Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have been on the hunt for noise canceling headphones that sound great and look stylish. Of course, "look stylish" is completely subjective but I generally like the aesthetics of Apple products (clean, modern design) and the feel of high-quality materials. When I saw the Beats Executive headphones I thought they had gotten it right. I really like the look, the materials seems to be all metal and leather, giving the impression of a classy, durable, elegant product -- at least in my opinion. They appear to be well made and I could see myself wearing them (by the way, I'm not a hip hop kind of guy -- I'm a business guy with a rock n roll sensibility). Also, I liked the fact that the printing on top of the headband said simply "Beats" and not "Beats by Dr Dre". Anyway, I tried them on at an Apple store and thought they were comfortable and then listened to some music. Not bad, I thought. Then I tried on the Bose Quiet Comfort 15 as a comparison. The Bose are much lighter, but the materials feel more plastic and less substantial. Nonetheless, the lightness of the Bose did make them very comfortable and easy to wear. But the sound of the Bose is the biggest difference. The Bose let the music come alive, and the Beats smother the music with poor EQ. I tried a few different genres of music and the biggest difference came when I listened to a Norah Jones track that started with an upright acoustic bass. The Bose made the bass sound like a real upright bass -- the tone, the articulation, it was beautiful. Listening to the same track on the Beats -- I couldn't even tell that it was an upright bass. It had none of the nuances of the tone, attack or resonance. So based on that, I will not be buying the Beats. Ideally, I would like the look of the Beats Executive and the sound quality of the Bose combined in one set of headphones. So it's up to you -- which is more important: the look or the sound?