Panasonic Quick-Fit Over-the-Ear Stereo Monitor Headphones RP-HTF295-K (Black) Lightweight, Comfortable, Powerful Bass

Let me start by saying I am NOT an audiophile... just a regular guy looking for some decent head phones to use at work. I wanted decent sound quality, decent external noise cancelling and a good price (why invest a lot of money if sound quality is not the number 1, 2 or 3 reason for purchase?).I was really surprised at high good these head phones sounded. I really am not sure what more others would want to get from them, but I recognize my non-professional ears just may not be picking up on what is missing or what is there that should be missing. I think these are awesome!I had looked at lots of reviews on these and others before purchasing, and here are my thoughts on other common themes (beyond sound and cost)...- I probably have an above average size head, so I stayed aware from any head phones where the reviews indicated a tight or uncomfortable fit. These are at the other extreme... Shaquille O'Neill would probably be okay with these. If anything, the headset (around the top of the head) could be smaller or at least designed to hold its position/size better; I find myself having to re-squeeze it to make it snugger on my head. Would have loved a better design in this area, but given low product cost, I'm not taking away stars for this omission.- The ear enclosure is perfect. Again, I probably have bigger than normal ears, but not dumbo size, and these fit great. I have worn them for hours to listen to music or webinars at work with no irrition or annoyance. My ears will get a bit sweaty after prolonged use, but I think wearing ear muffs at work would do that to anyone. Very happy with the fit around the ear. Oh... as for noise cancelling (which is very related to ear fit), if I turn off the music and just wear the head phones, they do a better than expected cancellation of surrounding noise. If the music is on, I hear nothing around me, and am constantly startled when folks enter my cube area to talk with me. I cannot understand any of the negative comments about inferior noise cancellation. I give it top stars in this area.- There were also comments about the length of the cord. When I first read those, I was surprised: a cord that is too long? Ok.. not I understand. I have regularly found myself tied up in the extra length. But you know something, they have these things to help you tie up the excess. They come free on about a thousand items you by every week. They are commonly referred to as bag ties. USE ONE! Honestly, I would much rather prefer a long cord where I could tie up the excess when I wanted, but have access to a long cord when I want or need, versus having a short cord that I am stuck with and break my neck when I exceed its 4 foot length, Really? This is a negative? C'mon people.- Cost: for this price point, I cannot possibly imagine what else someone would want or expect. Now that I have had them for awhile, I would have paid twice the price for them. The only real alternatives put you up or over $100. I'll leave those to the true audiophiles who feel they need that level of quality.As for me, I am a VERY satsified customer.

OVERVIEW: “What?” Yeah, I heard that—the gasps of disbelief from all those who marvel at he who dares to challenge the mighty M50s. First, let me get this out of the way: The Audio-Technica M50 is a superior headphone but also costs a lot more than the Panasonic HTF-600S. So I have to agree with the consensus of the other reviewers: these headphones are an amazing bang for the buck. They excel at the two things I look for in an over-the-ear headphone: they are super comfortable and they sound really good. Don’t believe me? Look on Head-Fi.org, where the audiophile authorities live, and they basically agree.SOUND: I am far from an audiophile, both because I don’t have hundreds or thousands of dollars to spend on headphones and audio equipment and because I doubt my hearing would be good enough to appreciate them if I did. However, I do own a pair of the highly regarded Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones (straight cable version) that I have been listening to for a couple years, so I can compare them to those. Just about every frequency range on the M50s are tighter—the lows, the mids, and the highs. Everything just sounds sharper and more precise, and I’m not sure how else to describe it. However, this a bit like comparing apples to oranges—in terms of price, because the Audio Technicas cost 3-5 times as much as the Panasonics; and architecturally, because the M50s are completely closed headphones. They completely isolate you from outside noise and don’t let any sound escape, which could be the main reason for this difference. Conversely, I would describe the HTF-600S as “semi-open.” They do leak some sound to the outside world (but not much). The upside of this is that the Panasonics have a better “soundstage” than the M50s. If you’re not familiar with this term, it means that it’s more like listening to speakers, or even to a live performance. The music doesn’t sound like it’s coming from the drivers in the headphones, but from farther away in the room. As a result, there is more separation among the different instruments and you get more of a sense of space. Oh, and I would be remiss to not mention the wonderful bass the HTF-600S put out. It is “boomier” than the Audio Technicas, but it is very satisfying to listen to if that’s what you’re into. I saw them described as “budget basshead cans” from someone on Head-Fi.org, and I have to agree!COMFORT: These are probably the most comfortable pair of headphones I’ve ever worn. I was looking for a comfortable pair of headphones to wear at work, and I have my own office so sound leakage wasn’t a big issue. When you put these on your head, the “clamping pressure” is almost nonexistent—you could easily forget you’re wearing these, except they’re so gigantic you can kind of see them out of the corner of your eye! They definitely lose big-time in the “discreet” category, but they are so supremely comfortable that you could wear them all day without any discomfort. The headband is thickly padded and kind of squishy, almost like memory foam, and serves its purpose very well. Although the Audio Technicas are very comfortable for a completely closed set of cans, these Panasonics ultimately triumph in the category. In fact, I confess that I sometimes have to take off my M50s after wearing them for a couple hours and switch to the HTF-600S, and I’m always surprised at how light they feel after wearing the M50s. Of course, you lose the isolation, but the comfort makes up for it.PORTABILITY: Or rather, “lack thereof.” Neither of these headphones are too portable, since they are circumaural cans after all. The earcup portion of the Panasonics fold down, which is supposedly a thing for DJ’s (although I don’t understand why). This is kind of handy for setting the headphones band up on a desk, but otherwise useless. The Audio Technicas, on the other hand, actually fold up into a compact wedge shape, which makes them small enough to put into the handy pouch they come with. They’re still not very portable, but more portable than the Panasonics if that’s important to you.CABLE: A whole paragraph for a cable? Sure, why not. Both of the cables are really long—I can’t remember how long exactly, but you can read it in the description of the items (around ten feet, I think). The cable on the ATH-M50S is thicker gauge and really high quality. The part of the cable that attaches to the plug has a metal spring reinforcement on it, which I find a nice touch (but some other reviewers don’t like it). The thickness of the cable on the Panasonic is somewhere between the thickness of the ATH-M50s and your typical earbud cable. It’s not quite as high quality, but it’s definitely good enough—I don’t harbor any worries about damaging it, even though I have a tendency to make sudden movements and almost jerk the cable out of its socket. Either way, the cable is too long for an MP3 player you’re going to have in your pocket, so I recommend coiling it up with Velcro for this purpose or for listening at your computer. I wish both of these headphones had detachable cables so I could use something shorter, but alas they don’t. (You have to spend $20-$30 for the Monoprice 8323 to get a high-class feature like that. Mine are on the way!)QUICKFIT: I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what the “Quick Fit” system was that were advertised with these cans. I could see there were two buttons on each side of the headband (total of four), but they didn’t seem to do anything. I was amazed to find that although many of the reviews here on Amazon mention it, nobody else seemed to know how it worked either; and the instructions that came with the headphones were conspicuously silent on details too. After some reading and playing around, I finally realized that they work in the following way:1. Adjust the headphone bands so there is no slack (as tight as they can go).2. Hold down one of the Quick Fit buttons (“1” or “2,” on either side of the headphones).3. As you hold down the button, begin loosening the band. The band will stop at a specific point that is programmed into the button.This is a really cool idea, except that the buttons are not programmable. If they were, it would be great, especially if you are somewhat careless with your headphones or carry them around and they get loosened/tightened inadvertently—you could just use the buttons to adjust the band back to your desired length without having to readjust them on your head every single time. I do wind up using the buttons, because the “1” setting is only one click away from where I like the band on each side; but most people would probably prefer that the buttons were not there at all. So the ATH-M50 wins here, because they didn’t tack on a relatively useless feature like this. (Okay, I admit I talked that sentence on to fit with the theme of my headline…)CONCLUSION: Which pair of headphones is ultimately better? For me, I’d have to say the Audio Technicas ATH-M50S. They are simply a great all-around pair of cans, and at their price point ($100-$150, depending on vendor and time of year), I think they’re the best value out there for closed-back headphones. But if you have a budget of $30-$50, I think the Panasonic HTF-600S are the ones to buy. Mind you, I haven’t tried a whole lot of headphones in this category, or at all. But I’m extremely happy with them and I would buy them all over again (and might just do that for Christmas gifts).