While the 450 produces good sound detail, and bass response is better than with some - though surprisingly, not all - the supra-aural phones, the sound overall did not seem as full or realistic.

PLUS

• Excellent noise cancelling
• Roomy ear cups
• TalkThrough featureThe circumaural PXC 450s, a higher pricer camera at $500.

MINUS

• Expensive

The Sennheiser product also lets you adjust volume and you can do it easily without taking the phones off. This is a definite convenience if your player is stuffed away in a pocket or bag and you need to adjust volume. The 450s have a unique TalkThrough feature that blocks some noise but lets you hear somebody talking to you. You can turn it on by pressing the TalkThrough button in the middle of the right phone.

Sennheiser claims noise-cancelling effectiveness of up to 90 per cent, using a combination of passive techniques and the company's NoiseGard 2.0 active technology, which it developed originally for pilot headsets. The 450's passive noise reductoin does a better job on blocking high frequencies.

The superior passive noise cancellation has to do with cup fit and padding. The cups on the PXC 450 are big enough to comfortably fit even Dumbo ears. That makes the Sennheiser phones bigger overall. They're lighter; and air pressure inside the cups, sometimes a problem with this style of phone, is less noticeable.

While the 450 produces good sound detail, and bass response is better than with some - though surprisingly, not all - the supra-aural phones, the sound overall did not seem as full or realistic.