I'm no audiophile, but I can tell when headphones are just horrible, and these definitely aren't. Bass, mid, and treble seem well balanced and even without the noise canceling on they still do a pretty good job of keeping noise out.The noise canceling is the only issue I have with the headphones. Although it's very good at taking out most noise ranges (I've never had a pair of headphones, including these, do well on the high pitches), it definitely creates some strong hissing. At least it's not variable with the music volume so when the music's loud you can't hear it at all, but it's very annoying on during the quiet parts, which is when you need the noise canceling the most. :(Still, these headphones are a good deal and the price would be fair with no noise canceling at all.