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Comment by sharkweek | Hacker News Reader

I was given a pair of Beats Studios almost two years ago, so maybe that makes it easier to say this but, speaking as a non-audiophile, they're... good? I read a lot about how terrible they are, but in my experience, they're comfortable, their noise cancellation is great at work, and I have never noticed degraded audio quality (once again, as a non-audiophile).

Could someone point me to a defacto better pair of headphones in the same price range as the studios ($200)? I'll give them a shot; I have no problem admitting that I might very well be missing something when listening to music.

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It's like this: Beats headphones are worth about $50, at the most. Noise-cancelling in an office, you barely need to pay anything, because "noise-cancellation" is achieved by the headphones picking up background noise with a small microphone and then playing a dampening noise in reaction to a sound wave. This is easy when the background noise is constant - that's why "white noise" in offices works so well. But if the noise is varied, it's impossible to predict how loud or soft the next sound wave is going to be, and headphones are always slightly behind in reaction, as it is. So that's why sometimes it seems like noise cancelling headphone work awesome, and other times the seem like any other pair of headphones.

So you're not paying for better noise cancelling when you pay more for headphones. You are paying for superior sound quality.

If you are going to drop $200 on a pair of 'good' headphones, even noise canceling, I'd suggest getting some Audio-Technica, which are superior to everything out there, even Bose. Most are less than $200.

My experience: I own a small broadcasting company.

THough it's not about the headphones. It's about the style and brand. Everyone knows the iphone isn't the best bang for your buck feature wise in smartphones. Everyone knows Nest costs $60 to make on your own. But the point is, mass market needs stuff that looks good, performs well, and where design was matters (looks/functions well for most people).

The parent was responding to someone who was discussing the quality of the beats headphones. He wasn't touching on the strategic element of this acquisition.

The only thing Beats headphones have going for them is their looks (which IMO is average at best).

Headphones are appliances, not complex gadgetry. Beats are poorly designed and built appliances. Most that buy them don't know any better, and there are far more well-designed headphones on the market that have a discernibly better sound than do Beats. It doesn't perform well, and its design is average.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M50x isn't as sexy a headphone as a Beats Pro, but its sound more than makes up for the difference.

It's just simple economics as to why the other brand is more popular. Have you EVER seen an Audio-Technica ad?

$70 less http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-M50-Professional-Mo...

$65 less http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-380-Pro-Collapsible-Profess...

Sony MDR-V6/MDR-7506 http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-150-over-ear-headp...

Agreed. The MDR-7506 is a "studio standard" for reference/monitor headphones in pro audio and video. The frequency response is not "enhanced" at the low end like the Beats and many other modern headphones. I don't think the curve is really flat- they always sound a little bright to me (thought in that hear-more-detail sort of naturally pleasant way), but they're definitely more flat than the Beats. The 7506 is like $90. The V6 has the same drivers, but doesn't have a gold plated plug (seriously). I got my V6s refurbed for $50. The closed earpads passively block external sound pretty well, and they're relatively comfortable. They don't come in green or pink, but they sound good, are still made with some metal parts for durability, and they're way cheaper than Beats. Source: work in a couple different TV production studios, a friend that's in the audio/acoustics industry, and a lot of reviews at B & H.

Those are great for tracking and/or studio-critical ( read: intense, "What was that??") listening but they're pretty shrill for general listening.

I find them fatiguing.

I cannot get past the Koss KTXPRO-1. They're very inexpensive, but I can mix on them, they're comfortable and priced very well. There's no fatigue with them.

I really do throw a rough up first on the 'phones because it seems to get me to a decent first mix fast.

I need to buy a nice pair of Grado and/or Stax just to try to wean myself off these things. :) Don't mean to sound fanboiish, but I've used 'em now for going on fifteen years. Headphones are like that.

You're not missing anything, don't worry. I was a former audiophile spending way too much money like everyone else at Head-fi.org

Then I realized the collective delusion everyone was living in when I forced myself to double-blind test headphones and various audio formats. Audiophiles are a tiny minority and you can find all of them poo-pooing this deal on Twitter (a lot of them overlap with Apple's customers), but regular people are just fine with Beats or Bose (another derided brand among audiophiles) products.

You can easily get sucked into that world and make yourself believe that those really expensive headphones are worth it, but it will be because you want to believe it after spending all that money.

I agree with some of your points (and have also forced friends to do double blind tests on their shiny new toys), but the problem is the price point. I'm not an audiophile either, but for $200, it better justify itself. To me, $200 is really expensive for headphones. And from the zillions of comments and reviews I've seen, you can get the same quality from a competitor for $50. It's borderline a Monster Cable scenario.

I had the opportunity to test 4-5 headphones without paying a single penny. I also got to try out a pair that was a slightly better model than my old ones I had on hand and found the differences too minimal to think it was worth upgrading to. It was pretty obvious that there were differences between all the headphones. In other words, I disagree with the "You're not missing anything" statement.

I don't know what your definition of spending too much money is, but you can still appreciate good sounding headphones without going crazy and spending an insane amount or constantly getting different gear. I had my last set of headphones for at least 5 years or so until I blew the driver and all the bass was screwed up.

Beyerdynamic DT660: http://www.amazon.com/beyerdynamic-DT-660-Premium-Headphones... (go for the 770 if you're in a quieter situation, as they're open-backed and you get a bit of a cleaner sound)

Grado is almost always a stellar choice. http://www.amazon.com/Grado-Prestige-Series-SR125i-Headphone...

Both cheaper than beats.

Both much, much better.

Grados are superb but nearly totally unsuitable for office use, as they're open. (Grandparent mentioned using his cans at work).

They aren't bad headphones, the thing is you can get equivalent quality spending ~$50-70.

> you can get equivalent quality spending ~$50-70

That's what he was asking for. I've frequently heard this and I believe it to be true but as a non-audiophile how do I identify a pair of $70 headphones that are as good as Beats' $200 ones.

You listen to them. Listen to a piece of music that you know well, and listen to the two side by side. Ideally something which isn't all in one frequency range.

With better headphones, you will hear more detail in the sound. Words which sounded mushed together in the Beats will be distinct in better headphones. The mids and highs will come through much more clearly. Music will just sound better.

Beats have decent bass, but they're hardly the only ones with good bass out there, and many which have good bass are also capable of sounding better in the rest of the frequencies as well.

This is an easy thing to say, but stores with a reasonable selection of headphones you can listen to are rare. The best option for your taste/budget at the Best Buy display, for example, are rarely the best choice for the money.

Many of the beast headphones aren't consumer products and aren't sold in mainstream retail outlets. I love my Sennheiser HD380s but I know about them because I'm an amateur engineer and they're great for live monitoring.

Really, just look at Sennheiser, AT, Shure, Koss, Grado, Beyerdynamic, ... Anything mainstream that's not Beats or Bose is probably worth looking into.

There are several good posts on Hacker News and other sites that will frequently reference good headphones for the cost. I cannot find the exact one that I used (because after I got my headphones I forgot the information and probably wont need it for another 4+ years). But check these out and they might help [1][2]

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7685327 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7658103

Look at Audio-Technica, Sennheiser, and/or Koss. All make headphones in both price ranges which are (more or less) worth what they cost.

If you don't mind spending a bit more I've had one of the older versions of this: https://mrspeakers.com/product/mad-dog-leather-alpha-pads-co...

I had Sennheiser HD595 prior and these are even more amazing. I've listened to a pair of Beats and they pretty much were only bass drowning out everything else. You can also check out www.innerfidelity.com as they have reviews that are not only subjective, but objective.

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-280-Pro-Headphones/dp/B0...

Currently $86.00

Had these for about a year and love them. Noise cancellation is good enough that I end up getting startled by people walking up behind me that have to tap me on the shoulder to get my attention (that could be good or bad depending on your preference).

Marshall Monitors: http://www.marshallheadphones.com/headphones/monitor/monitor...

From a durability perspective, I've had my $50 Sony headphones for 3 years while my friend had $200 Beats for 6 months before the whole unit disintegrated.

That's not very useful data, especially without knowing how you both treated your headphones.

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