I bought these Sennheiser’s after reading a recent CNET review that rated them “best” in this price range at both noise cancelation and overall sound quality. I have now tried them both in my office area and also on a very long flight to Europe. Overall, I have been pleased with the sound quality – but only when the “noise cancel” mode is ON. If it is not ON then the bass is very much lacking. I also had a chance to do a direct compare of these Sennheisers to the original Bose version while on my flight. The Bose win hands down. No contest. Even with the Bose’s noise cancel feature OFF the Bose cut out more noise than the Sennheiser’s do while ON. I also compared them to a friend’s set of Aiwa noise cancel headphones – the Awia’s were also better at noise canceling than these Sennheisers but not as comfortable to wear on my head. On a positive note, I will say that I could sleep with the Sennheiser’s on my head where it was a bit hard to do this the Bose version on my head due to the bulky nature of the Bose. The Sennheiser’s also fold up nicely and fit into the carrying bag quite easily with minimal over all space in my carry on bag. To summarize: If you want the best of breed noise canceling headphones keep looking and comparing with the Bose. If you want some decent headphones that cut maybe 1/4 – 1/3 noise, take up small space in your bag, and are reasonable comfortable then these Sennheiser’s will do.

After many hours of online researching and trips to Ultimate Electronics, Circuit City, and a few other electronic stores I chose on this pair. Online customer reviews aside, I highly recommend a visit to the music store, electronics store, wherever. If you are going to spend a hundred dollars on anything try it out first. There is a huge diversity out there in ear cup size, sound, and build quality. I personally was looking for a excellent set of headphones that I could use on a plane. These more than exceeded my expectations for that purpose. If you are looking for a set to use in the office at your desk, these are not for you. You can get a better set at half the price. I’d recommend something with closed cups and passive noise reduction if your office is noisy. Most active cancellers don’t help with this problem. The same holds right for most other noisy environments. These really work best with low frequency noise, i. e. the plane. I also tried them in our computer room which has blowers and stacks of servers humming along. They really seem to reduce the noise there by approx 50-65%. I had a few coworkers try them out here to see what they felt and they agreed that they were brilliant noise reducers. On the plane and with my personal dvd player I normally played the volume between 5 and 6. I watched several movies and the sound effects and speech were heard easily and clear. Before I had a 10$ set that you inserted into your ear. I had to play the same player at 10 and had a hard time hearing some parts of the dialogue. With the Sennheisers I am able to comfortably wear them for hours at a time on the plane. The noise attenuation works so well you grow accustomed to it. After wearing these a few hours I took them off and couldn’t believe the difference. Pros Fantastic low frequency noise reductionVery comfortable, light on the ears and top of the head. They don’t pinch like a lot of others, or get hotSound quality above averageCool carrying caseConsNoise circuit wand can be an irritant, depends what you are doing. On the plane I didn’t have any issues. 100$ or more, they are kind of expensive and lack hard bass. For a hundred bucks I’d like it to do everything, which I guess is unrealistic. 5 Stars, buy if you intend to use for travel

I am looking forward with dread to four months of apartment renovations starting soon and I was looking for ways to keep my sanity during all the racket and mayhem. The thought of Noise Canceling headphones seemed just the ticket to help me keep from losing my mind. I tried the Bose, the Sony, and the Sennheiser in a comparative listening bout. Overall, I liked the Bose a small better than the Sennheiser, but not enough to justify the increased price. Both blew away the Sony, which just doesn’t sound that excellent and conducts too much movement noise up into the headphones. The Sennheiser are closed ear headphones, very lightweight and comfortable to wear unless you are exercising, where they tend to get a bit too hot. The snug fit of the earphones helps block out sound, even without the noise-canceling feature. But with the feature the amount of noise that is reduced or effectively canceled is remarkable. Most of the daily rumble of Manhattan is removed from your listening experience, though louder and sharper sounds still can be heard. The actual sound in the headphones is brilliant, very clear, with a focused treble and a distortion free bass response. I tested the phones using a variety of music, orchestral, jazz, rock, and organ music. For my money, organ is the most hard of instruments for headphones, as the rich bass frequencies nearly always lead to distortion. Happily, the Sennsheimer phones were able to reproduce the massive sounds of Messiaen without mishap!As a final test I took my headphones on a street run last night. I picked out the quietest CD that I have, Morton Feldman’s Rothko Chapel, which never really gets above a whisper. Walking through Lincoln Center, which was crowded with concertgoers, I barely heard a thing. Walking down the street, there was an eerie sense of cool. I could hear car horns, and some other ambient noise, which I was glad of, since it could be perilous otherwise, but the silent and clarity of the Feldman was remarkable. The final test was a Subway ride. While I can’t say that the Subway ride was noise free, the headphones did a wonderful job of blocking all but the loudest noises. I didn’t even miss notes when the express train rumbled through my station. The design is a bit of a negative. As has been said, the battery pack is a bit bulky, though not so much as to really bother me. And the headphones do fold up nicely, making them a excellent compact option for travel. But the wires tangle easily, unlike the Bose. Hopefully, in future models, Sennheiser will find a way to improve this feature. Overall, I am extremely pleased with the performance of this product, and at the price point, it can’t be beat.