Best Earphones $201-$349

Best Less Than $60 | Best $61-$120 | Best $121-$200 | Best $201-$349 | Best $350 +

How we do it | Updated on April 5th, 2012

For 2012 we changed our favorite test a little bit. 12 people (4 females and 8 males) among employees, friends and family members, voted, on each price range, for the earphones that sounded and fitted their best. This year we picked 12 songs to test and rank the best earphones by price range: Cello Concerto in A Minor, Gymnopedie No.3, Take Five (Dave Brubeck), It's a Beautiful Day (U2), Paradise (Coldplay), Good Girl (Carrie Underwood), Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash), Feel So Close (Calvin Harris), Wild Ones (Flo Rida), What a Wonderful World ( Louis Armstrong), Shadow Days (John Mayer) and Bully (Shinedown). Each person could skip between any of those 12 songs with each earphone model to determine the best earphones between $200 and $350

The Westone 3 with its 3-way crossover and triple driver design, overall performance, comfort and fit shares the top position in this price range with the Shure SE425 with a 2-way crossover, Shure's sweet mid-range rich dual balanced armature drivers and removable cables. Shure SE425 shines for jazz, acoustic and vocals. The construction of the SE425 is top notch. Second place comes the UM2 with replaceable cables. Strong bass and fun sound makes these our preference for rock and roll. The trade-off is a slight lack of clarity in comparison to the Shure SE425. The new Audeo PFE132 includes an iPhone mic, music and volume control combined with excellent sound.