The other problem I have with these is that the monitor option (hearing my own voice through the speakers) is really really low volume with all the setting cranked up as far as they can go; i hear more background noise than my own voice at full crank.

Blocks out background noise.

you're a fan of the sound of open headphones, removing the ear pads creates that nice open/wide sound without letting in background noise, and they still fit extremely comfortably without the pads

The headset works great, the mic is amazing in that it doesnt pick up any of the background noise, and the headset itself provides very clear audio

The Mic sounds good but I had to buy a external usb sound card to stop the mic from picking up alot of background noise

The mic on this is crystal clear, and it doesn't pick up background noise

However testing shows the mic seems to like picking up background noise quite a lot

However testing shows the mic seems to like picking up background noise quite a lot

Love the headset however I believe that my Audio Controller is broken as it causes sound to not come from different sides unless the scroll wheel is in a specific position.

Unfortunately the headphones are only as strong as it's weakest link, the headphone plug broke shortly after plugging it into my iPad it broke