those seem affordable and high quality. so im looking for those with experience to help guide me to the best deal

beats are overpriced

skullcandies ... well i haven't tried em all, but the bass hurts my head (same with beats fwiw).

i have some experience, but i'll need to know a price range and some other info.

I've only really researched circumaural full sized headphones (because that's what I was interested in).

Anyway: How much do you want to spend? Do you want closed or open back? what kind of music do you listen to? where will you be using it?

Also, if you don't know: Closed vs Open:
Closed will give you better sound isolation and more bass. Open back will give more clarity, wider sound-stage, and generally better highs. Noise cancelling will be closed back.

This post was edited by Derkaderk on Oct 11 2011 07:00pm

The best headphones you can buy are made by Senheiser. Senheister moniter headphones are the best of the best. But ofcourse expencive.

Don't go near skull candy or dre beats. Both produce a horrible sound and are only made for style. I've been using WESC Headphones for a while now, very good quality for an affordable price.

that's not necessarily true, but it's a good place to start

other competitive brands are audio-technica, AKG, denon, Beyerdynamic, Ultrasone, Grado

well i need something a bit durable since i want to work out with these, mostly rock and techno, but if i had to chose, i would go with the techno/electro side of my ipod. i guess that mean's im more interested in bass. price range, the cheaper the better, because i tend to have the ability to ruin expensive things, fast. ive never heard of closed vs open, but since closed has more bass, id go with that

cheaper the better doesn't really help. i guess what you have to ask is how much quality you're willing to sacrifice for better prices, but to ask that, you need to know about various headphones in various price ranges. Off the bat, I'd recommend Audio-technica's ATH-m50.

And yeah, for electronic you'll probably want closed back. The advantages of open back are better for genres like rock (especially classic rock because they couldn't compress the audio as much), jazz, and classical. There are some noticeable soundstages on electronic, but generally the audio is compressed. The m50s should reproduce the soundstages effectively.

I should describe the m50s for you:
They're a studio headphone designed for mixing meaning they're tonally neutral. They're capable of reproducing the bass you'll need, but ultimately they are balanced. You can EQ a little bass in from your source, and they'll play it back just fine. They're very isolated meaning pretty much no sound leaks out (no one hears your music), and no sound leaks in (you don't hear outside audio). They're supposed to be comfortable for reasonable amounts of time, but I've never worn them for an extremely long amount of time. For a closed back, they have a pretty wide soundstage. I'm pretty sure Guitar Center carries them, so if you can find a pair to try out, then I recommend doing so. Headphones are very subjective.

If you're just working out with these, then I'd recommend IEMs, but I don't really know much about the different brands/models of those. Generally, you don't want something bulky on your head especially if you're running or something.

ask here : http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=57557910&f=188

Beats, as well as anything by Monsters, are horrendously overpriced stuff that is worth a fifth of what it costs. The are cheap headphones that are more "retail brands" that are often more about marketing than quality - this is the selection of SkullCandy, Memorex, Sony, and Monster/Beats that you will find in Best Buy and other stores. Inconsistent quality, low durability, often high priced. There are some sweet spots in there, and SkullCandy stuff can often be found at discount stores for 25-40% of retail price. Sony also makes some headphones that are much nicer than their basic stuff found in retail, but the low end stuff is generally garbage that you should avoid.

If you want something reasonably priced with good bass response, check out the Grado SR60 and SR80 - $79 and $99 respectively and they are accurately responsive and a little bit strong on the bass/mids. Think of how Monster describes the Dr. Dre headphones, that's what these actually sound like (again, Beats = junk).

There are also tons of Sennheiser, AudioTechnica, Koss, and other brand headphones that are really good quality. All of the current Sennheiser models are available at reasonable prices through Amazon, and they vary somewhat, so you have to do a bit of research about what you might like with those.