The Headphones

It's quite evident that the Noisebuster Extreme! wasn't meant to win any beauty contest. Everything's too thick and blocky. NCT should really trimmed off some of the plastic. Surprisingly, it rides well on my head even with its apparently ungainly design. That's probably because the headphones only weigh only 90g. However, slinging it around my neck was a rather painful experience due to its blocky design with many edges. 

Unfortunately, there's one aspect that's quite unforgivable about the Noisebuster. I don't have a particularly large head but I had to fully extend the headband to actually fit it! I have never had to do so with my other headphones.

The headband length of the Noisebuster at full extension (from the center of one ear cup to another) is about 42cm (16.5"). In comparison, both the Bose QuietComfort and my JVC HA-V560 headphones have a headband length of about 48cm (19"). That's a critical difference of 3cm (1.2") on both sides. So, check and see if it fits before you buy it. If you have a larger head (no pun intended!), the Noisebuster will not fit you properly and there's no way around this.

The Ear Cups

Here's a closer look of the ear cups. Well, actually, the ear cups do not cover the ears. They merely rest on your ears and only exert a mild force on them. This improves comfort although it won't do much for noise reduction.

The ear cushions are soft but they are covered by a very thin layer of PVC cloth which is probably quite susceptible to physical damage. So, you will have to be gentle with the ear cushions when you use the Noisebuster.

The ear cups are quite thick as there's an appreciable gap between the speakers and the ear cushions. This should be the place where the active noise reduction takes place. Where the anti-noise waves neutralize the noise waves.