There are a variety of noise-cancelling headphones available in the market today.  Most noise-cancelling headphones emphasize portability because they are meant to be used on the go where it matters most...on the airplane.  But you aren't just restricted to using it on an airplane, you can basically use it anywhere where noise might be a distracting factor for you: on the bus, on the street, or even in your home.

Today, I will be reviewing a set of headphones which claims to be comparable to the highly praised Bose Quiet Comfort II headphones as seen in other reviews from different places. What's interesting is that these headphones don't come from a well-known brand names such as Sennheiser or Sony.  Instead, these headphones were made by a company called Outside the Box.  In fact, these headphones seem to be the company's only product that it sells.  These headphones sell for approximately $200.  The key point for this review is whether these headphones are good enough to tackle on the Bose QuietComfort series at a price point which is $100 less.
 

The headphones were packaged in a small black box.  When opening the box, I stumbled upon the case which contained everything prepackaged inside it.  The nylon case is oval shaped with a purse-like look.  There is a zipper in the center to allow you to open up the case.  The case is something probably expected for headphones at this price level, but nevertheless, it is still a welcome accessory with the product.  For travel purposes though, the case does seem a bit large for its size and isn't quite as space efficient as I would have liked.
 

The headphones were already in its most compact form folded up inside the case.  In its folded position, the headphone's left and right ear cups are right against each other with the headband folded along on the side.  In this somewhat compact form, it is slightly easier to store or pack it , but it obviously isn't the size to be able to fit it in your pocket.

You might be wondering how the headphones are able to fold like that.  It is because the headband has a mechanism where it can be folded and unfolded at the center of the headband.  When the headband is unfolded, you will see a clasp that is used to lock the headband in place when it is ready to be used.  In order to undo the plastic clasp, you just use the tip of your finger and press down on the locking clasp to release it.  I noticed that the headphone has more of a V-shape than a circular shape.  This is probably to keep your hair away from the clasp.

On the left cup of the headphones are the controls.  There is a green power LED which lights up when the noise-cancelling effect is on.  Otherwise, it is off.  In addition, there is a simple noise-cancelling on and off switch.  Lastly, there is knob-like dial which is used to control the overall volume going to the headphones.    This is independent of the source volume meaning that you have the ability to change the volume no matter how loud or soft is the source your are listening from.  By using my left hand, I am able to easily feel whether I am touching the noise-canceling button or the volume control.

Each ear-cup has a leather-like material padding that is soft, yet is also resistant from wear if you are the type of person who sweats a lot.  When putting on the headphones, the headphones had a tight, yet firm fit on my ears.  The ear-cups only make contact with the outer rim of your ear.
 

Included in the package is a headphone cable, two AAA batteries, and two adapters.  The headphone cable is used in between your headphones and the source you are listening to.  You plug one side into the headphones.  The jack is located below the volume control dial on the headphones.  This modular approach makes it slightly easier to pack and unpack the wires of the headphones.  It also suggests that you can use the headphones solely for its noise canceling abilities in situations where you don't need to listen to music and just want to have a quiet place wherever you go.  The two AAA batteries are installed in the headphones by opening the compartment outside on one of the ear cups.  Lastly, adapters have been provided so  you can use it on stereo equipment or on the airplane.

Unlike the Bose QuietComfort headphones, you are able to listen to your music whether the noise-cancelling is on or off on the Solitude's.  The QuietComfort headphones are unable to listen to music with the noise-cancelling off.  Generally, I found the sound quality of these headphones to be decent.  The detail and fidelity is definitely there, and will satisfy most people who aren't too critical about the sound.  The bass is strong, but depending on the person's taste, it can be a bit boomy to some.  However, under critical listening, I found that the sound seemed slightly muffled, therefore, making the sound sometimes seem dull.  Turning on the noise-cancellation for some reason, made it slightly better, but not by much.  Overall, I found these headphones excelled in higher quality material such as CD's or watching movies.

These headphones feature both passive and active noise canceling abilities with active noise cancellation being its primary focus.  The passive noise cancellation is done by the somewhat tight seal it creates it creates around your ears.  This tight seal had a minimal impact on the comfort level of the headphones.  I found that I was able to use these headphones for hours easily with occasional breaks in-between.  The active noise cancellation is done with a tiny microphone built into the headphones.  The microphone picks up the noise and communicates with the electronics inside to produce a signal to effectively cancel the noise.  When the noise cancellation is on, you do hear a low noise in the background if it is completely quiet.  When you start playing your music or watching movies, you will probably not notice it after a while.

I found the active noise cancellation to work quite well and better than I had expected.  Keep in mind that noise-cancellation technology can't eliminate heavy noises completely.  It's purpose is to help deaden the noise that is most disturbing.  This product is able to cancel noise up to an 18 decibel decrease.  The noise cancellation is very comparable, if not better, than the Bose QuietComfort headphones.  I know I have fan noises coming from my computer, as well as hard drive noise.  When using the headphones, the noise cancellation was able to completely eliminate those background noises.  Even when snapping my own fingers in front of me, I was barely able to hear it at all.
 

The Solitude headphones prove that good noise cancellation abilities can still be offered at a much lower price compared with the Bose QuietComfort II.  These headphones were able to provide noise cancellation on par with Bose's offering.  The sound quality of these headphones were ok in general, but at the price point of $199.99 a critical listener may demand more.  These headphones didn't sound bad.  They do offer good detailed sound, but it could be improved.  If you are a person who is on a budget and places more of an emphasis on noise cancellation, this product would work for you.  If you are looking for the best sound quality though, I would still have to recommend Bose's offering in that situation, but be prepared to pay for it.  The solitude headphones can be purchased at ProTravelGear.com at a price of $199.99.