Design and features:The headphones work with or without the noise canceling feature being turned on, and you can use the noise-canceling feature without listening to music. These headphones can be used wirelessly with Bluetooth devices or can be cord connected. When cord connected they have high sensitivity regardless of whether the noise canceling feature is turned on or off, so they can provide satisfying volume levels when used with home audio equipment and lower-powered portable audio devices. The Out There has a noise-canceling on/off switch and an integrated microphone and volume, music player function, and call connect/disconnect controls that work with paired Bluetooth devices. Additional features include earcups that swivel to flat for ease of storage or transport, and the manufacturer claims they are water resistant. This model comes with detachable 47-inch long standard audio cable and a USB charging cable.
Sound quality: We found the Out There provides Excellent active noise reduction and that the sound quality was pretty much the same when the noise cancelling feature was turned on in the Bluetooth or the wire connected mode. When the noise cancelling feature is turned on it delivers sound quality that falls in the Fair range, meaning that it has sonic shortcomings that leave a lot to be desired when listening to music but don't rule it out for dialog and communication. The overall sound can best be summarized as muffled. Bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes fairly deep, but is muddy. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is fairly even, but muffled. The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is muted. The sound lacks a sense of liveliness, is closed-in (sound-wise it is obvious that you have something plugging your ears), and doesn't do a good job of recovering the room ambience of a recording (the sense of the acoustic space in which the audio program that's being listened to was recorded). When the noise cancelling feature is turned off in the Bluetooth or cord connected mode the sound quality, while still in the Fair range, is slightly improved from when the noise canceling feature is engaged. Compared to when the noise canceling mode is engaged the bass becomes prominent and boomy, the midrange becomes less muffled but has more noticeable grain, and the treble is less muted. These headphones provide Excellent noise reduction that's fairly even across the entire frequency range. When the noise canceling feature is turned on there is a slight hiss that can be heard in quiet environments when there is no audio program material to mask it; if these headphones are cord connected to AC powered audio equipment there may be an increase in background hiss.
Comfort: We found that these headphones produce a sense of moderate pressure on the ears. As typical of on-ear models the earpads might feel hot and/or sticky after prolonged use. Some users might find that the headphones feel unstable and shift forward a bit and may even fall off when they lean far forward. When wearing this model while walking the vibrations from each foot step can be heard faintly through the headphones, and when the audio cable is connected the sound of it rubbing on clothing may also be heard faintly through the headphones.
