PSB M4U1 / M4U2

Blows Bose out of the water with epic sound stage! – Got these cans a few months back and what a treat they are. favourite mode is amplified mode, gives great drive and power from a portable device like your smartphone. If you want a well rounded, decent pair of over ear phones then don't go past these bad boys. Designed by Phil Jones (look him up) Air travel is so much more comfortable with these, blocks out all the racket and you can just relax and arrive much more refreshened.

These are a bargain at the price point.

Lovely sound, noise-cancelling 4/5 – I am something of an audiophile. My home system is very good. So I seldom use headphones. But I do occasionally travel by air. A couple of Journeys ago, I purchased a set of Sony noise-cancelling headphones. The noise cancelling was quite good, but the sound quality - not so much. On my last trip I actually found the sound "tiring", and had to take them off.

With my longest journey (so far) imminent, I decided to treat myself to a new set. After reading many reviews of many models, and having experienced psb sound quality in the past, I chose the M4U2. I wanted something I could use at home, too.

The M4U2's are somewhat larger than I expected. But the sound quality makes up for this, and they are comfortable. They are circum-aural (around the ear) types. They are also nicely finished, and well presented. Two cables are supplied, as is a 1/4" adapter, an airline adapter, 2 decent AAA batteries, spare earpads, and a good protective case. The cable can be plugged into either side.

They are usable in "normal" (passive) mode, "active" mode (why?), and noise cancelling mode.

In the passive mode (bypassing the electronics) the sound is very, very good. Sweet, detailed, smooth.

Since my flight hasn't left yet, I had to find a way to test the noise-cancelling feature. Unfortunately, (but fortunately in this case) we have a kitchen range hood which is about the noisiest I have ever heard. And it sounds a bit like the inside of a jetliner.

With no music playing, I tested the phones in the passive mode. Quite a bit of noise got through, in spite of the fact that they are "over-the-ear" types.

I switched on the the noise cancelling. Immediately the worst of the noise was gone. The low frequency roar was completely eliminated, but was replaced with a noticeable "hiss". The kind you might get from being close to an air-conditioning duct.

Don't get me wrong, it was certainly a huge improvement, but I somehow expected better.

Now maybe I'm just too critical, because playing music at any normal level completely buried this background noise, so it has to be said that they certainly do what they are supposed to do.

It must be said though, that using the noise-cancelling system does *slightly* degrade the sound quality. I would have been surprised if it didn't.

All that said, I am so far very happy with them, and would recommend them. Do look around for the best price though, because prices vary from "well worth it" to "you've gotta be kidding!". I paid $345 shipped. Excellent sound quality in passive mode. good build quality, good batteries and accessories supplied. Noise cancelling perhaps not quite as good as it could be. Maybe that's just me. Some may find them too large.

High end headphones Audio Bargain of the year – sensational headphones Audio Bargain of the year April 16, 2012 Reviewer: James Cychowski from Melbourne , VIC Australia   I've owned a hometheatre pack of PSB Image speakers  B5,T5,C5, and a couple of 6i subs  for a while now and completely love there sound quality so when I heard Psb were designing a new headphone with the goal of making it sound as close to there speakers in sound quality as possible I had to have them at any cost....

Now the M4U2 headphones are simply amazing in sound quality, silky smooth response, imaging is beautiful,vocals are wonderfully expressed... My music taste are varied from r&b,bossa nova,jazz, rock,pop,heavy metal,world music,dance and everything in between and I cannot fault these cans with use with a iPhone,iPad,home gear the headphone are simply sensational...I don't know why there so cheap.... They destroy Beats Studio headphones in the sound quality department and are cheaper....these are the Audio Bargain of the year...