I don't blame you for not knowing any better, but if you were to do research, you would know that 120-150$ is honestly cheap for headphones. The most expensive pairs you can buy go all the way up to 1500$ or so. This is just a fraction, and they look cool to boot.

@Magma: I know I'm about to get voted down to oblivion by all the audiophiles, but that's still a ridiculous price for headphones, and the $1000 ones you talk about are usually used only be people in recording studios with real work to do (and another vote down for that remark).

Shit, I feel bad for spending over $30 for headphones, knowing that no matter what I do, all sound to me just sounds like adult speak from Peanuts routed through a wall.

Don't worry Dragundam, I usually don't spend more than $10 or $20 on a pair of headphones... but that's also because I'm a klutz and usually end up wrecking the wire by running over it, so I buy cheap ones because I know they won't have to last more than 6 months to a year. The fact that these headphones are wireless and gorgeous, and also from a good brand so they're probably good quality, just makes me want them all the more.

I don't think you should be voted down for thinking so, especially if you're happy with a pair of $30 headphones. You should use what's comfortable for you and provides the quality you're looking for.

That being said, if you're willing to put some more money towards your audio experience, you can get some very good headphones that sound fantastic, and don't make the tradeoffs between comfort, longevity, audio quality, and voice quality that a number of lower-end headphones do. That's not to say you can't get good headphones that are cheap and bad headphones that are expensive, it's just that as with most products, some of the best cost a premium to make and purchase.

For example, I used to rock a pair of Saitek Cyborg 5.1 headphones, about $70, for the longest time until I had a pair break on me...then I had a second pair break on me. Instead of dropping another $70 for a similar pair, I figured I had already spent about $150, so if I'm going to spend that much on headphones, I'll get something highly rated, comfortable, and sounds great.

A trip over at Amazon and sorting by customer review (and some Google searches for other reviews) later, and I found myself dropping nearly $200 for a pair of Sennheise PC-350s, which I haven't regretted in the least. They're perfect for sitting back with the microphone up and just listening to music, and when I'm raiding no one ever complains about my sound quality, background noise, or audio levels.

As with most premium computer peripherals, gaming or otherwise, it's not that you NEED something expensive and high-end, it's just that in some case, when you TRY something you've dropped some cash on, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it in the first place.

@Snuzzle

Good brand = high quality? This is Creative™. They sell mediocrity banking on the fact that they were The Name in PC sound for a good long time. It is pretty rare in consumer electronics for the best known brand to actually have the best quality and/or the best value.

The other thing to keep in mind is that headphone technology is pretty mature, so there's no need to upgrade from year to year (the idea of "surround sound" headphones is pretty questionable, but that's another argument).

So you can safely spend a little more on headphone and expect them to last you for years and years. I have a 7 year old set of Sennheisers that work just as well today as they did when I bought them and I expect to be using them for years to come.

For mature technologies, I'd recommend spending a little more because the cost is amortized over a long lifetime.