For their price, beats are horribly overpriced. People go a little bit too far calling beats complete crap, which is by no means true, simply they are priced at least $100 more than they are worth.
It comes down to what type of music you generally listen to, if you want theater headphones (like watching movies), and how important style is to you.
For $300 you should look up and consider Bowers & Wilkins P5. I've heard great reviews about them, they are extremely comfortable, and they've got a stylish aspect to them. Sounds like they were engineered to make music from iPods and such sound the best they could make it.
Audio-Technica ATH-M50 are really good and not horribly expensive, but to be warned, the cord could be an issue. Both versions have a good length cord with the original being coiled. So if you're at all worried about looking cool, the coiled cord sticking out of your pocket probably isn't what you want. They have a straight cord model, but it's one of the longest damn cords I've ever seen. You'd have to stuff you're entire pocket with it. They have good base though and clear mids and highs. These are around $170.
V-Moda has two models, an over ear and an on ear with the main difference being that the over ear has more emphasis on the bass. Fairly stylish, and you're looking at $200 (though Amazon has the over-ear model for $130). I've read several opinions about them. Some say the sound is basically the same as Beats, others say that after letting the speaker burn in they sound much better then the Beats ever do. Also, they use a surround technology which is good for playing video games (this is only over ear) or watching movies as you will hear things behind you, in front of you, etc.
And then for more of the audiophile sound where all ranges are balanced and you hear the "pure" sound, there's the Sennheiser HD25-1 which Amazon has for $175.00 or for $222 you get the a little bit more styled blue Adidas ones.
These are the main headphones I kept coming across when checking stuff out. The V-Moda are a bit more concerned with style than the others but I've read overall good things about them. More for club music (techno, trance, whatever, rap, hip hop, pop). Also I know Costco had them for $100 with a $20 rebate last weekend, not sure if they still do. For that price, they are a great deal.
Audio-Technica is more of a pure sound, but has a boom to it for hip hop and such. Sennheiser is the "pure" sound headphone, and I just included the Bowser Wilkins because I read good stuff about them and they are a nice mix of style and sound. Also they have been regarded as some of the comfiest headphones there are.
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Just that awesome
~InsaneOne