KEF M500 headphones offer superb sound in an attractive package (Gallery)

As a daily train commuter I enjoy good headphones for music, movies, and podcasts. I also like quality headphones for frequent airplane flights. For the last few weeks I have been using an extremely comfortable and well-designed pair, the M500 over the ear headphones from KEF.

The KEF M500 headphones come in a solid black and white retail package with a cool exploded view of the headphone internals under the front flap. Inside the box you will find the headphones, 1.3 meter flat cable with gold plated connector, 3 button inline remote and microphone, flight adapter, extra 1.3 meter cable with no remote, 6.3mm connector, and handy carrying case.

There is very soft material covering the memory foam ear pads and these might be the most comfortable ear pads I have tested. The soft material with padding is on the top of the arch that rests on top of your head as well.

The 3.5mm connector plugs into the back of the left side headphones. The flat cable design feels quite durable and doesn't tangle easy either.

The arms and frame of each ear piece is brushed aluminum and feels like a premium quality product. While giving the headphones a quality feel, the aluminum also helps make the headphones pretty light.

The earpieces rotate 90 degrees and also swivel up about 135 degrees to fold up into quite a compact form for storage and easy carriage. These headphones are not powered and do not have noise cancellation. That said, sound output is excellent. The design of the hinge, called a Smart Hinge, allows the earpiece to fit over the ear and reduce sound leakage around the ear cup.

I wear glasses much of the time and most over-the-ear headphones start to press on my ears and make them sore after a couple of hours. I was pleased to feel such comfort with these headphones and never experienced any discomfort while testing them out.

I made a few calls using the remote and people said I sounded great. I also used the remote to control the volume levels while listening to music.

Specifications include:

• 40mm driver
• Frequency response of 20Hz to 20 kHZ
• Sensitivity of 103 dB
• Impedance of 32 +/- 15 percent Ohm
• -20 dB noise attenuation
• 208 gram weight

I looked at several different headphone solutions over the past couple of years, check out my 2012 holiday gift guide , and looking through that list I would have to say the KEF M500 is a solid competitor. It is the same price as the Beats Executive earphones and $100 more than the Logitech UE 6000. I like that no power is needed to experience amazing sound and they are extremely comfortable.

Sound output was clear and loud with no excessive bass or anything extra to take away from the music. Their performance was fantastic and audiophiles may want to take a look at them.

You can find the KEF M500 headphones direct from KEF for $299.99 or through other retailers, such as Amazon.