Stiff as new but remove the plastic liner underneath to loose some of the hard support - unless you want stiffer pads. If you need a decent pair of boots for work, try these. Not for people with wide feet I would definitely recommend it for smaller spaces. The projection was NOT visible in any of the pictures! When I talk closer to the tip of the mic (by taking the headset off), the volume is higher, but thats hardly a solution. To make it seem like their product is worth more than it actually is. The headset itself was very comfortable and very useful as it had decent mic quality and good comfort but the only problem in these headphones Ive had personally is durability. they aren?t the MOST comfortable shoes ever but for the price you can?t go wrong. I really love these headphones.