The good: The Philips O'Neill The Stretch TR 55LX are attractively styled, very comfortable, and relatively lightweight for over-the-ear headphones. They're also modestly priced and you can detach the headphone cord. The bad: Sound could be more dynamic and detailed; no built-in microphone; headphones don't fold flat. The bottom line: The Philips O'Neill The Stretch TR 55LX get a birdie for design but only hit par for sound quality.

Philips O'Neill The Stretch headphones are difficult to review because they have a lot going for them -- excellent comfort and an affordable price tag -- but their sound, while fine, doesn't exceed expectations for an over-the-ear model in this price class.

Let's start with the positives. The Stretch, which also goes by the model number TR 55LX (or Philips SHO9567BK/28) and comes in a white model, lists for $79.99 but can be found online for less than $50. And for $50 it offers good value, particularly in the design department.

Attractive design
For over-the-ear headphones, these are pretty lightweight and have nicely cushioned earcups. Aside from the relatively plush padding, what makes these guys comfortable is the dual-headband design. They have an auto-fit inner headband that's covered in stretchy "wet-suit inspired" Neoprene padding (thus, the O'Neill connection).

What's great about the auto-fit feature is that you don't have to worry about adjusting the size of the headphone band, you just put the headphones on and you're good to go (that said, these may not fit folks who have very large heads).

As for the outer headband, it's made of highly flexible translucent nylon. We gave it a good twist and it didn't break, so the headphones -- or at least their outer headband -- seems pretty durable.

When I put these on, my immediate reaction was, "Wow, these are comfortable." Editor Justin Yu had the same reaction, and they're definitely headphones that you can wear at home (or the office), as well as on the go, though your ears will get a little steamy if you were them outside on warm days, due to their closed-back design. The upside to the closed-back design is that these headphones do a good job passively sealing out noise and they don't leak sound.

I also liked that the cord on The Stretch is detachable from the earcup and that it's covered in a cloth material (think of the cord as a shoelace on a hiking boot). Alas, there's no integrated microphone for making cell-phone calls, though a step-up model (the Philips SHO9567BK/28 or Philips SHO9567WT/28) does offer this feature for around $10 more.

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Sony offers MDR-V55 and MDR-ZX600 Headphones in Europe. The latest headphones come with finest design and features. The MDR-55 and the MDR-ZX600 with street-smart urban design. Both models feature a compact design with revolving earcups that fold flat for simple storage and carry. They are prepared with large 40mm driver units with Neodymium magnets to bring rich sound with extensive bass and detail-packed highs.

The closed design has been engineered to reduce noise distortion even when played at lofty volume levels. Reversible earcups provide additional flexibility and a single-sided flat cord frees up your movement. Well, prior we have seen lots of headphones in the market but the latest Sony’s headphones are the best and offers rich sound.

The Sony MDR-V55 is a DJ-focused headphone with reversible earcups, whilst the MDR-ZX600 has a standard seem with a new twist with genuine metal accents and a colorful ring feature. They both arrive with flat, tangle-resistant cable. The MDR-V55 and MDR-ZX600 will be come to hit the market in April, and arrive in four eye-catching colors black, white, red and blue. Sony is a well famous company for making gadgets now the latest headphones are awesome. There is no other details are yet available in the market.

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You think you know what you’re getting with the Beats by Dr. Dre line of headphones. They’re overflowing with powerful bass, oversized, and coated in eye-catching silver and red and black. But for its latest pair of headphones, Monster tries something new.

Meet the Beats MIXRs. Monster’s newest set trades size for sleekness and versatility and loudness for elegance, creating a more understated, all-purpose set of headphones. Sure, the MIXRs are technically built for DJs — thank veteran DJ David Guetta for the design — but they hold surprising appeal for any music enthusiast, DJ or not.

The MIXRs eschew the iconic — and oft-copied — extra-large Beats design for a smaller, more comfortable feel. The cushioned headband is thin and lightweight, and it flexes easily. Oddly, the MIXRs need to be “broken in” a bit; the unit feels far too tight right out of the box.

The on-ear cups are soft and thick, and while they’re not quite as comfortable as those from the Beats Solo line, they do limit ear fatigue well. Listening on the MIXRs is a pleasant experience, and you’ll feel just fine listening even for two or three hours straight.

It’s a solid and flexible design overall, quite possibly the most comfortable set that Monster makes. For all the hype around the Beats Pros and Beats Studios, those units can occasionally feel heavy and ungainly. The MIXRs never endure such issues; they’re more lightweight, and incredibly comfortable.

There’s more to the MIXRs than that. In a nod to the DJs that it’s built for, the MIXRs’ earcups can rotate off your ear, allowing you to hear what’s going on around you. From Beats Pros to Sennheiser’s Adidas HD 25s, plenty of other pairs of headphones have included this feature, but none swivel as cleanly as the MIXRs, which open smoothly, a soft and satisfying click occurring every few degrees.

It all comes together in an impressive design that’s subtle, if that’s possible in a Beats unit. The entire unit is one color, and while there is “beats mixr” written across the top of the headband, it strangely does not stand out. Beats’ signature red cabling is present, but that’s the only true splash of color in these units.

Still, the MIXRs earn their style points in other ways, with the slight dash of red from the cabling showing through just above the earcups, and the slightly sanded look on the rotating mechanism on the outside. They’re beautiful, elegant headphones, really, even if they’re not as explosive as other popular headphone units.

Add in your typical Beats sound — heavy bass, and an underrated sense of clarity — and you have a quietly impressive pair of headphones. The explosive bass certainly won’t match what you get from a pair of Beats Pros, and Monster still can’t match the tremendous sense of space provided by Bose’s finest offerings.

But bass-heavy songs still shine on the MIXRs, even through only one earcup. Movie audio also comes through solidly; in fact, these headphones seem a bit more balanced than Monster’s previous offerings, making it even better for non-musical experiences. Meanwhile, you continue to hear all the little musical subtleties that have made the Beats line popular among music enthusiasts.

It’s all a solid balance in one of the finest pound-for-pound headphones available. The MIXRs lack the size of some units and the overpowering bass of others, but they’re incredibly balanced and versatile.

If you were planning to spend $500 on a pair of headphones, think twice; for $249.99, the Beats MIXRs just might match up.

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There are two basic criteria for headphones or earbuds/earphones in my family:

1. How well they block out noise.

2. How durable they are.

There’s definitely a correlation between a higher cost and noise canceling ability but, surprisingly, not always one between cost and durability. I’ve previously reviewed the Soul SL300 and the PureGear PureBoom Advanced Performance In-Ear Headset. (Incidentally, a friend found the PureGear Headset at a Marshalls store for $10. They’re normally priced at $49.99 and they work nicely, so that’s a real bargain.)

Over the last two months, with the help of three of my children, I’ve been testing out three additional types of listening headgear. In ascending order of price, they are the Urbanears Plattan, at $60, the V-Moda Crossfade LP2 at $199, and the Scosche IEM 856M in-ear buds at $249.99. I received review copies of all three products.

After looking at the retail price of the Scosche IEM 856M In Ear Monitors, I decided to give them to my more careful 16-year-old son rather than one of my twelve-year-old twins. These are made to be compatible with the iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano, iPod Shuffle, iPhone4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2 and iPad or Apple computers 2009 or later. The package includes a tapline III remote that controls sound from the in-ear monitors, and a microphone. They also come with a Thermoform case that is compact and holds the monitors well, a leather pouch, and a clothing clip.

Are they worth the cost? The coolest feature of these is that you can switch out the ends to see which one fits your ear better. The cords are flat, for easier storage and to prevent tangling. The sound, my son says, is absolutely impeccable and definitely cancel out the chaos around him. (We have four cats, three kids and two adults in the house at any given time.) Despite the compatibility with all the Apple products, my son loves also using them while playing his Nintendo 3Ds. He says they help him to properly zone out and the sound of the games is “awesome” with these.

I’d recommend these but, as a parent, I always worry about paying for such a high-priced item that might be easily damaged by children. There is a product registration and a good customer service setup at Scosche’s website in case of any problems.

The next product, the Urbanears Plattan Full-size On-ear model, I gave to my youngest daughter, who seems to go through headphones like a geek goes through apps. I wanted to see how sturdy there were for the price. The Urbanears fold down to the size of your fist and come with a sound plug to share the audio with another person. It has a microphone, a tangle resistant cord made of fabric and the head-size is adjustable.

I consider these a bargain. The sound is quite nice and, so far, they’ve proven impervious to breakage, despite being dropped on the floor numerous times. The fabric cord is definitely great for use with kids as I’ve not had to untangle it even once. My one complaint was that they seemed tight around my head and drove the ends of my glasses into my head. But my daughter, who wears glasses, said they don’t bother her and I adjusted them wrong and she’s likely correct.

The V-Moda Crossfade LP2 is high on style. It comes packaged in a very cool, reinforced box with the logo “Veni, vidi, vici,” on the outside. On the inside, the headphones are stored safe and snug in a headphone case that holds the regular cable with three-button remote control for Apple devices, a spare audio-only cable and a 1/4″ universal adapter. The headphones have 50mm Dual-Diaphragm drivers, Bliss noise isolation, a steelflex headband, and the cables are reinforced with Kevlar. Oh, and you can also customize their gun-metal shields. I had mine engraved with the GeekDad logo, as can be seen in the photo above.

So this has the cool factor win hands-down. To my tin ear, they did sound better overall than the Urbanears, though I could discern no difference between these and the Scosche in-ear device. But the Crossfade was awesome at blocking out distractions. Unlike the Soul headphones, it doesn’t have a special noise canceling buffer inside but it does have padding and even drowned out the sound of my husband snoring in the same room.

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The Sony XBA-3 in-ear headphones are part of a renewed Sony foray into the high-end audio market — with the XBA-1, XBA-2, and XBA-4 (and -IP iPhone variants) the XBA-3 is aimed at music enthusiasts with deep pockets.

The Sony XBA-3 use an in-ear design, so you’ll need to be comfortable pushing a pair of headphones deep into your ear canal if you want to wear them properly.

Despite the headphones’ ‘micro-size’ balanced armature design, the XBA-3 headphones are quite large. Rather than nestling inwards like the Jays q-Jays, the body of the Sony XBA-3 sits in the outer part of the ear. We found them a little large for comfortable wearing over long periods, but we’re used to much smaller in-ears: if the XBA-3 is your first set we doubt you’ll notice them. The headphones’ cables come from the rear of the body, and runs 1.2 metres to a chunky L-shaped 3.5mm stereo plug.

There’s 1.1 metres of cord before the headphones split off into individual runs. The left headphone hangs straight down on a 16 centimetre cord, but the right earphone is designed to be looped around the back of the wearer’s neck — a ‘J-cord’ design — with a further 54 centimetres of cord. This is far too much; we think it should be around 15 centimetres shorter, which would still allow plenty of movement. As it stands, the extra cord length sits uncomfortably or tangles itself around the back of your neck.

A total of seven ear-tips are included in the packaging for the XBA-3. Super-small, small, medium and large standard silicon earplugs join small, medium and large ‘noise isolation’ plugs: silicon tips lined with light foam, adding a little extra cushioning and baffling between your ear and the outside world.

We didn’t hear a significant difference in isolation from ambient noise between the standard and isolating ear-tips. We would have liked to see some full foam ear-tips included in the package; we think a set of cushy Comply tips would be a worthwhile upgrade.

We used a range of compressed and CD audio to test the Sony XBA-3, from sources and equipment ranging from a Apple iPhone 4 to a Lehmann Audio Black Cube Linear headphone amplifier.

An old favourite, the M83 remix of the Bloc Party Track The Pioneers, showed off the XBA-3’s strong bass performance: plenty of low frequency extension, with only a small amount of muddiness. The headphones do a good job in mid-range frequencies as well, with the vocals and guitar of I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow (from the excellent O Brother, Where Art Thou?) reproduced smoothly, if very slightly lacking in the nuance and detail we’ve heard in more expensive high-end full-size headphones.

Mid-range frequencies are slightly recessed compared to the strong bass, but this is typical of most consumer headphones. When we listened to some Alison Krauss, Katie Melua and Katie Noonan tracks to test out higher frequencies, we found the Sony XBA-3 headphones handled treble smoothly — the headphones aren’t what you’d call ‘crisp’, but there’s plenty of detail in female vocals and tinkling piano notes.

We’d characterise the sound of the Sony XBA-3 as rich: the headphones have a slight emphasis on bass and mid-range notes, and a smooth treble roll-off. They’re well suited to deep, layered music: jazz works equally as well as electronica with the XBA-3.

The ambient noise isolation of the Sony XBA-3 was good but not great. We didn’t notice much difference between the standard and ‘noise isolation’ silicon ear-tips, but generally the Sony XBA-3 headphones block out most low-volume ambient noise, purely by virtue of their sealing the wearer’s ear canal. We were still able to hear office conversations a few metres away if we listened carefully, but the low hum of air-conditioning and office PCs was almost entirely removed. If any music is playing, even at a low volume, the Sony XBA-3 headphones effectively drown out any traces of ambient noise.

There is some minor microphonic noise in the headphone cable, but the J-cord design does minimise this. Sony doesn’t include a lapel clip for the cable of the XBA-3.

Sony’s new XBA-3 headphones, topped only by the XBA-4 in Sony’s in-ear range, have sound quality that competes well with the long-established Shures and Etymotics of the personal audio world. We don’t like some aspects of the design and the sound could be a little more detailed, but we think the XBA-3 is worth considering.

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It appears that what first appeared on the first of this month in the Barnes & Noble store archives has suddenly become a whole lot more real: NOOK headphones! These phones at the moment only have an image and a code-name attached to them, but the details can be gleaned relatively easily. What we’re almost certainly looking at here is the book store’s first step into the music sales business in a way that’s not just hard-backed CD cases and audio books.

These phones are obviously meant to reflect the NOOK lineup with their already headphone-equipped facia, and has no less than a lovely combination of comfortable material on top, plastic sides, and metal adjustment bars to solidify the experience. These phones are likely of high quality and will likely be released with a discount when purchased with a NOOK Tablet of any kind.

What do you think, NOOK fans, look like something you’d pick up if it were marketed as optimized for the NOOK tablet lineup? Will you be e-reading with audio from now on, now that Barnes & Noble wants you to listen to music at the same time? Do you expect a music store to pop up via Barnes & Noble? We’ll see soon!

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Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. today expanded its on-ear headband headphone offerings with two new products, the flagship SE-MJ591 audiophile headphone for critical listening, and the SE-NC21M noise cancelling headphone. Each new headphone model is designed to optimize the listening experience in very different environments.

"There's an emotional connection with music, and when you hear more of the details, it changes the listening experience significantly," said Chris Walker, director AV marketing and product planning for the Home Electronics Division of Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. "Our new SE-MJ591 and SE-NC21M provide great sound quality to both serious listeners and music lovers on the move, so what you hear is remarkably close to the original music."

SE-MJ591
For over 50 years Pioneer has worked to develop headphones incorporating advanced technologies to deliver the highest level of sound quality, and the high-end SE-MJ591 reflects the company's commitment to its years of headphone research and development. The model is designed for highly accurate sound reproduction across the entire spectrum, enabled in part by newly designed 40mm drivers and an on-ear design that naturally reduces disruptive external sounds. The SE-MJ591 features high-quality construction with metal components and ultra-soft ear pads and headband for the ultimate comfort during longer listening periods. The headphones are intended to match the sound quality of high-end audio systems, making them the ideal accessory for serious listeners looking for high-end audio performance, both at home and on-the-go.

The SE-MJ591 headphones are lightweight, fold up to a compact size, and include an attractive and durable protective carrying case for convenience and transportability. The SE-MJ591 headphones will be available in April with a suggested retail price of $299.00.

SE-NC21M
Continuing on the success of Pioneer's noise canceling earbuds launched in 2011, the SE-NC21M offers the same benefits, but in a new on-ear version. The SE-NC21M is designed to reduce up to 90% (measured at 300 hz) of ambient noise, ideal for noisy environments such as airplanes and public places where constant background noise can interfere with music listening. The headphones feature lightweight construction for comfort during longer listening periods. Battery life is up to 120 hours of noise cancelation using a single AAA battery. The SE-NC21M will also continue to function as traditional headphones if the battery dies mid-use.

The SE-NC21M headphones are lightweight, foldable and come with a carrying case for on-the-go convenience. The SE-NC21M headphones will be available in May with a suggested retail price of $119.00.

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The Creative HN-900 are noise cancelling headphones that undercut several other big names including Bose and Sennheiser. They're comfortable, offer excellent battery life and a handy removable cable with a remote control and handsfree calling. But performance elsewhere isn't so hot. The noise cancellation feature can't match the best and sound quality is unremarkable. You may save some money compared to more better-known models, but you lose a lot too.

Key Features
40mm neodymium driver
40hr battery life, AAA battery powered
Removable 1.5m cable
Active noise cancellation
Carry case, airplane adapter
Creative HN-900 - Noise Cancellation

Creative was once a huge name in audio. It made the best soundcards, one of the best early MP3 players and some cracking PC speakers. In recent years, it has fallen off the mainstream radar a bit. Can the Creative HN-900 noise cancelling headphones win the brand back some cred? In two words - probably not. But they're not all bad.

Design
The Creative HN-900 headphones are some of the cheaper noise cancelling cans around. They look a bit like the Bose QuietComfort 15, but cost less than half the price. Like the Goldring NS1000 or similar BlackBox M10, these headphones are here to offer a way to get hold of high-quality headphones offering genuine noise cancellation without decimating your wallet.

Noise cancellation uses microphones to monitor ambient noise and remove it from the sound waves heading into your ear before they reach your eardrum. How? An inverse wave of the unwanted noise is piped-through, cancelling it out. It's not new, but it is still clever.

With in-ear headphones, noise cancelling results in an ugly, annoying control housing hanging on the cable. But with over-ear headphones like the Creative HN-900, you'd barely know the tech was in there from a quick glance.

The clues take a bit longer to reveal themselves. There are little recessed metal grills on the back of each earcup, under which the monitor microphones live, and there's a power switch on the left cup. This switches noise cancellation on and off, with a blue LED above telling you its status.

Battery life
The power source for the Creative HN-900's cancellation is behind the right cup. Its top layer swivels around to reveal a single AAA battery. There's no means to charge-up a rechargeable unit within the headphones, so you'll have to either stock up on standard batteries or use a separate charger.

However, battery life is excellent. Creative's official numbers say an AAA will last for 40 hours, and our testing held this out. At one point, we left the Creative HN-900 on over the weekend, and it was still soldiering on come Monday morning - suggesting power consumption is lower when there's less noise to cancel. Sound continues to play when cancellation is switched off too.
 
Noise cancellation
The performance of the noise cancellation is less impressive. While it successfully removes hums and a fair bit of low-end noise, it's not as good as Sennheiser's Noisegard 2.0 and not a patch on the quite eerie silence the Bose QC3 and QuietComfort 15 can maintain. As such, in practical terms it's not all that much better than a good set of isolating IEMs or closed back over-ears headphones in many conditions. In situations where low-end noise dominates, such as an airplane cabin, they're still preferable to other types, though.

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In a tech world that prizes rapid change and flashy product design, it's hard to believe a product like the Etymotic ER-4PT earphones exists. At $299 (direct), it's one of the most affordable audiophile-grade products you can buy. Its no-nonsense flat response offers superbly accurate bass, and the rest of the frequency range is equally articulate. From a design standpoint, the ER-4PT is as minimal as possible: lightweight, ultra-thin black plastic earpieces with no visual flourishes. Stethoscopes have more bling. The simplicity of the design forces the focus to the only fact that matters here: The Etymotic ER-4PT is the most accurate pair of earphones you'll find that won't cost you a small fortune.

Design
Visually, there is little to discuss: The ER-4PT, like its ER series predecessors, has slender cylindrical earpieces—one of them has a red dot to denote that it's the right earpiece. That's about it. A black braided wire leads from each earpiece down to a small black plastic piece that joins them into one cable. The earphones do look quite different depending on which eartip you choose—they come with two foam pairs, two "glider"-style pairs, and three pairs of 3-flange eartips. Also included: an airplane adapter, a carrying pouch, and a larger, hard plastic carrying case.

If improperly inserted into the ear, the flange tips can feel uncomfortable and unstable, delivering sound with almost zero low-frequency response. When inserted properly, they attenuate ambient noise as well as any earplugs can, they feel comfortable (or at least, not uncomfortable), and, most of all, they offer astounding audio performance with substantial bass response.

To that end, a very short tutorial is in order. When inserting the flanges into your ear canal, do so very slowly. Everyone's ears have a different canal shape, but the trick with these earphones is to gently insert them without going too far. When I insert the flange tips at an increasingly upward angle, while slowly twisting them, the earpieces easily slide into place, creating a tight seal. They sit quite deep in your ear, which makes their fit supremely secure. Because they are so lightweight, you can wear them for hours without any strain. Everyone's ears are different, and the flanges may feel uncomfortable for some, but using the other tip options is going to yield, in my opinion, a slightly lesser result.

Performance
Our HEAD Acoustics frequency response tests show you just how accurate the ER-4PT is. In our linear test, which measures the response of the left and right earphones and plots them against each other on a graph, the ideal is for the two lines on the graph to resemble one. A quick look at our test results in the slideshow reveals just how amazingly accurate the ER-4PT is. The only minor deviation on the graph occurs at very high frequencies. Nearly every other part of the graph appears to be showing only one line. This is literally the best test result we've ever had for linear response—to prove it, we show how it is just slightly better than our former standard bearer—the Etymotic ER-4S ($299.99, 4.5 stars). Basically, Etymotic spent years fine-tuning the response to best themselves, and they now make the two most accurate consumer-level earphones we have tested: the ER-4PT and the ER-4S.

A look at our diffuse field equalization response tests shows you an accurate picture of how you, the listener, will perceive the frequency response of the ER-4PT. What you see in the graphs is a smooth bass response, a minor dip between 1-2KHz, and more of a drop-off after 5KHz. Compared with a bass-heavy and treble-tweaked earphone pair like the same-price Monster Turbine Pro Professional In-Ear Speakers ($299.95, 3.5 stars), the ER-4PT's response is incredibly flat.

And yet, the bass response is lively. The sub-bass thump of The Knife's "Silent Shout" shines on the ER-4PT, as does the total range of an orchestra performing "The Chairman Dances" by John Adams. There is not a style of music ill-suited for the ER-4PT. Hip hop and heavy bass will still sound excellent—mixes sound balanced, not overblown with throbbing low-end. This is the most clarity you can get from a pair of earphones priced below $500.

If you consider yourself an audiophile and $300 is your limit, there is nothing else on the market that compares to the Etymotic ER-4PT. If you have more money to spend, the next step up is far more expensive—custom-made pairs like the Ultimate Ears UE 18 Pro ($1,150 direct, 5 stars) are well worth the investment, but they are literally the next level up. That's a testament to how worthwhile your investment is in the top-notch ER-4PT.

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Long Beach, Calif. - Pioneer Electronics took the wraps off a pair of DJ headphones intended for the pro market. The over-ear HDJ-1500, which will be available in May for $209, feature 50mm drivers and copper-clad aluminum wire voice coils, a frequency range of 5Hz to 30kHz, impedance of 32 ohms, and a maximum input of 3,500mW.

The leather-covered ear pads are made of urethane memory-foam, and they can swapped with Pioneer's HDJ-EP01 open-cup protein leather ear pads that sit around the ears. Both the left and the right cups can swivel 45 degrees or flipped around 180 degrees for one-ear listening. The headband and hinges are made of magnesium-alloy, and the coil cord can be removed and replaced if necessary. Two color options are offered: Deep Silver and Black Chrome. A carrying pouch is included.

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