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| Sennheiser HD 448 |
One of my first recommended alternatives would be the Ultrasone Pro 750's. They are currently 226 dollars on Amazon but normally sell for 429 dollars (this is a super sale, so get em' quick) These are a fantastic pair of headphones that blow Studio Beats out of the water. However I would not recommend purchasing these at full list price. My friend recently replaced his Studio Beats with a pair of Ultrasone Pro 900's but these I cannot recommend as a viable alternative as they have recently risen from 350 dollars to 469 dollars (on Amazon, they have a list price of around 600 dollars which I find far to expensive). Ultrasone is a german headphone company and they have amazing quality control and manufacture some of the most durable headphones I have seen to date. The Ultrasone Pro 750's have a frequency response of 8- 35000 Hz with 40 mm driver units. They come with two detachable cords: one straight and one coiled and an extremely nice hard carrying case. They also have the ability to fold flat, unlike the Studio Beats.
Another far cheaper alternative (and I know these aren't in the same price range, but they honestly sound better then Studio Beats even though they cost 75 percent less) are the Sennheiser HD 448. I chose these headphones over more expensive Sennheiser models because they are a closed back design, just like the Studio Beats. They retail for 129 dollars, and this is a truly phenomenal price. Although they dont feel as high quality as the Ultrasones (keep in mind the price) they still provide a better experience then Studio Beats in terms of build quality and obviously sound quality. The Sennheisers provide a pretty balanced sound, but are a little weak on the bass, so if you are a bass head I recommend the Ultrasones or the Sony XB line (which I will talk about shortly). The Sennheiser HD 448's have a frequency response of 16-24000Hz with 40 mm neodymium driver units. They lack a detachable cord, but have a low impedance of 32 Ohms making them perfect for portable audio device use.
My final recommended headphone(s) are the Sony XB (extra bass) line of headphones. Extremely reasonably priced and one of the best consumer grade headphones for punchy bass reproduction. It seems that most people purchase Beats to listen to todays bass heavy music, and the Sony XB line does an even better job at this. Hip-hop, Rap, Electronic, Pop and Dubstep are areas where these phones shine. Within this line of headphones I would recommend the Sony MDR-XB500 (40 mm driver, frequency response of 4- 24000 Hz, 40 Ohm impedance, priced at 80 dollars retail) They Sony MDR- XB700 (50 mm driver, frequency response of 3- 28000 Hz, 28 Ohm impedance [citation needed] priced at 130 dollars) and finally the holy grail of all bass head headphones: The Sony MDR-XB1000. With a frequency response of 2- 30,000 Hz, 70 mm driver units (the biggest ever put in a headphone) and an impedance of 24 Ohms, these things are a bass monster. They retail for 299 dollars. No muddy, muffled bass can be found in any of these, and every single one sounds better than the Studio Beats (even the ones I mentioned that are hundreds of dollars cheaper). All of the headphones mentioned above can be easily powered by an iPod or similar device. I excluded the Sony MDR-XB300 because of its small drivers and extremely low price. So there you go. If you can recommend any other headphones that are viable alternatives to Beats that I forgot to mention (because I know I didn't get them all) just comment them below.
CLICK HERE for Ultrasone Pro 750 page
CLICK HERE for Sennheiser HD 448 page
CLICK HERE for Sony XB Line headphone page
For my updated (and still in the works) comprehensive list of Beats by Dre alternatives, click the link below to my newer blog post:
CLICK HERE for comprehensive list of Beats by Dre alternatives
