I have terrible luck with headphones. I have some simple over-the-ear ones that I like, but they tend to break quite easily, usually in various different ways too. So I just trained myself to enjoy using the cheap ones so I can replace them often enough without too much financial strain. (Plus, I've gotten expensive ones before and those break too. Not to mention the big noise canceling ones seem to create a suction that will turn into an ear ache or something.)

Um, in short, learn to like the cheap stuff? Doesn't sound like the best moral when I say it that way.

Try headphones. Earphones, or "earbuds" break waaay too easy and fail so often they can't even get a new ipod out.

You don't need one of the super-huge noise cancelling headphones near $200. I got one for $25 that works just fine.

"bought a pair of Beats"

big mistake. You can get superior sound quality for far, far, FAR less. Heck, I have a pair of skullcandy Hesh headphones, they cost $60 and are of comparable quality to the $300 Beats Headphones.

And I think the $60 was still overpriced.

There's some cheap skullcandy earbuds for, like, $15 and they're decent enough. My pair broke atfer a year, but that was because I messed them up by getting them wet.

I have a pair of sennheiser headphones that I've had for years that serve me well. I don't know the price as they where a gift.

I've never had good luck with earbuds. I much prefer my headphones and headset to them, as they are much more durable. and the headset was a steal. it was about $25, which is what Microsoft wanted to replace my month old garbage Xbox one headset. And despite it being from a company I've never heard of based in china, it's a stellar headset.

Basically, I'd recommend shopping around a bit, looking at reviews and prices. I'd say $200 is far too much for anything outside of studio quality headphones that are well made, and that's still pushing it.  

Unless you're a massive audiophile, just do what I do and find a really cheap pair.  That way you can replace them every so often without hurting your wallet.

Former Radioshack employee here, Beats are the worst "Studio Quality" headphones and earbuds on the market by far. I'm going to second Ehks' recommendation to getting Skullcandies, which are superior quality for a fifth of the cost.

Assuming I remember right, the reason that Beats are garbage is due to the way they're constructed. They basically boost the bass up without adjusting the other channels to compensate correctly, so it throws off the mix, and are spectacularly shoddily made for their price point.

I've found the standard earbuds for your average apple device to have sufficient adequacity for my needs. I got these at the beginning of the year so I could have something that worked in my phone and would stay in my ear while walking around as a convention medic. They have been working beautifully for me, but they're also a bit pricey. We mainly got them because we knew their button would work with an Android phone, but you might not be concerned with that...

As an audio engineer, I just want to agree with what others have said about Beats probably not being the way to go. Shockwave is right in saying that $200 or more is when you start getting studio quality. I would even say that upwards of $100-$150 are when you start getting some lower quality studio pairs. Depending on what you want, there are a lot of really cheap earphones out there, like everyone has mentioned, that get you really good quality for their price range. But if you're really looking for a nicer pair, don't go with beats. Sennheiser makes some great high-end earphones, and there are lots of other notable brands that make great ones. I've had some good experience with Philips, as well. 

-Rez