What are you talking about? It just enhances the sound. And I know beats are overpriced but you're still comparing your $45 headphones to my $200 headphones.
You can try plugging in your headphones to your smartphone and listening to it on max volume, and then try listening through your laptop on max. You'll hear a difference for sure in quality and through your laptop it will be significantly louder.
Even people that have used the 8X for testing, when they plugged it in to listen to their music in their CAR, (through the AUX) they could hear how the music was louder, crisper, and sounded much better overall. (Compared to using their previous smartphone.)
I have a Bachelors in Music Production, I understand the science behind sound. Anything designed to process audio only derives it from its intended mix. The best way to listen to anything is using a Lossless high bit rate codec and using sound systems with a flat frequency response curve.
If you have any speakers that provide an uneven response curve then you can use an equalizer to try to compensate for the loss but most software either uses compressors which cuts down the dynamic range of music which could be better then using a low quality codec or uses an equalizer that does not take in the Q of a curve that needs to be compensated and will usually improve only a portion of the curve or make the response curve to large and you will end up with the surrounding frequencies louder then intended.
Audio amplifiers provide the energy required for the speakers to drive properly. Less power than the speakers require will cause the speakers to extend too slowly to work correctly and a majority of the time they wont extend to full excursion to provide the crisp sound the speakers need to work as intended. Software won't save you from crappy headphones unless you have advanced options like dB, Q, and Frequency to gain full control. if the curve is too low the EQ could need to be amplified so much that you start clipping before it returns back to a flat curve. At that point you need to use a compressor which can kill off the offending frequencies. Thats also providing your audio device puts out enough power to run your speakers properly and your audio listening capabilities are capable of Identifying and properly adjusting to compensate.
So yes, audio amplifiers (Beats audio amp qualifies) paired with the right headphones will out perform software every time vs using high power headphones with a standard circuit and audio enhancements(beats software). If your making judgements based on the quality of LFR then your thinking incorrectly.
Don't get me wrong, everyones hearing is different and their tastes are subjective, audio enhancements are great for people who have hearing loss in certain frequencies or have crappy headphones and know what to do to compensate properly but for the average person to be able to properly do any proper EQ adjustments they need to hear the song using a lossless codec and studio monitors and compare back and forth to figure out what exactly they are missing. EQ presets are ridiculous and are a gimmick.