Mutant NC102 Noise Canceling

Great value for the price – These headphones do a fantastic job of cancelling noise while plane travelling. Simply insert two AAA batteries turn on and use the volume control built in to control sound level at the headphone. A red LED lets you know when the headphones are drawing battery power - essential for the noise cancelling feature. They fit comfortably on my (head at least) but your ears do get warm/hot from extended wear.

The sound quality is acceptable and loud enough when connected to the plane's headphone jack (there is an included plane jack - with the 2 separate plugs included). These work great with my Mac, iPhone and iPad.

Still going strong and still happy

Price was awesome from Officeworks.

Has to be the best over-ear noise cancelling bang per buck ever! – Saw these as a run-out item for $18 at Officeworks. Figured that was almost free compared to the Bose Quiet Comfort 25 headphones I bought recently for $338 (Sydney HiFi). Even if these Mutants were only half as good as the Bose, they would be way better than the freebies handed out everyone on a plane, and no doubt better than my old $250 Panasonic in-ear noise cancelling earphones that were not only uncomfortable, but let noise in.

And these cheap Mutants are indeed very good - softly padded, comfortable and the noise cancellation actually works quite well. Maybe not quite as good as the Bose QCs in fidelity, but for a non-audiophile looking for a 'quiet space' in a noisy cabin or compartment, they're a great buy.

The only downside to frequent use when travelling is that they don't fold, but that's a small concession to make for the price. Now when asked 'Can I borrow your comfy headphones?', I can hand over these Mutant NC102s.

Outstanding for the price – For under 30 dollars these are maybe 80 percent as good as bose quiet comfort for noise reduction. Which a friend owns and I compared against using an extractor fan in a bathroom (pretty close to airline noise). The sound quality is average. Not terrible but lacking in trebel a bit. Certainly not the dynamic range of a quality pair of headphones.

The pads are not terrible, but hurt my ears after an hour on the plane, this would be the biggest problem with them. I fixed it by retro fitting some bose over ear replacment pads (10 bucks ebay). Now they are clouds on my ears and not a hole in my pocket.

Unless you can afford 400 dollar quiet comfort bose headphones, these are a no brainer for maintaining sanity on long flights. Great noise cancelling Ear pads hurt after a relatively short period. (can be fixed with tinkering)

Great value for money – The unit used without the noise reduction active acts as a normal pair of headphones. They are a bit "bassy" and lack treble. They do a good job even in this mode in shutting off most background noise due to quite good sealing. The downside to this is that they are rather "heavy" on your ears, and could be uncomfortable in warm weather. The ear pads don't quite get around my ears which is a bit annoying.

Once the noise cancellation is powered on (the unit needs 2 x AAA batteries, there is a surprising amount of background hiss that comes in.

However this results in a brighter treble response and much clearer sounds.

For under $30, incredibly good value.

Comes also with an airline adapter (included in the price). Price. Ear pad not big enough.