I bought these shoes primarilly for mountain hikes. I tried them for the first time today and they got a good workout, 11 miles through all conditions from sharp rocks, to slush, mud, some 6" deep snow, cement pavement too. I would say these are the best hiking shoes I've ever owned by far. Before this I was using regular New Balance 608 cross trainers. They worked well, but in conditions that are not favorable such as the mud, snow ect my feet would get wet. Not with these 956. They also seemed to have better traction in these conditions as I was able to do 11 miles and 1800ft elevation climb in a little over 3hrs even with the mud/snow. I'll say my feet were not 100% dry, but could have had some sweat, or wicking of the socks from snow above the shoes, but will say my feet were dry considering the conditions encountered. I'm very happy spending the extra money for these over the 608.
Update after some more use: I walked 20 miles on pavement and did OK, then next week did 9 and did OK. By OK I mean I had a few small blisters but nothing terrible, then the next week did 20 miles again. Now the blisters are getting pretty serious, but still not horrible, next week did 15 miles and I could tell my feet were doing very bad whithin the first mile, next week I planned a long one, 27 miles. My feet were still sore from previous weeks and I knew these 956 were not going to do it, so used the 608s and walked the 27 miles in 6hr 10min. I thought I did good, but blisters are size of a half dollar however I can wear the 608 without pain, the 956 I can't wear at this time. So take it for what it's worth, my feet have degraded from not giving time to heal, but I think the 608 work better for me on long pavement walks.