I got a buddy with a set on his GMC 2wd truck. I've never noticed ANY road noise on his. As far as handling, I've never driven his truck farther than just moving it out of the way in his driveway, but from the passenger side, I've never noticed an issue.
You just may have gotten a bad set, a cupped tire will sound really bad and handle like crap...

 

Man I gotta tell ya you must have had a bad set of tires because these babies to me handle like a ricer road tire. But then again I have been driving on practically bald tires for almost 2 years. I went through some wimpy mud holes and had no problems whatsoever. I am thoroughly impressed with the performance of these. I have yet to drive them on wet pavement but when it rains I'll let ya know how they do.