They had a fairly well balanced sound, but they lacked the bass and highs that todays headphones have. They are surprisingly soft and pliable. Im 64/5 ish and with my small basement ceiliing I have the pull up bar at the bottom rung and still walk under with much room. However, we contacted the seller and they very nicely sent out some replacements. If there are any negative findings, I will update this review accordingly. The racks themselves work good. They last forever and the only reason I don?t wear my first couple is they are my work ones, and now get used for daily house chores and painting. Even when volume is maxed on phone the sound is just not loud enough this is more of a problem during calls. You cannot perform ANY actions while it is locked. Pull out the originals and you will see the plastic channel where the elastic / tuck comes out from.