Sennheiser PXC 450

What noise?

What's that sound, Bose? Well, if you took off your noise-cancelling headphones for a minute, you'd realise it's Sennheiser muscling in on your lucrative high-end, noise-busting market with this excellent PXC 450 model.

These hefty cans are well built. They feel extremely solid - almost unbreakable - but at the same time light and comfortable. The supplied case is excellent, with room for an iPod, spare batteries, and a cornucopia of jacks.

Sound quality's first rate with a more detailed sound than the competition. The noise cancelling is formidable, helped by large ear pieces cutting out much of the random sounds that noise-cancelling tech can't cope with electronically.

While the on-board volume control is handy, the Talk Through button is genius for flying. Touching the button drops the volume to a preset level so you can talk freely, while still following your movie.

In summary then, PXC 450s are outstanding noise-cancellers. Bose should be afraid... very afraid.