Sennheiser PXC 250 / II

Excellent choice for travelling – I recently purchased these Sennheiser PXC250 headphones 2nd-hand. After battling for years with a set of $39.95 Sony headphones which aren't even graced with a model number, I find these a joy by comparison. They are very light and comfortable and fold up into a small carry case for travelling. I look forward to using them on my next flight, as I have been assured that are very effective for noise-cancelling. Only quibble is that the battery case, which takes 2 x AAA batteries, is a little cumbersome ...... I can live with that though. Great buy, I reckon.

Extremely disappointed, wanted to warn others of my issues – I purchased these using my QF Frequent Flyer Points on the store, and they cost around 28,000 points so not the cheapest around! However I put my trust in Sennheiser as they usually produce amazing quality. When you place these on, and activate the noise cancelling you initially notice everything go quiet and you feel it is all good..... I tried on my first flight, and what it did was sample the noise from the plane engine and kept producing a booming sound inside my ears that completely drowned out my music. When I tried to disable the noise cancellation to see if that helped, it stopped the booming but it sounded like you had the free headphones that Qantas give you when you get onboard....not happy.

So another thing to highlight, was that I was trying to use this in both a) my Asus Transformer Tablet, and b) my Blackberry Torch and on both devices the volume produced in these headphones was very poor. I had both devices on highest volume, EQ Tweaked to the max, and still could easily have these on with the headphones at full volume. Not happy at all !

Finally the headphone 3.5 connector plug, when you slightly move it (which happens when you move) it has a tendency to crackle like the wiring is not great. Another disappointment

So I am now in talks with QF to try to return these and buy something completely different, my gut feeling is if you are not buying noise cancelling headphones that are LARGE (eg cover your entire ear) and are happy to pay in the $350 range than be careful... These are not up to the standard needed, and when I placed my Skull Candy in ear headphones during the flight, I had around 3 times better sound quality and background noise removal than what these produced.

Hope this helps someone, Regards, Sean Light Weight Bad Noise Cancelling, Booming Sound during Flight, Bad volume Level, Bad connection cable and crackling sound

rubbish – Had Sony Noise cancellation for 2 years, great for the $200, $300 for these PXC250-II and they are rubbish, bass is hardly there and can still hear external noise in comparison with the Sony, Very dissapointed, going to fix my broken frame on the Sony, won't buy anything with Sennheiser name again, want my Sony back Fold up into nice flat pack expensive, poor noise cancellation, poor base

Good – Sennheiser make the best headphones and I was not disappointed with the 250. I use it everytime I go on a plane and find them fantastic. The only real downside is the external battery pack - but this is due to the size of the ear pieces not being "ear muff" type, so there is no room for a battery in the ear pieces. Of course an "ear muff" type headphone would be better (encapsulates your ear so reduces noise further and improves sound quality) but these are more expensive and often for long periods of listen can become uncomfortable and hot to use (no airflow).

The 250s are very comfortable even for long periods of use. The bag that comes with it is compact and handy. I have had mine for quite a while now and if they ever need replacing, I would not hesitate to purchase another pair. Sound quality, compact size, noise cancelling. External battery pack

Good – I've had these for a couple of years now and could never go back to cheap headphones. The noise cancel quality is excellent and really adds crispness to music. The bass could indeed be a smidgen better, but its way better than what you'd get on regular headphones. The battery pack clip is solid and holds the unit in place well (ie: easy to jog with). They headphones are not chunky and indeed quite portable. They fold up nicely in the provided pouch which is great travelling with. That said, they do feel a bit delicate like they could be easily broken with a bit of force (like anything I guess) eg: sitting on them. I was surprised at how much mileage I got from the batteries too (2 x AAA). A nice touch is the low battery warning flash which gives generous warning time to replace batteries. These are priced in the upper-mid range for headphones (well above regulars but out of the elite league) and I think they worth the price paid. Crisp clear sound quality, Battery longevity A little bit flimsy