Direct Sound Sna-2 Serenity II Headphones

I ordered these a few months ago and at the time there weren't any reviews. I thought I would offer up a few notes and comparisons to other headphones I have, and against other isolation products. In both yardwork, air travel, hotel room, and shop environments.I have used these headphones since purchase in both travel and around the house. I purchased them primarily to fill the role of isolation while listening to either Pandora or MP3 audio. For comparison, my go-to headphones are my Grado Labs i325. These are $300 open air headphones for zero noise environments. For my job flying, I use a pair of $1,200 Bose Aviation Headset X, and these have both isolation and noise cancelling. Around the house I used to use, prior to this purchase, a pair of 3M Peltor headsets with an Audio input.Sound Quality:As stated in other websites, Direct Sounds background is in providing monitor headphones to musicians. There is no emphasis on highs or lows. To me the sound is equivalent to plugging directly into a sound board at a recording studio. The highs are not as bright as my Grado headphones, however few headphones are. The bass is not ridiculously over emphasized like on a pair of Beats headphones. For the price, I am pleasantly surprised by the performance. I bought them for a noisy environment and to be able to listen to quality audio without the need for noise cancelling. I give it high remarks in this category.Build QualityThe headphones are light, and comfortable. I used them on a 14 hour pacific flight without becoming uncomfortable. You can also lean against a pillow with them on if you want to tune out the world and it is still comfortable. A major downfall to me however is how short the cord is. I suspect this could be fixed by simply replacing the cord. I would have liked it to be longer for a consumer product it is short. Also, they are advertised as easily repairable, however I don't see an easy way to replace the ear pads. Something that I have had to do multiple times on my Bose Aviation headsets over the thousand hours of use. This may not be necessary on these if they last, however a note to any potential buyers.Overall, I am please with the build quality.Noise IsolationFor most purchasers, this is what you are probably looking for. They advertise high noise isolation (not cancellation). For comparison, I will put these against my Bose Aviation Headset and the 3M Peltors. Clearly, there is a major price difference and a difference in purpose. Therefore I will only identiy what I have observed in terms of where they cancel outside noise.Aircraft noise: Here the Serenity II does well. However during takeoff and climb the low whine of a jets engines are not neutralized as much as I would hope. The engines are still very present, however the music is also heard, and at nowhere near the volume needed for regular earbuds or heaphones. Just without the clarity that isolation provides. During cruise the engine sound is also still present. When compared to a noise cancellation headset like Bose Aviation Headset X, there is absolutely no comparison. The Bose isolates far better. However, I could buy 5 Serenitys for the price of an Aviation Headset X....so there is that to consider. Plus, the music quality of the Serenity is far superior to my Aviation Heaset X.Lawn Work/Shop: The serenity cancels out the noise of a lawnmower without issues. It does not do as well cancelling out the sharp sound of a saw or other high pitched devices (think shop vac/blower/weed eater). A pair of 3M peltors does seem to do more isolation, especially in the super-highs and lows.Hotel/Airport Lobby: For isolation in a hotel room or sitting in an airport lobby there is no comparison. I have been living out of a hotel for the last 45 days, and these headphones are perfect. Especially for cancelling out the dehumidifier needed in the Pacific, as well as noisy HVAC systems. I suspect this is where most users would find it most often used. You can still hear people talking, only muffled and easy to cancel out. It feels like you are truly isolated from the world around. If this sounds like the environment you most often find yourself in, don't think twice and go for the purchase.Overall ThoughtsI have no regrets at purchasing these. With their compact size and build quality, plus their sound quality. However as with any combination product there are trade offs. I am not the biggest fan of active noise cancellation from the Bose type products. I have 1,500 hours wearing my Aviation Headset X's to verify that and I hardly turn on the noise cancellation anymore. So the Serenity II is perfect for me when I am just flying passenger or for transportation instead of work. Plus around the house in my shop, or just sitting where it is noisy they are perfect, comfortable, and look great. They will not replace my Peltors for very loud applications. However for most daily use they will. As far as my primary travel headphones they have already taken the place of the open air Grados, as I find all travel noisy and the isolation they provide makes airports and hotels far more enjoyable.

Excellent headphones! Well built, fairly flat sound and comfort for hours!

If you were deaf, you would think that these would be great at isolating you from outside sounds because you wouldn't hear them in the first place. If you were already deaf, you wouldn't care that the audio quality is no better than a $30 set of headphones, but that wouldn't matter because you are deaf. The company website is really well done insofar as they convince you that these are high-quality headphones due to their $169 MSRP and that most of their products are designed for studio musicians, but maybe they are just deaf as well. They do look nice with the fake carbon-fiber finish and they are made in USA with user-replaceable parts. Nothing special here. Back they go.

For me must be a litle wide. The sound is very good

Every thing I expected and hoping that they will ease the pain of the 27 hours from Australia to San Francisco.

I bought these headphones because I didn't want to spend 300 on a Bose QC25 and I felt the latter didn't do a proper job in cancelling loud voices anyway (which it was not designed to do, actually). So I decided to go for isolation instead of cancellation. I was thinking to buy a Sennheiser HD280Pro but based on just 3 reviews on Amazon and the specs, I switched to the Serenity II at the last moment... and without any regrets, here's why:PACKAGE:The headphones are boxed very basic, which I like because then I know that most of the money went into the headphones themselves. It features a little cloth pouch with a pull-chord to close it, which looks almost home made, but it's just to keep it from scratching and getting dusty I guess. You can buy aftermarket cases if you really want to squeeze it in your backpack and not damage it. The build quality of the headphones is OK, not too bad, but not on par with some other brands as well.BUILD:The plastic headband seems sturdy enough, and the padding is really good though. However, when folding the earcups you notice the plastic makes some noise, but I have never experienced that while wearing them. The earcups themselves provide more than enough comfort for me, however the type of material (equal to noise guards in construction sites) may require taking them off after one or two hours to cool down a bit.The chord is too short, really, it just about reaches your pocket, but that's it. Why not add an extra 2 feet and you'll be more comfortable wearing it on a PC or laptop at your desk as well? The chord could benefit from a bit less sturdy material, silicone or cloth jacket would be better. the 90 degree plug is perfect though, it avoids being bent to much resulting in contact issues. Last remark about the chord: one-sided would be better, really, though it doesn't bother me that much two-sided like this (with better material even less). Nice feature of the earcups, the inside of the right cup has red cloth, the other one black, no tiny indications you have to look for. The headphones are pretty light thus comfortable enough for longer listening sessions, and the pressure on my head is just about right, not too loose, not to tight. Last but not least, the headphones fold up pretty compact, easy for traveling.SOUND:This is where it gets interesting, and I had some expectations on both isolation and sound. The isolation is great, when I put it on the background noise is gone and you can barely hear people talking loud just 6 feet away. When you put some music on, not even that loud, it's absolutely perfect, no interference of outside noise. Now let's talk about sound. I noticed right of the bat that the headset is fairly neutral, not too heavy on the bass, which is well-defined and with plenty of dynamics. I was used to open Grado SR-80i's so I expected the mids and highs to be less airy with these, and that is indeed the case. However, for a closed set, it is open and detailed enough, more than you would expect actually. Separation of instruments and voices is really good, and all is well balanced without being dull. I've played many of my reference songs on it, from pop, rock, jazz, classical, single instruments and the more I listened to this set, the more enthousiastic I became. Maybe not only my ears needed to adjust from the Grado, but the headset drivers also needed to play some hours before showing off what they can really do. On higher volumes, which is easily reached even on mobile phones because of the 50Ohm impedance, the sound doesn't get fatiguing, nor sharp or out of balance. In fact, I prefer the sound through the Samsung S5 over my Dell PC with stock sound card on board, or my Lenovo laptop. Imagine what a proper headphone amp might do to it...CONCLUSION:I love these headphones....so much, that I gladly take the minor issues for granted, like the slightly plastic feel, the dual sided, too short, sturdy cable, and the slightly warm feel after 2 hours. The isolation and sound quality make up for it BIG TIME. I have good hearing and listen to Grado headphones and a big Apogee speaker system, so I may have higher standards, but still these make listening so much fun and just sound really, really well. Did I mention I absolutely love these?? When all minor points are adressed in a Serenity III, I will give the II to my 8-year old and immediately buy another one! Value for money? Definately!