I had been looking for the Essence in stores for some time too in vain, so was surprised to stumble into them with such a good price, but I don't think I would have bought them at MSRP.

Today I was using them in the bus and was playing around a bit with the active noise cancelling, and for the low rumbling of the bus it had surprisingly big effect, so it is actually quite ideal device for commuting!

But overall if looking for something over bluetooth, BH-111 probably is much better value for the money at least if you already own decent quality headphones. Bought that one for the wife, and she seems happy too.