[cschmidt]

I'm a bit of an audiophile myself, so I wouldn't listen to Beats, but I do think "bad" is a value judgement. I want a neutral reproduction of the music, and I get that with my Grado's. The Beats customer wants lots of thumpy bass. We each get what we want.

[batiudrami]

This is exactly it - they give a 'fun' listening experience that people enjoy, and mistake for sound quality. They're paying a high price for a brand and experience, rather than for the quality of the components, like many other premium brands.

I don't wear them, but I don't hate the people who do (though I'm not huge on Beats' "the way it was meant to sound/the way the musician intended" branding)

[mrexroad]

"they give a 'fun' listening experience that people enjoy"

ding that's the crux of it. people want something that makes them feel good, which often isn't something you can quantify in a lab. so rather than trying to build a better headphone, beats built the equivalent of a booming car stereo strapped to your head, and that evokes a very specific emotional response for most of their customers.

fwiw: i have a pair of Bose QC15 cans that i got as a gift from work. i think they're crap for reproduction purposes, but the experience they're designing for is noise cancellation.

[hessenwolf]

Quality is in the eye of the beholder, and there were several blokes sporting them on the U-bahn train this morning, all much cooler than me.

[batiudrami]

It's not really, when frequency response is a measurable quantity - sound quality can be, and is defined, and Beats do not fare well[1]. But you're right, they do look cool, and they have a fun listening experience.

[1] http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/monster-beats-dr-dre-so...

[madeofpalk]

They should join the 'Vinyl sounds better' camp in mistaking what they prefer for what is objectively better.