I dunno, i've tried about every headphone brand but the Beats and the general consensus is they are sick. My roommates got them and I have tried them a few times (not what i would consider a test) and i LOVE them.
OP, what specific ones are you talking about??
Any headphone can be used to hear a conversation, I'm assuming you are talking about specific beats that have a mic built in??
What, every brand at wal-mart? Trust me, if you've been around the headphone block all the way, you'd not make such a claim.
Yeah, beats are better than average headphones. Do they hold a card to the likes of Sennheiser, Audio Technica, AKG? Not a chance. $120 Audio Technica's + $25 Fiio ultra-portable amp is twice the headphone that beats is for LESS than half the price.
Beats have problems, man. Way, WAY more than ANY pair of $300 headphones should. They leak sound like a mofo, you can't use them at all if the batteries that power the amp die, they aren't very sturdy or serviceable, they rattle under heavy bass, and they sound bad under just about any out of the box scenario - you almost HAVE to tweak the EQ to make them sound good. However, when you get it right, they do sound good. Bass is relatively clear but still muddier than most, mids and highs are weak and get suppressed by the bass. still sounds better than the N-Credible headphones, or the standard fare in the electronics department, but they are not audiophile grade. It's worth noting that they have some genuinely useful features - they fold, they have a detachable/replaceable cable, schnazzy packaging, noise cancellation, and they are very stylish. But none of these, by themselves or together, warrant the $300 price tag.
One notable problem is that they use the noise suppression to isolate outside noise. This isn't really a problem for the listener, but for those around you it's a huge problem. Normally, noise cancellation is not required for good listening. What makes a good headphone is one that does not leak acoustically to the outside, and instead, efficiently directing sound in to the ears, not the atmosphere. Beats do not do this. With the headphones covering my ears, my buddy sitting across the vehicle from me said he could hear every word with the player at about 35% volume.
Want to know how I know? I'm wearing beats studios that were a gift right now, I have my Audio Technica A700x's at home. They're magical.
Plus when I'm wearing the beats, I can't stop myself from saying #yoloswag every 5 minutes. It's horrible. Seriously.
Finally, in the interest of contributing something worthwhile to the conversation, The mic does not work on my GS3, nor on my friend's Nexus S. I don't think it works on most android phones. The volume control doesn't work either. However, the play/pause button works fine. Something is different about the pinout of these headphones or the signal or something, but it doesn't work the same as standard mic headphones.