I’ve used and tested several pairs of over-the-ear headphones, and these are easily the best such headphones I’ve tried. They are well built, comfortable, and produce an amazing sound. They are no-nonsense headphones without any high-tech frills or bells and whistles, designed for one purpose only – listening to music and other high-quality audio content.

**** Design and Build ****

The first thing you’ll notice about these headphones is their size. They are larger than most such headphones that I’ve come across, including some bulky gaming headphones that I have recently used. Despite their size, the headphones are surprisingly light. Unfortunately they cannot be folded, so they are not ideally suited for travel. The headphones feel very well made and they look and feel very durable. I’ve had them only for a very short period of time, but I expect them to last for many years.

**** Comfort and Fit ****

These headphones fit better than any over-the-ear headphones that I’ve ever tested. The ear cups are covered with really gentle, soft faux leather. The inside of the ear cups is made out of memory foam, which ensures very soft and individualized fit. The headphones will easily fit on a head of almost any size – I’ve been using them without any discomfort, and I had even put them on the head of my toddler son. (They didn’t stay there for long though.) Even though the headphones were comfortable to wear for an extended period of time, my ears did eventually get too hot. This is not something specific to these headphones, but rather a very typical experience I’ve head with all over-ther-ear headphones.

**** Sound Quality ****

I am a big fan of classical music, and high fidelity headphones like these are ideally suited for someone like me who like the subtle nuances and personal touch of a good classical performance. I used these Velodyne headphones to listen to numerous classical stations on Pandora and iTunes Radio, and the experience was richly rewarding. From deep richness of sound of Yo-Yo Ma’s cello, through subtle idiosyncrasies of Alfred Brendel’s interpretation of Beethoven’s sonatas, to whimsical orchestral playfulness of the Peer Gynt Suite, I was transported to the full richness of musical experience.

I’ve also used these headphones to listen to the other genres of music that I enjoy: pop, rock, techno, and alternative. The experience in each case was truly phenomenal. These headphones are really designed with the audiophile in mind, and they perform better than any similar headphones that I had tried.

These headphones also double as monitoring headphones for studio use. They come with a separate cable that can be used with the studio equipment. I am neither a recording artist nor have I ever been involved in serious audio recording projects, so I cannot really judge how good these headphones are for these purposes. The closest I got was the audio recording for a recent online video that I made. I needed to record some speech for the voice-overs featuring in that video, and for that purpose I had used these headphones for the sound checking purposes together with the high-end USB mic. The headphones were great for this purpose, and I greatly appreciated being able to hear the recorded voice very clearly and without the ambient distortions. I think it really added a lot to the overall quality of the video that I made.

**** Noise Cancellation ****

These headphones don’t have any special noise canceling technology, but rather rely on the “passive” noise canceling – i.e. the physical insulation of the ear cups – in order to diminish the surrounding sounds. Unfortunately, this might be one of the weakest features of these headphones, I did not experience nearly enough sound insulation as I would have liked. I was still able to hear people talking at the nearby table while sitting at Starbucks. Pushing the volume up helped though, and this is not one of the more crucial issues for me. I intend to primarily use these headphones at home, with very little surrounding noise.

**** Conclusion ****

If you are looking for a pair of straightforward good over-the-ear headphones that are designed with a discerning music lover in mid, then you will not go wrong by getting this Velodyne product, especially at the price that they sell for. They are definitely on par, or even exceed in quality, many of their more famous competitors. They have now become my favorite headphones for the times when I just want to enjoy good music. I highly recommend them.

**** Product provided for review purposes. ****