My personal taste in in ear headphones:
Sony = bloated crap sound
Panasonic = okay, but thin at the bottom end
Sennheiser = spot on
Etymotic = sounds okay, but great at noise isolating
Skullcandy = AVOID AVOID AVOID
over ear headphones
Sony = okay, nothing worth noting
Sennheiser = depends on if its open or closed back. closed backs sound nice, good bass
Beats = hype, overrated bloat bass
AKG = while mine were crap, ive heard good things about their more expensive options
Skullcandy = AVOID AVOID AVOID
Shure = top notch
DISCLAIMER: this is my opinion.