[Brooko]

   
Not really! 90% of people know when something looks ugly, and 90% of people know when they're hearing atrocious sound.
 
Yes, there is a middle ballpark where there is room for varied opinion, but the majority of people will have a general consensus, just saying.

 
And that is one of the most naive and incorrect statements I've seen made - just saying.

 

[Argyris]

Taste is subjective. Period. There are trends, there are tendencies, there are factors that are strong enough that large segments of a given sample will find something to their taste or not to their taste, but there are no absolutes.

 

[madwolfa]

   
Not really! 90% of people know when something looks ugly, and 90% of people know when they're hearing atrocious sound.
 
Yes, there is a middle ballpark where there is room for varied opinion, but the majority of people will have a general consensus, just saying.

 
90% of people think Beats are great looking headphones and Kanye makes some great music. Just saying.

 

[DavidA]

  Show them the Meze 99 Classics. I have a sneaking suspicion they'd be more receptive to those, as they seem to be trying to pigeonhole headphones into the category of a fashion accessory. Might be a touch too blingy, but I'd wager those are on the right track.
 
I'm quite drawn to the EL-8 look myself, if they could put LCD-X sound into that chassis (only based on Z Reviews description of the sound, not on personal experience), I'd have to buy a pair

The EL8 open (Nov 2015 and newer) is a great sounding headphone, I heard one and am thinking about sending my old one back to have the new drivers and connectors installed.  The new EL8 is a good cross grade to the HD-600 if you don't want to deal with amps since its easy to drive with a smart phone or DAP.  When I say cross-grade its because the HD-600 is much more comfortable while the EL8 is still a heavy headphone and the padding on the headband is insufficient for the weight but sound wise the EL8 is better all around IMO, the bass is tight and extended lower, the mids are more natural sounding and the highs have less grain compared to the HD-600 along with better details.
As for the LCD-X, its slightly more resolving and with a better low end than the EL8 but even heavier, so for 3 times the price, I'll pass.
 
The Meze 99 Classics look nice to me but not something I would consider.  I forgot to mention or maybe I did, the headphone that my GF started with due to the looks is the Ultrasone Edition 8 Julia, that is a beautiful looking headphone and it doesn't sound to bad either, a fun signature, pretty resolving and fairly easy to drive.

 

[DavidA]

   
To me there's no reason why a company can't give all three aspects with a 9/10 rating for each aspect. Superb looks, very comfortable, and great professional sound all in the one headphone should be quite easy to achieve in today's modern world, any experienced headphone company should be capable, so i'm surprised we don't see more headphones with the full combo. The Grados are butt-ugly to me, the Beyers look awful and archaic with no refinement to the aesthetic, and planar headphones look like a craftsman's workshop, not exactly stylish, just simplicity with no frills, type of Roles Royce Jaguar car with wooden interior panels.The Yamaha Pro500 is what I call a class act. It has ideal attributes... good-looking, pro sound, comfortable, PLUS highly resistant to damage.

As the others have noted, looks and sound is subjective.  I think the Yamaha Pro500 looks worse than most headphones, even the DT-150 (which most think is pretty ugly) is better looking than the Yamaha IMO.  Most people I've talked to about the esthetics of Grado's think they are quite nice and those with wood cups are very classy industrial looking.

 

[MWSVette]

   
Not really! 90% of people know when something looks ugly, and 90% of people know when they're hearing atrocious sound.
 
Yes, there is a middle ballpark where there is room for varied opinion, but the majority of people will have a general consensus, just saying.

Hence the saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".  I would say the same about sound...

 

[MWSVette]

   
90% of people think Beats are great looking headphones and Kanye makes some great music. Just saying.

Some poor folks actually like the way the Beats sound too.   Not me.  To each their own...

 

[Billheiser]

  Some poor folks actually like the way the Beats sound too.   Not me.  To each their own...

I would think that most Beats owners do love the sound.  And it is the best headphone sound they have ever heard.  When switching to a higher quality and more neutral headphone, their first impression often is that their Beats is better - big bloated bass beats all - that is what they're used to and have been told is the only criteria that matters.

 

[DavidA]

  I would think that most Beats owners do love the sound.  And it is the best headphone sound they have ever heard.  When switching to a higher quality and more neutral headphone, their first impression often is that their Beats is better - big bloated bass beats all - that is what they're used to and have been told is the only criteria that matters.

Agree that most Beats owners do like the sound of them but I've gotten 2 of my son's friends to realize that the Beats are not great, let them use my EL8 and modded SR-225e for a few days and they both sold their Beats, one got a SR-225e and I showed her how to mod it and the other got a used HD-650 of Craig's list. 
 
The ones that are easier to sway are the ones still using ear buds that came with their smart phones, this group is open to listening to various headphones and coming up with their own preferences.

 

[yangian]

  I would think that most Beats owners do love the sound.  And it is the best headphone sound they have ever heard.  When switching to a higher quality and more neutral headphone, their first impression often is that their Beats is better - big bloated bass beats all - that is what they're used to and have been told is the only criteria that matters.

 Before I enter this area, the only thing I care for a phone is bass quantity.  

 

[Billheiser]

 Before I enter this area, the only thing I care for a phone is bass quantity.  

OK, can then talk about qualitative differences in the bass response of different headphones.

 

[Midgetguy]

OK, can then talk about qualitative differences in the bass response of different headphones.

Exactly. Like @yangian, I like bass in my portables too since I feel that the bass frequencies need the extra help to come through clearly and in enough quantity to counteract body movement and impact noise. Brands like Beats have a lot of bass, but it's not well-refined bass for the price they charge. That's not to say it's all bad, but it's just incredibly overpriced and that's the biggest problem I have with Beats. I've listened to them and they're not terrible, but I'd pay less than half of what they cost for the sound quality they put out. The "fashion statement" part of a headphone shouldn't be worth more than half of the cost of the headphone. It's where Sennheiser got the HD6x0 right because they aren't the most beautiful headphones out there (to a fair number of people I'd assume, myself included), but they're incredibly functional and sound fantastic. The HD700 and HD800 are the most comfortable I've put on, but I don't quite agree with their aesthetics; just not my cup of tea.

 

[Arttt]

my top 3 Most Beautiful headphones ever made is :
 
1) Audeze lcd-2
2) Beyerdynamic DT 150
3) Sennheiser Orpheus HE 90
 
Comfortwise 
 
1) HD800
2) DT880
3) HE-560
 
Soundwise
 
1) Depends on the mood
2) Depends on the mood
3) Depends on the mood
 
But one thing is for sure, HD600 is one of the best headphones i heard, no matter price and driver type, and its a permanent member of my collection!

 

[wombatfi]

My HD600 and HD650 could be puke colored or neon green or be hot pink with black flamingos and I'd still listen to them. I care about the sound.

 

[Midgetguy]

  my top 3 Most Beautiful headphones ever made is :
 
1) Audeze lcd-2
2) Beyerdynamic DT 150
3) Sennheiser Orpheus HE 90
 
Comfortwise 
 
1) HD800
2) DT880
3) HE-560
 
Soundwise
 
1) Depends on the mood
2) Depends on the mood
3) Depends on the mood
 
But one thing is for sure, HD600 is one of the best headphones i heard, no matter price and driver type, and its a permanent member of my collection!

Ah, you like the HE560's comfort more than the HD600? I'm the other way around. I don't like the circular cups on the HE560. Oval or ovalish is the way to go for headphone pad opening shape in my mind. The reason I don't mind Audezes is because while the cups are circular, the opening for the ears are ovalish.