UltimateEars Super.Fi 5 Pro headphones
I had read that the noise isolation headphones had really made some strides in the past few years and these UltimateEars really prove that out. The noise cancellation is completely passive, so there's no bulky battery pack and no hiss when listening to the headphones with no songs playing. Think of them as earplugs with a pair (yes a pair) of speakers in each ear.
Boy, the sound is impressive. After a little fiddling (and a bit of cleaning after figuring out how much ear wax these little devils extract from your ears) I found that the 'small' ear tips fit me best (odd since I'm 6'2", so wouldn't expect my ears to be 'small'). The noise isolation is so great my wife had to scream at me to get my attention earlier tonight. The sound quality is amazing and they are literaly just a fraction of the size of the old Sennheiser's I used to be impressed with. On my PC, I actually have the volume bar at the first mark and that's all the volume I can take, the second bar (of 8) is clearly too loud to listen to. Total listening isolation, and I'm hearing the nuances in the music you simply cannot hear on other headphones.
The only test left is the airplane test... More on that after I get back...