Comments on: A look at noise cancelling headphones

By: Wes

Wes — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:20:26 +0000

I recently bought a pair of noise canceling headphones you didn’t even mention: the Sennheiser PXC 450. I was prompted by this review . . .

http://tech.spotcoolstuff.com/review/noise-canceling-headphones/bose-vs-sennheiser

. . . that compared them to the QC3.

Though it is impossible to know the road not taken, I’ve been really happy with my 450s so far. i was going to comment that one of the best things about them is that I can sleep on an airplane with these headphones on. And then I saw the last commenter mentioned this point as well. But I think in most reviews this important fact gets overlooked.

By: Juan9569

Juan9569 — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:29:45 +0000

Hi Raoul,

I wanted to say first that I have very much enjoyed a number of your reviews! You get into the right level of detail as well as bringing it to the level of the common user.

I was surprised that you didn’t review the Bose QC-3 (ok, I know they are expensive and you don’t care for the on ear designs ;-). On a recent trip, I had the opportunity to use the QC-3 on 2 9-10 hour overnight segments. I got upgrades to business class on American Airlines and they provide these to business class passengers for the duration of the flight. Pity that we have to give them back at the end of the flight!

I carry the Philips HN110 headsets (model previous to the 9500) - which to my ears has about the same airplane noise reduction as the 9500 and slightly less than the QC2. In many long flights, I’ve had the opportunity to compare the HN110 against nearly every other headset and never found one that was reduced noise enough to justify paying extra for one of the top end models. I’m sure the same is the case with the 9500.

What impressed me with the QC3 is they had *significantly* more noise reduction over my HN110. It was also the first headset I used that in addition to the airplane sounds, muted the other higher frequency ‘noises’ in the airplane. It really made a difference and I wanted to buy them on the spot! I have to say that I was never a believer in the on ear design - however in this case, lightly fitting over my ears - they reduced the noise a lot more than my over the ear model. Also they were comfortable. I didn’t notice any heat issues either. For me what was key was that I could, with a little care, *sleep* on them! E.g., I could put my head on the side and sleep comfortably - something hard to do with the ‘can’ over the ear headsets.

If you ever have the opportunity to try them out, would love to know what you think about them.

By: Raoul

Raoul — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:19:20 +0000

Jeff, there’s a big difference between noise cancelling (which relies on circuitry to cancel out certain sound waves) and noise reduction (which relies on a brute physical barrier to block sound waves from entering the ear canal). I have looked at in-ear headphones as well, and plan to write a review of a few of those models fairly soon. They would be what you’d call noise reduction headphones. The Comply NR-10 look good, but I’d have to test them in person to know how well they work.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:24:39 +0000

Not all noise reduction headphones need batteries or cost $200-$300. I use the Comply NR-10 earphones for travel all the time. The soft foam tips expand and fill your ear canal to block outside noise across all frequencies. Much easier to travel with than other bulky around the ear designs. I bought my set on their website at www.complyfoam.com.

By: Fiisty

Fiisty — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 02:29:19 +0000

I received the aurvana x-fi during my birthday.. I will be using that for my upcoming trip. Have been trying out the headphones and I’m glad to know that I’m still able to use it as a normal pair of headphones when the batteries run out (as I know some headphones that runs on battery does not allow you to use it once the battery runs out) I would considered the crystalizer and cmss nice add on to the headphones. When listening to music with them turned on, I did noticed improvement in the overall sound, more details of the music can be heard too.

By: Raoul

Raoul — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:40:54 +0000

J., I had a feeling the technology was watered down in these products. Ideally, I’d like to see noise-canceling technology cancel out all sound waves, regardless of whether they’re low or high, or to have a dimmer-like control that lets me select how much or how little noise-canceling I want. I don’t know why that’s not put forward. It’d be okay for me if they weren’t true headphones that I could listen to music with, and only did noise-canceling — if they did it well, across the whole range of sounds. If, when I put on a pair of these headphones, I could get supreme quiet, I’d be pretty happy.

By: J. Phil

J. Phil — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:45:14 +0000

The best noise-canceling headphones I have ever had were made by the original patent-holders of the technology. They required a 9-volt battery in a separate box, but they were great.

I would include a link, but unfortunately I lost them several years ago and I can’t remember the manufacturer name.