Sennheiser - HD 4.50 Wireless Noise Cancelling Over-the-Ear Headphones - Black/Red

I have tested Bose headphones for$350 and these are very nearly as good. I sit next to the help desk and it nearly eliminates the noise. I'd buy them again!

Controls are a little confusing. The ANC and music clarity/bass is slightly better than Sony's chn-700n. The ear cups are smaller than the sony chn-700n but has thicker padding.

These beat out 2 other pairs (See below) that I tried before finding them. They fit well (I have a small head as a female) but do start to bother me after a full 8 hour day of conference calls. The sound is crisp and there is a great volume range. I am severely hearing impaired but still have room at the top end to turn up the volume if needed. The noise canceling could be a bit better, and a bass boost would be nice, but was willing to sacrifice that for the crispness. I use these primarily for business conference calls so that I can hear better. They are not Bose, but really do come close - and for $89 verses $299, it was a no-brainer. Came with a soft pouch case - would have been nice if they came with a hard shell case. Control buttons are not very intuitive, but not complicated once you read the instructions. Would be 5 star if the ear foams were softer and better at noise canceling and they came packaged with a hard shell case. Tried and returned Skull Candy Model S6CRW-K591 ($89) - noise canceling wasn’t great and they didn’t fit well. Ran really small, even for my tiny size 6 head. (I’m female). Not comfortable and sound was not clear. Maxed out the volume range and still had a difficult time understanding conversation. Bass boost was too much, but without it everything was tinny sounding. They didn’t last 10 minutes before being packed back up for return. Did have a nice hard shell case. Also tried Anker Soundcore Life 2 Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Bluetooth Headphones with Case. ($69) They were super comfortable and the noise canceling was very good. But the sound wasn’t crisp and they ran a bit large. They kept falling off. Volume range and bass were decent. Biggest issue was that the blue tooth connection was continually dropping. Might have kept these if they would have stayed on my head, stayed connected and I hadn’t compared the sound quality to the Sennheiser. Nice-hard shell case.

Overall, these headphones are great! They are comfortable to wear for long periods of time. Volume is good and it's nothing over bearing. I enjoy the balance sound that these have. I don't find them to be overwhelming in the low end or high end which helps me with some audio production projects that I have going on. I do wish that the aux cable would be a standard 3.5mm jack instead of the 2.5 and maybe a thicker cable but time will tell if that cable will last a while or not. I do appreciate having buttons dedicated to volume up and down and back and forward for song selection. The bluetooth was easy to setup on my devices which wasn't anything too time consuming. My overall experience with these have been pretty great so far. I would recommend these to someone looking for a great set of wireless headphones that are in middle of the road for price range and upgrading to that next tier of headphones.

I normally work from home but wanted to get an over-the-ear headphone with active noise-cancellation (ANC) because my wife and young daughter stay home with me due to COVID-19. I got these because they were on clearance even though the reviews for music listening were great but the reviews for calls were mixed. Well, I can confirm that these headphones, and its ANC, works great if all you're doing is listening to music... but for my purposes - doing conference calls throughout the day - this product is a major letdown. From what I can tell, these headphones don't have enough mics for calls AND ANC to work at the same time, so ANC basically doesn't work while the mic is active. Worse still, it was picking up non-ambient sounds like my dogs walking around, conversation in another room, etc and transferring it loud & clear through the speakers. It became so distracting that I took it off and found that I had less trouble following conversation on the conference call easier with the headphones off than I could with it on. I rated these headphones as a 4 in fairness since I really enjoyed the listening experience (best headphones I ever had, though I do admit I'm not a huge fan of listening to music nor do I buy headphones specifically for superior music quality) and my voice carried through the mic to the conference calls fine; however, beware that the ANC simply doesn't work while the mic is on. So if calling is a big reason why you're hoping to use these headphones for then you should keep looking.

These are my second set of Sennheiser BT headphones. I bought a set of 4.40's that I carry between work and home. After forgetting them a few times, I decided to buy a set for each place. When I went back, they no longer had the 4.40's, but the new 4.50's. I am pleasantly surprised by these headphones. I did comparisons between these, B&W's, Bose, B&O, JBL, and Masters & Dynamics, all in the price range of $125.00 through $400.00. I also talked to some of the folks in the Magnolia room. For the money, I settled on these because of the great sound for the price. I paid $175.00 for these. I have to admit, some of the headphones sounded a little better, including the Sennheiser HD1 and PXC-550. But I didn't feel like they sounded so much more for the price. These headphones have great sound, clear audio, and the bass is much tighter than the 4.40's I have. I love these headphones, and I highly recommend them.

These headphones are decent, for what they are. If they were 100 or even 120 dollars cheaper, they'd be a great deal and a great pair of headphones. The build quality is what you'd expect from Sennheiser, the battery life is really great, and overall they're quite good. However, I ran into a few problems when using them with my PC. Number one, after extended use sessions (3-8 hours plus) my ears and the top of my head began to REALLY hurt. The cups on the cans (portion that goes over your ear) are quite small, very difficult to keep comfortably on your ears for any extended periods. Just a slight increase in size would make a world of difference here. Number two, I found that when using them with my PC especially I received a NUMBER of audio artifacts when listening to anything below lossless or 320kbps quality. Streams, youtube, and most kinds of music created weird audio distortions when I was watching at less than the highest quality settings (audiably speaking). Finally, last but not least, there's the specific pain it created in the top of my head over time. I don't know if it's the specific mechanism of action squeezing the headphones onto your head, the leather support on the top, or just its specific size compared to my head's, but it would create horrible headaches which would last for hours, as I used these about 6 hours a day. All that said, if you're looking for something to use on the go with your phone, it's a decent option. If you're looking for any high quality audio...I'd look elsewhere. PS--other than the long term comfort, if I was using these for only an hour at a time they were quite comfortable (although very hot), and the noise cancelling seemed to mess with audio quality even worse when it's on--and if you're using them wirelessly I found no way to turn the noise cancelling off.

Price (5/5): I bought this HD 4.5 black/red during Black Friday sale and at the price I bought it for, it is definitely worth the price I paid. Sound quality (4/5): The HD 4.5 provides excellent sound with emphasis on the treble. I am in no way an audiophile but sometimes I can feel a little more bass would have made this a much better and more balanced headphone. Item quality (5/5): The black/red is a beauty. The feel is pretty solid and high quality. I've used it for one month and have not run into any problems with consistency. The size of the earphone is perfect for my ears (2.75 inches) and is very comfortable. I can use the headphone for hours at a time with no feeling of discomfort. Software (3/5): The bluetooth pairing process is pretty straightforward to my laptop. Unfortunately, there is no app to make personalized controls according to personal preference. There is also no way to determine the exact % battery life on the device. The headphone does remind you to charge if it feels the battery life is low. Customization is definitely an area for improvement. Final verdict (4/5): Overall the item is excellent for what it does. If bass and customization are not important for your ears, the HD 4.5 provides high comfort audio support for any devices that is bluetooth-compatible.