Sometimes, we’re in dire need of new headphones. But with hundreds of options out on the market, most of us find it too difficult to choose. Part of this is because, unlike other gadgets, it’s difficult to compare headphones—The only way to find out if the headphones will rock our world is to listen to music on them. But often times we can’t take prospective headphones for a test ride.

To help make your decision easier, we’ve come up with a list of the headphones that are pumping and ones to avoid. We’ve considered all sorts of parameters, from ease of use and sound quality to price and power consumption. Below are the ten of best and worst headphones.

The Top Ten

Here are some of the best headphones that you should seriously consider buying.

1. Sennheiser RS 180

The sound of Sennheiser RS 180 wireless headphones is . If you are thinking of getting rid of wires in your headphone experience, the Sennheiser RS 180 wireless headphones are a great idea. Not only are they are as good as any other similarly priced wired headphones, but they’re full-size and light weight. Made with the Kleer technology, there’s no discomfort, so you can use them for hours.(Read full review here.)

2. Bose QuietComfort 25

Bose QuietComfort 25 headphones follow the longstanding tradition of excellent noise-cancelling headphones from Bose. Their design is both elegant and comfortable. With the folding design of these headphones, they are easy to transport in small carrying cases. It takes in AAA batteries to use the noise reduction feature, but it can still be used without the noise reduction feature when batteries die out. (Read full review here.)

3. Audio Technica ATH-M50x

Costing less than $170, these are some of the best headphone you can get for under $200. They offer excellent construct, and the sound is very balanced with tight bass. With added cushiony ear cups, they are very comfortable to wear also and you can listen to great music without hurting your ears. It makes up for the lack of integrated microphone with its rock solid build and natural crisp sound. (Read full review here.)

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4. Sony MDR-HW700

The MDR-HW700 headphones from Sony, with its time-honored reputation in designing excellent audio gadgets, delivers 9.1-channel surround sound effect—in spite of the absence of speakers. These headphones have been designed with comfort in mind, and that is just what is needed for its home cinema support. (Read full review here.)

5. Shure SRH1540

Shure SRH1540 headphones offer excellent audio performance and are remarkably comfortable. They are full-sized headphones, though in spite of their size, they’re pretty lightweight. They’re among the most accurate headphones out there in the market and offer tremendous balance in their sounds. They deliver both deep low and crisp high sounds with same accuracy and soothing aura. (Read full review here.)

6. Klipsch R6i

The bassy Klipsch R6i in-ear headphones are very comfortable to wear and are great for bass lovers. They’re lightweight and do a fine job of shutting out ambient noise. They come with Klipsch’s patented oval-shaped ear tips, which establish more perfect seal compared to the headphones with round tips. (Read full review here.)

7. Philips Fidelio M1BT

With their sleek and stylish design, Philips Fidelio M1BT headphones are the follow-up to earlier released Philips Fidelio M1 headphones. These newer models have added feature of Bluetooth connectivity. The batteries of these headphones have excellent life and the headphones also don’t drain much of the battery when connected with tablets and smartphones. So we’d highly recommend audiophiles to go for them. (Read full review here.)

8. SoundMagic P30

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The SoundMagic P30 is an excellent portable folding headphone set from SoundMagic. Its stylish design is accompanied by comfortable ear pads and headband pads, which ensure the headphones can be used over a long time period. Available at a reasonable price, these headphones are excellent fit in particular for low-resolution tracks. (Read full review here.)

9. AKG Y50

The AKG Y50 is among the best headphones out there for under $100. These excellent budget headphones provide powerful audio performance with resounding deep bass response. They are very lightweight and comfortable to use with swivel ear pieces and foam above the top piece. They come with adjustable presets—ten on each side—so that they can be adjusted appropriately for the different head sizes. (Read full review here.)

10. Beyerdynamic DTX 101 iE

Beyerdynamic’s DTX 101 iE in-ear headphones offer excellent crystal clear sound across wide range of frequencies. Costing less than $80, these aren’t flashy, but are smart enough to provide value for their price. These headphones provide exquisitely poised performance with superb treble and bass control and add remarkable richness to the vocals. (Read full review here.)

Ten To Avoid

Here are the ten headphones that you’d be wise to skim through while you’re out to buy.

1. SOUL SL300WB

These headphones from Soul are quite comfortable to tell the truth. But anything positive about this product just ends about there. The sound is unpleasantly harsh and the bass is too loud. The sound is very unclear especially in the case of songs with techno music. (Read full review here.)

2. Philips SHQ3000

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Philips SHQ3000 headphones may be waterproof and sweat proof, but they are terrible at what a headphone actually needs to do: produce quality sound. They’re not comfortable to wear, and the earbuds are not rubbery, but rather stiff. This causes pain during prolonged use. (Read full review here.)

3. Apple Earpods

Whenever Apple comes out with a new product, we expect a lot from it. However, even the perfectionists like Apple fail to get things right sometimes. One such instance is their release of Apple Earpods headphones. Many users have complained that they don’t fit securely into the ears, and that they let in a lot of sound from the outside while also leaking some of the audio. They’re not much of an improvement over the previous Apple release Apple Earbuds, and we wouldn’t recommend buying them. (Read full review here.)

4. AKG Q 701

When a headphone is endorsed by a legend such as Quincy Jones, one expects great things from it. But AKG Q 701, Quincy Jones signature headphones, fail to meet our expectations. They are very large to wear, and, thus, not fit for use as portable headphones. The bass is also rather weak, and since they are open-backed, they let a lot of sound out. (Read full review here.)

5. Bose QC15

Bose headphones have always offered excellent noise-cancelling performance over the years. Bose’s QC15 headphones are no exception. So why are they here? Well, For one they are priced excessively high. The noise cancelling is not accompanied by superb sound, which take musical experience to a whole new level. In fact, the quality of sound is rather disappointing. The other thing is they operate on AAA batteries, so when those die out, the music also dies. (Read full review here.)

6. Skullcandy Roc Nation Aviator

Skullcandy Roc Nation Aviator headphones seem to have been designed with greater focus on appearance than audio quality. They’re too light on bass and definitely not for those expecting huge sound. The price is also rather expensive, and what you pay seems to be for design and brand name rather than the quality of sound. Another problem with these headphones is that the jack they come with wears out easily, and it’s hard to find replacement for them. (Read full review here.)

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7. Beats Studio

Beats Studio headphones are overpriced compared to their competitors out there in the market. They sound very poor at high frequencies, and also have some distortion on the deep bass. Furthermore, they fail to satisfy us at noise cancelling department, too. To put it short, Beats Studio headphones fail to live up to their hefty price tag. (Read full review here.)

8. House of Marley Exodus

House of Marley’s Exodus headphones create rather high clamping pressure and aren’t definitely recommended for hours at a time. The sound also has a slight tremor since the ears of the headphones are not dulled on their inner surface. This means that when the cord scratches against even little things, you’re going to hear significant scratching noises.

9. Beyerdynamic DT770

Beyerdynamic DT770 headphones may serve some purpose for the bass lovers out there, but they certainly are not for jazz and rock ‘n’ roll lovers. They’ve also been reported to sound significantly cluttered at mid bass frequencies. Their similarly-priced rivals offer far more detail and resolve. The DT770s don’t shut out external noise as much as a good pair of noise-reducing in-ear headphones do either. (Read full review here.)

10. Beats Solo

At a whopping $300, we expected a lot more from headphones that cost as much as Beats solo headphones. But they are all about design and glossy appearance. The bass is too big and the mid-range sounds way-off. For most music, these headphones do not sound natural at all. The sound quality already is mediocre at best and it further disappoints with poor construction. Users have reported that that the cases have busted up within few months. So we simply do not recommend them to audiophiles. (Read full review here.)

Featured photo credit: Over ears headphones via bestandworstever.blogspot.com via 2.bp.blogspot.com