Good quality, reasonable price

Philips SHN9500 headphones are a top-quality set of active noise-canceling headphones that are a good value for the price. You can use them to just cancel noise, without listening to anything, or you can use them for listening with or without the noise canceling function. The switch for noise-cancellation is on the back of the right speaker (Requires one AAA battery, included).

On the back of the left speaker is a mute button: press it to mute, release it to listen again. On the left speaker is also the cable jack. The cable is just over a meter long, which would be good for listening on an airplane (an airline audio adapter is included), or if your source is close, but might be inconvenient and require an extension for home stereo listening.

They have soft, oval-shaped pads that cover the entire ear to help block out ambient noise and increase bass response. They are very comfortable.

They also come with a round, hard-sided protective case to keep them in that is lined with soft fabric and has a removable zippered pouch in which to keep the detachable cable and adapters. The cable has a straight connector on one end and a 90-degree angle connector on the other end, so you can connect it as is best for your device. However, the case could be large and cumbersome for some situations.

The sound of these headphones is very good, perhaps not professional quality, but close to it. Bass response is respectably "thumpy", highs are crisp and clear. They can handle high volumes quite well, in case you want to "rock out".

The only thing that would improve these headphones is a built-in volume control. But, I suppose that almost anything that you're connecting it to will have volume control capability.

Highly recommended.