Sennheiser PC 151 Binaural Headset with Noise-Canceling Microphone & Volume Control (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

Before I say anything at all, I have to say that I bought these headphones on sale at about 43$, so the review below this paragraph is according to that price. And, unless you're seeing the same sale when you go to buy these, I would recommend you look around a bit more. Unless, you're having trouble finding headphones with a mic, that you can use for multiple things (gaming, movies, music, business calls). So I'm going to start this update by maybe giving you a few tips I wish I had before I bought these. One, the microphone is about the same quality mic you can get for about 5$. It's very sensitive, you'll have trouble having you're friends hear you and only you during phone calls. If that doesn't matter, then I suggest buying a regular mic that can be attached to headphones, so you can connect their voice to your headphones (a better pair you may want w/ out a mic), and use the attachable mic to talk to them. Much cheaper option! Also, I was surprised at this, the amount of reviews you can find on YouTube for headphones is actually quite amazing, you may want to consider trying to search those up. For instance, try the tube and search "best headphones under 50". Then just buy a 5$ attachable mic if that shows you a good idea of headphones you want to get. I'll go ahead and post two different ratings here, for these headphones at sale price (40$-45$) they are a 4 out of 5 stars. At it's current price (60$) as of 4/1/2015 I'd give it a 3 out of 5 stars.I'm just going write a paragraph to help people sum up my last paragraph and help their options and save them time. Use YouTube reviews for headphones, add pricing options to your YouTube search, and consider other microphone options. If you find headphones without a microphone you like, don't consider it the end of the world. Let's say you've found you're ideal pair of headphones with no mic. Either use YouTube again for attachable mic options, or simply search in Amazon "attachable mics". Basically, you attach them to your headphone cord, and the mic hangs below your chin, their very sensitive (like the one on these headphones), so it's not a big exchange. You can also find a device that helps out with the two separate cords for mic and headphones. Basically, you attach your headphone jack to one end, your mic jack to the other, and attach the device to your PC or whatever else, and there ya go!I at first, had some serious problems getting these not only to sound good, but to actually have enough volume to satisfy people like myself who adjust to high volumes quickly, and soon want to turn the volume up another notch or two. Well, unless you're familiar with equalizers and are fine with regularly adjusting them until the sound becomes good, I still wouldn't recommend them. But the good thing is, for people who are ok with that, you'll have trouble at first, but I have got these to sound better than I think anyone would imagine a pair of headphones of these price could sound. So, after messing with the equalizers, using notches that control background music (like keyboarding and back-up singers etc), notches that control obvious things like bass and treble, and notches that control the power of music (like how loud they get during the chorus of songs). I got them sounding great, you can, again, only get them sounding like a pair of headphones will sound for this price, but I think you will still be surprised! Considering the price, I moved the rating to 4 stars. I put it at four because of the bass, some headphones naturally come with a neutral sound, in other words, they're meant to give sound the way it was meant to be when recorded or transmitted. But unfortunately, the bass can't be messed with hardly at all. No matter what equalizer you use, at any quality, you can't get the bass even high enough for you're regular rock n' roll. Treble and mid-sound of music easily over power even the most powerful bass. But, when bass is being played by itself, (as in there's no guitar etc playing along side a kick drum) then it sounds well enough. I got this particular headset also because of the mic, but as it happens, I haven't much used it as much as I thought I would, although the few times I've used it I haven't had any problems with it, I still haven't used it enough to comment on it to the point of helping others consider it good enough for them or not. I can however give you one note, it's a very sensitive mic, background noise is highly amplified.So, I don't feel I talked much about the volume problem, I think it could also be that even though the bass on these are lower, they're much higher than what I had before, which was a pair of early 2k headphones with hardly any bass at all. So after messing with equalizers and using a receiver, the volume is at a much higher and more pleasing volume that will effect a wider amount of customers. It's a good pair of headphones! And I wish I hadn't gave my first review so quickly, but I still can't help but ask companies to keep headphone volumes at about 101db and above. If people don't want it that loud, they know how how to control volume! :PNow, I should also do a quick comment on comfortability. They are, I would say all together and simply not a particularly comfortable pair of headphones. Especially for long phone calls, movies, and avid music listeners. These headphones will do you good for an hour of use, but beyond that, you're in for a hurtin'. For instance, I watched Interstellar the other day, great movie I must say, but it's about 2 1/2 hours long. And considering it's a great movie and I was watching it on a laptop, I figured why not throw on the headphones and get a cinematic experience? So I did, and I managed the whole movie, but during the movie, I was moving the headphones from the front of my ears to rest the back of my ears, to the back of my ears to rest the front, I rinsed and repeated. I also found myself taking the headphones and stretching them apart to help with the clamping down these headphones give. As far as on-ear headphones go however, I'd give another 4 out of 5 stars. Just because of the fact that this is a pretty common thing with on-ear headphones, and the rating between over and on ear headphones should stay separate. I hope this helped! I tried to think of anything I would have wanted to know before buying these! ;]

I bought these in May of 2009 and they are still going strong . the noise cancellation never did work very well, but the sound quality is outstanding . only recently have I noticed that the volume control is getting a bit sluggish . when I tried to buy another pair recently it said, "Currently unavailable" . it's a darn shame that you can't buy these anymore . like many other items that were made years ago, and built to last, much of the more recent items, are just overpriced junk, but the Sennheiser PC 151 Binaural Headset, are the best headphones that i've ever owned.

Update June-2014: I use this headset daily for hours at a time. It takes a bit of abuse and the cable is holding up well so far. The cable is so long it droops down to my chair and when I get up and walk away my chair turns and sometimes it yanks the cable. I don't have a problem with discomfort at all. I find I occasionally bump the mute switch on the headset cable and have to frantically find the reason I am muted on calls. This headset is really good and worth the extra cash for quality.I started using google voice to cut down on phone costs and I needed a good headset. I've had cheap and I had a good Plantroncis that was starting to disintegrate (lots of black fuzzy stuff left on my ears). I like the Plantronics and it look a lot of abuse and held up for years but I wanted to try something new. I saw this one. It was pricey but I wanted quality and the reviews were good.I wear it for hours at a time and the sound quality is great. The microphone is quiet sensitive and picks up a ambient noise and if I am holding my electric guitar and gently playing (not amplified, just acoustic) it while on a call the other person can hear it. Also, make sure the mic is away from your breath either or you will be breathing in everyone's ear. I try to keep it below my mouth and pointing at my chin. The microphone is only on the left side. This isn't a problem for me at all. I noticed it seemed to be touching my skin and I had to pull it away from my face using a firm grasp to make sure it didn't just snap back and keep rubbing my skin. That was an easy adjustment to make.The audio sound quality is great. The sure beats a standard telephone handset or basic phone headset. I still use my ear buds on the airplane because I can keep those on during take off and landing. I am not sure if they make use remove headphones anymore but I prefer the noise isolation of in-ear buds anyway.The only beef I have is when I use the in-line volume control the audio balance goes off. That is, the volume does not change the same on both channels and the sound is stronger out of the left side. I've accidentally muted the mic on the headset once or twice.The cord is quite long. I can get up and walk around the room a bit, close the door, etc. That is a plus but you have a lot of cord dangling and getting caught in the wheels of the chair.I've been using this about a month now. No issues other than what i listed above. I've kept some of the packaging to hold this when I stuff it in my backpack for travel and use on the road. I've add too many headsets get broken or damaged and so far with the extra support from the original packing I've not had any issues with it.

I guess these are OK. I just prefer the versatility of USB connected devices. When they work perfectly they work excellently, sadly configuration and operation is not as straightforward as USB devices. Plus I have anything cooking my ear (ear infection inducing) and now I use a £3 USB desk microphone and my standard speakers and the mic is just as good.

This is the first time I have ordered Sennheiser & I have been very impressed with the quality of the product and the sound. The cord is very long but that's not a bad thing. The build quality is robust - it has stood up to my toddler playing with them on several occasions.I've used them for listening to music, internet gaming & Skype. All in all, I have no complaints and would recommend this product to others.

Came in great time, perfect working order,amazing sound quality and still enjoying its use to this day. Recommend to anyone.

Bought these back at the end of November 2012. When I first got them, it was a huge upgrade for me from my old headset. I just plugged, played, and was immediately rewarded with crisp sound and a clear mic. I completely stopped using the built-in mic on my laptop and was using the headset for everything virtually 24/7. I'm not sure how my ear size compares to the average Canadian and while the headset was comfier than my last unit, after a couple of hours, my ears started to hurt. For anybody buying this, do keep in mind this is an on-the-ear headset and if I had to start from scratch in picking a new headset, one of my criteria would definitely have been over-the-ear.The included cable is generously long, but I constantly had a problem with the placement of the in-line volume control, which I found would constantly and unrelentingly get caught between my chair seat and arm rest. You know when you are listening to your mp3 player and your headphones get caught on something and get ripped out of your ear, making way for a completely illogical, but somehow necessary fit of rage? This headset has admittedly induced that same wrath more times than I would like to admit.Finally, when it comes to the durability of this headset, things fall a bit short. Nowadays, the headset will only play sounds out of both sides if the cord is set just right in the in-line volume control and I have to manipulate the mic position so much to get it to even half-work, that I might as well call it broken.All-in-all, was a decent headset for the price, but might have chosen differently knowing what I know now.

Have owned 2 of these headsets before. The first one is about 7 years old and is a bit beaten up, but still works great. I purchased another one off amazon recently to use with my ps4(requires a cheap adapter to plug into the controller). It's comfortable to wear for long periods of time, the mic sounds really good over voip services and online gaming, and the cord is really long and durable. If I had any criticisms of this headset it would just be that the volume at its max setting could be a bit louder.