Sylvania SYL-NC735 Noise Canceling Headphones (Black and Silver)

I had a pair of Sennheiser HD-201 over-the-ear headphones which I bought a little more than 2 years back. They were not noise-canceling and were not foldable for easy storage. The latter caused them to snap in my travel bag due to the various pressures on it by air travel.

So this time I was out looking for a pair of noise-canceling headphones that would preferably be foldable for easy storage in a carry-on bag. Looked at a couple of way more expensive models (even the Bose ones) but did not feel comfortable shelling out hundreds of $ on a pair of phones that 'may' break again. So took a chance on this set which seemed to be the least expensive set and had both features that I was looking for. Below is a list of pros and cons:

Pros:
1. Foldable for easy storage
2. Noise canceling works great on airplanes. Much better than what I expected. Haven't tried it in other noisy environments, but would think that it should work as good within the frequency...Read more

Not really happy with these noise canceling headphones due to their limited frequency range of active noise cancellation. What I found out after I received these headphones is that the active noise cancelation only works in the 40 to 150 Hz range. The specifications on the box stated this, but the amazon web page specifications do not (as of 10/5/2010). This is probably the reason why many people have been dissapointed by the active noise canceling on these headphones. Basically that 40 to 150 Hz range will work OK for the type of engine noise on an airline, but is pretty much useless for things like a lawnmower, bus, subway, or conversational background noise which all tend to fall in the midrange frequency catagory (well above what these handle). So if you want an inexpensive headphone strictly for airline travel, these will work fairly well, otherwise keep looking.

I bought these so I'd have an alternative to ear buds which I had grown a little tired of, and so that I could have some NC headphones while working or traveling. These seemed like a good deal - and they are, especially now. But don't go in with huge expectations, and if you are impartial to ear buds or phones, get buds over these.

First, the noise-canceling seems to be fairly odd to me. I travel by plane about once every month or two and I've never actually used this feature for the entire flight. I'll turn on the noise-canceling and while the engine roar seems to decrease, the music also becomes almost inaudible. So in many cases I'll end up not using the noise-canceling just so I can actually hear my music without maxing out my MP3 player. Also, when the noise-canceling is turned on, there is a very audible high-pitched tone that after awhile can give me a headache.

The comfort of these headphones kind of makes me want to go back to ear buds. This is by...Read more