Guys, I didn't go out looking for this type of headphone, but received these as a thoughtful xmas gift from my sister. When flying, or riding the subway (BART) under the bay into San Francisco the high pitched sound can get very annoying and distracting, often competing & literally drowning out the music over normal headphones. I've got a friend that has the much more expensive Bose Quiet Comfort headphones and think they feel more comfortable and probably has better fidelity, but for $49 (and because I received them as a gift), the Sharper Image works & sounds very good, especially for canceling out surrounding noise. Even in the house, it removes all the surrounding external noises (refrigerator, central heating, computer fans, etc) so can even enjoy wearing them even when not listening to music.