In search of noise cancelation headphones...

rather then wasting cash on BOSE garbage, why not get a good set of passive noice cancellation phones, such as shure's e series phones, or ety's. If Canalphones are not your thing, I suggest a good set of closed phones, perhaps a set of Beyerdynamic or Sennheiser's...but for the love of all that is holy, do not buy BOSE

"no highs? no lows? OH! they must be BOSE" :D

one thing to remember about ety's is they have quite a bit of microphonic noise (thumping noises when the cord touches you or something else) so they're not recomended for active uses...I've heard some people say it's unbearable when walkin around...I've never tried 'em so I don't know...the shure phones do not have this effect however.

Based on some research and recommendations from other people I ordered Sennheiser PXC 250's tonight. :D

Macmall.com has them for $89.99 right now.
http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=135030

I prefer the PXC250 over the Shure E5 for aircraft use when human voice cancellation isn't required. Very comfy, and the built-in amp on the electronics stick make them nearly as loud as reasonably efficient normal headphones despite their rated impedance (a whopping 300 ohms). On the non-European iPod however they are fine.

They do an excellent job of cancelling jet engine drone (those CFM56's can be REALLY annoying) and if you haven't got the dreaded Screaming Baby near you they are near perfect.

I just got the Senn PXC 250 and I gotta say this is the best headphone I've every had. Now let me explain why...

I've had the sony NCR-5 which was also noise cancelling, it was too bright with weak bass.

Bose quietcomforts created some discomfort. Can't explain it. When the phones are on they work great to cancel the noise but also seem to put some pressure on the eardrum, strange feeling. It lacked detail and the highs were a little short of clear and crisp. Just didn't sound right.

Also have the sony in ear ex70 which had good bass but lacked detail and transparency in the highs.

I've owned something like 10 to 15 different phones/earbud type things and have always found them lacking in one way or another.

The senn PXC 250 is absolutely fantastic. Good solid, tight bass, and clean, clear, crisp highs without sounding too bright.

I first thought my iPod was lousy when I used all the other stuff I had. When I plugged the PXC 250 in tonight it was like I had rediscovered the joy of listening to music all over again.

All this is subjective but I've found the perfect headphone.

PS: I've also bought the senn MX 500 which had good highs but lacked bass.

Am thinking of getting their wireless phones now so can walk around the house without having to lug the iPod. Anyone have any thoughts on this.

200 bucks is waaaaaay too much to spend on bose anything

Any more opinions on the Macally Podpro's?
Is the adjustable active noise cancellation good? Sound Quality?
They look awesome, as if they were a mac product.

Yes, but the Macallys dont just block out noise (passive noise cancellation), they have active noise cancellation, which is like a mute button for the outside world. (I'm not sure about the physics of it, something to do with releasing opposite sound frequencies cancelling out the other ones). I don't want something that just cancels sound passively, and I'm not too fussy about sound quality as long as it's as good as or better than the iPod earbuds (and has a bit more bass)

Active noise cancellation is much much much less effective than the passive noise cancellation of a canalphone. If you really expect a "mute button" from active noise cancelling headphones you're going to be pretty disappointed.

However, if you really do want to mute the outside world, you need to seal your ears off with canalphones. Look at the Shure or Etymotic lines.

Ok, I will answer my own question bevause I've just gone out and bought the Macally Podpro's today for $119 Australin Dollars.
Firstly, they look good, and are comfortable on my ears. The black leather padding is very soft and provides a good seal on your ear, they do require a bit of experimenting and adjusting on the first wear to get the right position. They come with a detatchable 1m white cord with a volume knob on it, a two pronged adaptor for use on airoplanes (this would be a huge bonus if u fly a lot) and a soft zip up leather carrying case. They fold up to quite a small size, small enough to put into a cargo pants pocket.

The sound quality on the headphones is very good, I'll compare them to the iPod earbuds because everyone has them. Because they are closed over the ear things, they don't leak any sound like the iPod earbuds. They sound generally clearer, I am able to pick out each instrument in a song where i couldn't with the iPod earbuds, and they have much richer, warmer bass and midrange.

The Noise cancellation issue is an interesting one. The headphones almost cover your ears and make a very good seal, which is quite good noise cancellation in itself, just like an earmuff. The "active noise cancellation" happens when you insert 2 AAA batteries into them and flick the switch on the left headphone. It cancels frequncies between 21 and 16000 Hz at up to 16dB apparently, and I found on the car trip home that there are far too many sounds below 21Hz in a car engine. When the car was going reasonably quickly, I got a whole lot of intermittent low thunky sounds in my ears (sounds below 21Hz) which made my music sound like a dodgy MP3 or a scratched record or something else bad. (I was listening to them in a 10 year old 4WD, so your car's engine might be a bit better and quieter). Even though the noise cancellation wasn't good in the car, I actually found it quite good in the car without the noise cancelling on, I could even listen at medium volumes with the radio on, like I mentioned before, the fact that they cover your ears is good noise cancellation anyway.
I did stop in a carpark at a shopping centre and I tried the noise cancelling there, and that's when I was impressed. With a busy road next to me, I flicked it on without any music and the ambient noise level dropped by about 60%, with midrange and lower level noises dissapearing almost completely, and only the thin, windy noises left. I tried it again at home and was banging a thick hardwood door. With the noise cancelling off, I heard the full, resonant doof, doof, doof of the door vibrating, but with it on, the vibration sounds dissapeared and I could only the tap of my hand against it.
I've updated this after using the noise cancelling in a car that's only 3 years old, and it's much better. It also depends on what kind of road ur on, if the road is smooth, the noise cancelling works well, but if it's just a bit uneven, then it's not so good.
I am yet to try the noise cancelling in a plane, and this will be a deciding factor as to whether or not the noise cancelling feature is worthwhile.

My verdict is that as a headphone, these things are great for what you pay. They sound good, look great and block out noise.
The noise cancelling feature however, is a mixed bag. It works, but not very well in my car, but the headphone is worth the money without the noise cancelling anyway.

Based on the feedback on this and other forums, I just got mine. I'm real happy with them, but wanted to report one issue I haven't seen mentioned before:

I was assuming I could use them after the battery runs down. However, when the power is off, I noticed that they sound terrible; the low frequencies are gone.

It appears that the power affects the equalization as well as the NR.

HTH...

Senn PXC250 with power off

I have just received my PXC 250's and tried them out without the noise cancelling. I thought I'd made a big mistake, no low end and not much high end, then inserted the batteries and voila!, low's, high's and volume. Haven't tried them in a noisy environment, have to wait two weeks before going to Vegas and San Francisco first. However, using the vacuum cleaner, (the only thing I could think of :) ), the noise cancelling seems to be quite effective at least for the lower frequencies.

Well pleased with these 'phones, even at our UK vastly inflated prices, they are good value.