Great earphones! Noise "isolation" a great alternative to noise "cancellation".

I enjoy listening to music on my Ipod to and from work everyday as well as at the gym. Since my commute involves a subway ride and a walk through a busy downtown section of San Francisco, my listening enjoyment is often overpowered by traffic and subway noise (especially when going through tunnels). Bose and others make noise "cancellation" earphones and headphones which employ the use of fancy electronics and microphones and such to send varying frequencies into the earphone/headphone that cancel out outside noise. Because I did not want to pay the high price tag nor wanted to lug around additional electronics and the batteries with which to power them, I did more research and happened upon noise "isolation" type earphones. Unlike noise cancellation types, these earphones simply use an ear plug type effect to seal out outside noise from entering your ear. Imagine an ear plug, similar to those used for say construction or other loud environments, but with a speaker at the end that goes into your ear. This is basically the concept of the noise isolation type earphones. Again, like the noise cancellation types, there are very expensive models ($100-300) from brands like Shure, Bose, and Denon, to relatively affordable ones like the Razer ProTone m100.

I ordered my set through Amazon.com, where I also found favorable reviews for them. I guess I didn't know quite how to use these at first as I kept trying to shove the thing in my ear using the smallest rubber attachment (it comes with three sizes) the same way you would with ear plugs. What I did not realize was that these types of noise isolation earphones are not meant to go deep into the middle/inner ear, but are meant to be nestled snuggly just at the entrance of your ear canal. So, I switched to the middle size and instead of trying to muscle the thing into my ear, I just gentle wiggled it into place and had great results. The material they use for the rubbery/spongy piece gets a decent grip on your skin so it stays in place quite well. I've used these on my subway ride into work and out on the busy streets of downtown. Here is my detailed observation of what you can and cannot hear while wearing these earphones with the volume turned up to a reasonable level:

On the subway:
Conversations of neighboring passengers = inaudible to indistinguishable murmur
Announcements from train operator = distinguishable but soft
Echoes/Wheel squeak traveling through subway tunnel = completely audible but softened
Rustling of newspapers, personal effects, etc. from neighboring passengers = inaudible

On the street:
Conversations from other pedestrians = inaudible to indistinguishable murmur
Passing car (passenger car) = barely distinguishable
Larger trucks and buses = completely audible but softened
Car horn = completely audible

In all cases the music, regardless of what type (classical, pop, jazz, vocal, etc.) was always clear and cleanly heard above all other noise. I am also pleased with the actual sound quality. There is a good amount of bass too. I listen to a wide range of music and have yet to be disappointed or found the drivers of these earphones challenged in anyway. I also tend to keep my volume down lower rather than higher. Also, because of the fact that these earphones do not actually go all the way into your ear, like actual ear plugs, they are quite comfortable. The truth is, for my applications I would not want complete noise isolation (as can be provided with the much more expensive models) because I do need to be able to hear subway train announcements and cars honking at me on the street. Lastly, I should point out that the right earphone has a much longer wire as it is meant to go around the back of your neck, unlike the more common "Y" type headphone wire arrangement.