Logitech UE 6000 Noise Isolating Over-Ear Headphones - Premium Sound Quality, Comfortable Cushions, Foldable Design (Black) - Perfect for Travel, Gaming & Music Listening

These headphones are amazing for the price range! For those who are not familiar with Logitech's line of headphone, the Ultimate Ear (UE) line came out a couple of years ago with a focus on making higher end headphones for a mid point price range. These are my second pair of UE headphones, my first set being UE 300vm in-ear headphones. Anyways, these are in a long line of over the ear headphones that I have owned. Also, given that I DJ, my requirement for headphones are different than the everyday user. These were strictly purchased for casual, everyday use without sacrifice to sound. I have a different sets for different uses, so while I think these could handle being used as DJing headphone - they aren't designed (physical construction) as such so I don't use it for that purpose.Sound Quality - I have been exceptionally surprised at how great the UE line sounds. These are super clean and crisp without sounding forced. There are plenty of cans out there that sound a bit too artificial, especially ones that advertise it right on the packaging (or product description). These were (in my opinion) the unsung hero of its class. These can easily outshine a set of Bose AE, OE or QC's in the sound department any day! However, given the marketing strategy behind Bose, you'd probably never give these a chance. Speaking of Bose, in comparing these to my AE2's, I'd much rather grab these to listen to the same tracks to see the new sound imaging I get from songs that I know in and out. What I have come to realize with High End headphones (including Bose) is that they focus more on balance and sound stage, and while I totally agree on both aspects, sometimes you just need a bit more "umph" to liven up your music, to get you sucked in, to get you hyped for whatever it is your are doing (again, my music perspective in very different than that of a casual listener). Having a balanced sound tone in the long run (to me) makes my music seem kind of flat overall. I do like the presence of bass and crisp highs. These deliver both! These are also advertised as "noise cancelling" which means they run on batteries to active high frequency white noise to counter surrounding ambient noise. Some may find this aspect appealing, other may not. I myself will be honest that the noise cancelling isn't all that great on these, but I do not have a basis for comparison other than having tried Bose QC but don't actually own a pair or had a change to test any for an extended period of time. What I will say is that when turning on the "active noise cancelling" it does active an amp where its like turning on the "loud" button on your car stereo. Unlike the Bose QC, these function just fine without the use of the active noise cancelling, so you don't have to worry about constantly having batteries just to use your headphones. To me that is a great plus over cans the require the use of batteries to function. I'll be honest, I only really used the active noise cancelling when I first got the set and once the batteries dies, I just left it as is and used the cans without the noise cancelling feature.Construction - Made of a combination of gloss plastic, rubberized plastic and some aluminum/metal, these feel quite sturdy. The weight on these are a bit heavier than I'd prefer, however given I am not moving around with them, you forget you are wearing them. Each side has a hinge where it folds in to help transport these in an included semi hard travel pouch. The batteries compartment is located on the left ear cup and is accessed but the press of a small flush button that when pressed, pops open the outer cover of the ear cup and is permanently attached to the strap so you don't have to worry about losing the cover. Some may like this, some may not. I personally think its great. Less things to lose. The opening can be a bit tight so those who have bigger hands/fingers may find it hard to get in to replace the AAA batteries with their bare fingers (unless you use a small flat head screwdriver)? Noise cancellation is on the opposite ear cup and is fairly easy to turn off and on. When turned on, a green LED on the button light up indicating that noise cancelling in active. If or when it turns or stays red when you turn it on, that means battery life is running low. Another thing you will notice (at least with with my set) is if you are listening to music with noise cancelling on and the LED is red, your music will also cut in and out, almost as if your song was damaged in its encoded process (which was my first reaction). Upon turning off that feature, you music will return to normal without any distractions (or "loudness"). Again, while I think the loudness is nice, I've been using these without noise cancelling and love the way it sounds. The ear pads are the best I have felt in quite some time. Given the price range of these, these feel 10x better than my DJ Headphones (Denon DN-HP1000). The innards of the pads feel like some sort of memory foam (but could be regular foam for all I know) but isn't too soft or hard. The pad lining is made of a black pleather like material which feel fine on your skin. They cup and contour your head/ear area nicely. The band up top is rubberized on the outer part to provide easy grip when handling them from the bad, and the underside is padded for when its resting on the top of your head. Again, nicely padded foam. Of course, each side can be adjusted up or down and the ear cups themselves have a bit of wiggle room to provide a better fit to each person. The cable includes an inline mic and controls so that you can control your iPhone/Android and or take calls while using the headphones. The cable is also fully detachable so if your cable goes bad, you won't need to get a new set of cans, just a new cable.Noise Cancelling - Since these are over the ear headphones, upon properly fitting/securing them to your head, you will notice a good deal of AMBIENT noise is filtered out (without the use of the built in noise cancelling). Turning them on, you may notice a slight change? Definitely not ground breaking, but that is also because there is a misconception about what noise cancelling is (won't get into that). Like I stated earlier, the noise cancelling feature also enhances the music a bit. Some may like it, other may not, and I like said, I used it at first but now I'm perfectly happy with the way they sound without the feature turned on. The way the cable is coated, it does NOT make a lot of feedback noise when moving around at my desk. I don't use these while I am outdoors or doing activities so I cannot comment beyond what I currently have done with them.Conclusion - Overall, these are a great set of headphones. Unfortunately, they are discontinued so you will be left with scouring like new, light use or used products. Though on the larger and heavier side, they feel solid and don't feel weak or fragile. Wearing them, you get a real sense of you and your music (or movie, or phone call, etc). Unlike other over or around the ear phones that feel cheap and light, and don't create a proper seal on/around your ear, these will be a nice wake up call as to what proper over the ear headphones should sound like. While some who seek Active Noise Cancelling headphone may be disappointed with that particular feature. I think they will much appreciate the lower price tag and sound quality of these cans should be give them a try.I have had the UE 6000s for 3 weeks now. These are replacing my wrecked iLuv City Lights ear buds (MSRP $20).Sound Quality: General- The UE6000s have great separation, meaning that I can clearly tell what sounds are coming from which side. The sound is warm and has good depth.Sound Quality: Active Mode- This makes the headphones emphasize the highs and lows more. The highs are rolled off, so the base is really strong. When in a noisy environment with motors (E.G a train) the extra base is unnoticeable.Sound Quality: Passive Mode- This is great for movies, as it emphasizes character's voices. When I first got the headphones, I felt passive mode lacked all base, but after listening to it in passive for 40+ hours I can conclude there is plenty of base. However, to my ears it sounds sort of flat. It's better to use active mode and EQ the base down a bit.Build Quality- The headphones are generally well built. The power button sometimes sticks halfway between on and off and needs an extra attempt to enter passive mode, otherwise the music only plays from the right earcup. The earcups are well built and I do not expect them to fall apart anytime soon, which is good because they cannot be replaced. The headband is sturdy and the headphones pass the shake test with flying colors. (Much better than their competitor, the Beats Studios). The earcup swivel brackets are well designed. There are no exposed wires.Aesthetics-There is no mistake about it, the UE 6000s are beautiful headphones. I got the white ones, and wow they are WHITE. If you get the white version, make sure you have extremely white teeth. These headphones are white enough that they make white teeth look yellow. The black version is a worse fingerprint magnet than the white one, so choose wisely. The aluminum and UE logos are nice and add a quality look to the headphones. The blue accents around the earcups are barely visible, but it’s great to know they are there. They stand out more on the black version.Comfort- These are extremely comfortable headphones. They are on the heavy side, but they sit well on my head and the earcups surround my ears completely. They do not squeeze my glasses into my head like some on-ear headphones. The cusion on the band is soft and the memory foam on the earcups creates a great seal to keep your music from disturbing others.Noise Riddance '- These headphones do a great job passively reducing outside noise (through the foam earcups). When the active noise cancellation (ANC) mode is turned on, all it does is create an audible hiss. Believe it or not, this hiss is the noise cancellation…and it works. The UE6000s do not produce sounds 180 degrees out of phase with other sounds, they have no ANC algorithms like BOSE QuietComfort. On the train, the hiss is inaudible…. And it does cancel out some of the lowest end rumbling of the motors. When music is playing at 60 dB, I cannot hear normal conversations happening two feet away. I may be able to tell that someone is talking, but I would not be able to tell what they are saying. High pitched or loud noises such as car horns and sirens are still easily audible.Cord- The cord is about 4 feet long and has vol+/main control/vol- keys. The vol+ and – buttons do not work with Android. The center button does work. One press pauses, two presses skips a song, three presses restarts a song, and a long press starts Google Now. The cord has a 90 degree elbow joint on the device end and a straight jack on the headphone side. The cord is detachable and replaceable, which is good because cords are usually the first things to break on any given pair of headphones.Odds and ends:-When the headphones are powered on, there is a slowly increasing high pitched whine which sounds much like old DSLR flashes gathering energy to fire. It lasts about half a second whenever the headphones are powered on.-It is easy to forget to turn off the headphones. For this reason I am using Eneloop rechargeables, which I highly recommend.-The headphones fold with satisfying clicks. The expandable headband has graduated stopping points which are easy to feel and adjust while on the head.Verdict- For $200 I wouldn't buy these. For $150 I wouldn't buy these. At $100, this is a good deal. Keep in mind that these headphones are discontinued and cannot be replaced by Logitech if they have a manufacturing flaw, only repaired. With that in mind, these are solid competitors for the Beats Studios and Solos at less than half the cost. If you are thinking of buying Beats but are deterred by their overpowering base, distorted highs, and recessed mids, try these. If you are worried about the Beat's reputation for terrible build quality, buy these. Beats by Dre spends (very) roughly $70 from every purchase of a Beats headphone on advertising. Companies that don't advertise give you far more product for your money.Thanks for taking the time to read my review, I greatly appreciate it. I hope you wouldn't mind marking my review as helpful if it was helpful, it motivates me to write more reviews. If you have any questions or concerns, please leave a comment and I will respond ASAP.Update 4/17/16I've had these headphones for 11 months now, and they still sound and look great. However, my UE audio cable began to cause interference when moved, so I replaced it with an aux cable I had from an older set of headphones. Also, on the back of the headphones, the top padding came loose from the cushioning. I applied some Elmer's Glue-All to reattach the cushion to the headband. While that approach worked, the glue is visible and the headphones don't look as cool anymore. In the future, before the warranty expires, it is likely I will remove the glue and send in the headphones to get them repaired. They should still be covered under warranty regardless of the glue I added on the outside, because I bet the cushion was attached headband with glue to begin with.I will contingue to update this as more stuff happens :-)