Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3 Studio (Black)

Pros: Excellent sound and good sound blocking

Cons: I'll probably need to get used to the feeling of these in my ears

Summary: I got these in the mail yesterday... just in time to try them while mowing with my lawn tractor. They blocked enough of the lawn tractor sound out to be able to clearly hear the music at moderate volume(which was my hope). My iPod had enough power to provide plenty of bass with volume at about halfway up.

I had previously tried a cheaper pair of Phillips sound cancelling (over the ear type) headphones which did not compare with the amount of sound blocked with the Ultimate Ears. When I shut off the mower while using the Phillips, I was a little alarmed over how loud I had the volume to hear over the tractor even with the sound cancelling circuit on.

With the Ultimate Ears I feel much safer knowing that I am not blowing out my eardrums trying to compete with the tractor noise. I also was able to combine these with some large rather dorky ear muffs to completely block out the sound. With this combination I was amazed at how much detail these in ear monitors gave - all while sitting on a very loud lawn tractor. I could hear subtleties in my music that I hadn't noticed before. I was even listening to some quiet jazz and could hear articulations and the ambiance of the room, and unbelievable detail in the cymbals (Yes the tractor was running).

I have seen reviews of the Ultimate Ears that say these headphones are are tinny. They are not, when properly fitted. I experimented with them in a more quiet environment and if you break the seal they are very tinny, but as long as they are fitted properly with a good seal, they provide accurate but not boomy bass.

While mowing, you don't need to use ear muffs with these like I did in order to get a quiet enough environment to hear your music. It was probably overkill, because you can't even hear the tractor enough to tell if it's running properly. If you use these on a tractor make sure you have a large lot with no kids around like I do and stay very alert of your surrondings!! - Especially when backing up or turning!! By the way, I bought these for the tractor, but they sound so amazing I'll be tempted to use them instead of my home stereo.