They do not completely cancel out conversations. They do a good job at muffling them. Some conversations I have noticed at work to be completely canceled out, however when someone tends to change the volume of their voice a lot the headphones have problems canceling the noise. I would also tell you when you aren't playing music or listening to anything, but you have the canceling on you will feel a slight pressure in your ear. It is weird at first but you get used to it. If you were buying them just for the purpose of canceling out conversations I would not recommend them, but if you would like to do that as well as buy an awesome pair of headphones, I would say these are the best out there.