Adequate, not spectacular

I have never had a pair of noise canceling headphones before, and these I bought because I found them at a garage sale almost new for $20.

These particular headphones look just like the provided Epinions picture, but do not have "in-line volume control." As there are no reviews for any of these headphones, I decided to post anyway even those this was not the exact product listed (but what appears to be very close.)

First off, the appearance. The materials used, including the case to carry the headphones looks to be fairly good quality, but make no mistake that someone is going to accidentally think you are wearing $200 headphones if they get close. The faux metal/aluminum looks ok, but is not fooling anyone that it is really plastic. How well will it hold up? Only time will tell. For now everything feels fabricated well enough, and by no means am I trying to say they look cheap, rather just making you aware of what you are getting, as some places advertise these headphones at near $100. I would say $50 or less would be more appropriate.

The noise canceling feature is something I have tried, and can tell a difference, but from my limited understanding, this works best on constant noises (like airplanes, AC, etc.) and the only one I experience is AC. Trying it out there, the noise is not completely eliminated, but it is muted, including any other sound out there. If using them while the TV is on, etc. I just notice the voices getting quieter, but it is not a jaw dropping experience regardless, more of just a clever little add-on. I look forward to trying them in an airplane, especially with the included adapter. If you are in a constant noise type of environment, perhaps this would be a better feature for you, but then again, perhaps there are other headphones out there that do a better job at such noise canceling. Since I will be needing such a feature only occasionally, I was not disappointed too much in this regard. Trying to turn the noise canceling on and off without taking off the headphones will take a long time to get used to...I have yet to do so. The slide mechanism just is not intuitive for my fingers, and it seems like it should be, so it is especially annoying. The one AAA battery needed for the feature seems to last quite a while, perhaps 10 hours or more? I have not timed it to see. The weight of the battery does not seem to make the headphones heavier on one side or heavy in general. The battery is easy to access as well, but fits in so well as to not be noticed until you need to change it.

Granted I have not used full ear headphones very often, but the first thing that struck me about the sound of these headphones was the bass...plenty o' bass for sure. Not thumping, but you will definitely notice it, not to the detriment of voices or other instruments.

Despite these being full ear, big headphones, with the flip feature, they fit nicely into the smaller pouch included, and thus stored do not take up quite as much room. For traveling, this is pretty nice, or just for storage for them not to get as much banging or scratching.

The volume using this with my computer and mp3 player is low. I would need to adjust the volume much higher in my mp3 player to get the same volume level compared to my Sony sport headphones I use for running. Perhaps that is due to these headphones needing more juice? I am not sure, but it is something I immediately noticed.

The cord is plenty long, long enough I need to keep a twist-tie on it to keep it at a manageable length for me, and I am over six feet tall.

Comfort is something that is very important, and when you first put them on, they are comfortable enough, but with longer term use (1 hour or more) they take a little getting used to, just a different feel than my other headphones, although the fact that they completely cover my big ear is nice.

If I were in the market for some very nice headphones, I would probably have been disappointed in these headphones. As I was just looking for something for occasional use, and wanted something cheaper but still nice, I am happy with my purchase. If I would have had to pay full retail, I think I would have spent a little more money to take a bigger step up in quality, these headphones just do not quite fulfill the promises implied in such a purchase.