They are pretty decent for the price, probably good as or better than most other thing they sit next to at that store with the exception of perhaps the P5s. But those are about 4x more (street price). The Sonics can be had regularly for $75ish and I've seen them as low as $50 I think. My enthusiasm (like for all too many things!) has faded since I first got them. That said, they're still excellent for their price, one of the most comfortable headphones I have, have decent build except for that cable (too rubbery), and have a decent vee-shaped FR. I'll try to keep my impressions to a minimum because I find myself changing my mind all too often. But I will say that they definitely have an emphasis on the low frequencies and the highs. The bass has a thumpy nature to it, as opposed to that quick punchy one of the V-Moda M80s. The mids are just there- not great, not horrible. The highs have a decent sparkle to them which is probably where they get a bit of that airy sound described by some. The soundstage is decent- likely because of that vee-shaped signature. The M80s sound a bit closed-in and almost monaural in comparison. I use the Sonics at work because they're cheap and I don't care that much at work anyway. As for isolation, they would fall under the semi-sealed category, much like the V-Modas.