Design and features:The headphones work with or without the noise canceling feature being turned on. You can use the noise-canceling feature without listening to music. The Solo Pro has integrated microphones, music player and call connect/disconnect controls that work with paired Bluetooth devices, and a control to switch between noise canceling and ambient sound monitoring. Additional features include manual and voice activation of Apple's Siri digital voice assistant when used with applicable Apple devices using the latest Apple OS versions, manual activation of other unspecified digital voice assistants when used with applicable Bluetooth connected devices with the appropriate apps installed, and earcups that fold for ease of carrying and storage. This model comes with a USB to Lightning connector charging cable and a carrying case.
Sound quality: We found the Solo Pro provides Excellent active noise reduction, and delivers sound quality that falls in the Very Good range - it reproduces music and voice very well although it does have some noticeable sonic quirks. When the noise canceling feature is used the overall sound can best be summarized as a bit thin with a slightly boomy low bass. Bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) goes deep and has decent impact; although it is generally a bit lean the lower bass is a bit boomy. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is a bit thin and grainy, and a touch congested (think sonic traffic jam). The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is extended but somewhat smeared (sounds that should have a delicate shimmer sound blurred). This model does a decent 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). While the sound has a decent sense of liveliness, it is somewhat closed (sound-wise it's fairly obvious you have something covering your ears). There was no significant difference in sound quality between the noise canceling and ambient sound monitoring modes. When the noise canceling or ambient sound monitoring functions are turned off the midrange becomes more even, and even though the bass becomes more prominent and boomy; the sound quality, while still in the Very Good range, is slightly improved. These headphones provide Excellent noise reduction across the entire frequency range with the low frequencies reduced the most. The noise reduction characteristic changes a bit depending on the direction the ambient noise is coming from - when the noise is coming from diagonal directions more mid-frequency noise can be heard. When the noise canceling feature is used a very faint hiss is audible when program material is not present to mask it.
Comfort: We found that these headphones produce a sense of moderate pressure on the ears. As typical of on-ear models the ear pads might feel hot and/or sticky after prolonged use. Users with larger heads might find that the headband does not have enough adjustment range to allow the earcups to rest properly on the ears and/or that the headband presses uncomfortably on the top of the head. Some users may find that when they lean far forward the headphones feel unstable and shift forward and may even fall off when they lean far forward. When wearing this model while walking some users may hear the vibrations from each foot step through the headphones.
