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Comment by w1ntermute | Hacker News Reader

You and I might have quickly picked up on the fact that Beats headphones are trash, but the vast majority of consumers have no idea. I see Beats everywhere these days. A lot of seemingly intelligent people I know are using Beats.

And you can't even tell them that Beats sucks, as I learned the hard way. It's not socially acceptable to inform someone that they wasted several hundred dollars, especially when they identify with the brand so closely.

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You assume that sound quality is the only thing that matters in a pair of headphones. A lot of people care more about how they look and the branding then the sound, which is totally fine. I work in a small tech store and I've convinced people to buy better headphones to have them come back a few days later and exchanging them for Beats. Yes, they sound horrible, but different people have different needs and desires. It's not wasted money if they enjoy them, which I believe to a large part people do. Who are we to tell people they should buy headphones they don't want?

Branding and design is a legitimate category for a company to compete in and the people behind the headphones are certainly successful in it. They recognized that most people don't really care how they sound because the vast majority of people are not audiophiles and just want to look cool.

I have heard they are very bass heavy which is what most people like. They could not care less about nuance and realism in music. Bose speakers proved that.

If the majority of consumers are using headphones that are a 1 to 3 on a 10 point scale and beats are, for example, a 4 or 5, then they're better for most consumers. Are they as good as some ATH-M150s? No...but the market is saturated and it's difficult for the consumer to understand what's good and what's not. Enter the marketing/brand dollar and consumers will pick what they hear about plus what sounds better than what they're used to.

> If the majority of consumers are using headphones that are a 1 to 3 on a 10 point scale and beats are, for example, a 4 or 5, then they're better for most consumers.

You're not factoring in price. Beats are very expensive for mediocre quality sound. Those headphones that are a 1 to 3 (where Beats is 4 or 5) are only 1/10th the price of Beats. And for 1/3rd the price of Beats, you can get headphones that are a 7 or 8.

For Beats' target market, they don't factor in price either.

When I personally go to buy stuff, price is third or fourth down on my list of concerns.

I've bought two pairs of over-the-ear headphones in the past few months, and sent them both back. I was shopping on price/value, but the headphones I was getting were way too loud for an office environment.

For whatever reason, whenever I'm looking for decent headphones, nobody indicates whether I'll be broadcasting what I'm listening to to my workmates or not. Not the manufacturer, not the reviewers. Giant pain in the ass. It might not be long before I'd be willing to shell out the cash for Beats just to not have to fuck with it anymore.

Were you ordering closed over ears? If not, try sticking to those, and generally ones that reviewers say offer good isolation (in-ears like Shures are great for this).

Sennheiser HD280 Pro headphones are pretty good at isolating yourself from the outside, and the outside from you. Definitely sound different than a set of open ear headphones though. Just a recommendation. I have a pair and they're pretty solid. They can grip your head tightly though depending on your head size, but I haven't found them uncomfortable.

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

> For Beats' target market, they don't factor in price either.

Then they should be buying from good brands - for $300, you can get a 9 or 10.

> For whatever reason, whenever I'm looking for decent headphones, nobody indicates whether I'll be broadcasting what I'm listening to to my workmates or not.

Of course they do, you're just not familiar with the terminology. What you're looking for is circumaural (around the ear) headphones, rather than supraaural (on the ear) headphones. I would recommend the Sennheiser HD-280 PRO: http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-280-Pro-Headphones/dp/B0...

I've had a pair for several years, and they still sound great.

> It might not be long before I'd be willing to shell out the cash for Beats just to not have to fuck with it anymore.

Getting Beats isn't going to fix your problem, as they are well known for noise-leaking.

Leaking's fine. Blaring out the other side of the ear cups isn't. I don't understand it, if I wanted everyone to hear my music, I'd just use speakers. What the hell is the point?

But thanks for the recommendation. I'll be sure to grab those.

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