Audio-Technica ATH ANC23 QuietPoint

paconavarro

100+ Head-Fier
Pros: Great sound for the price. Amazing soundstage for an IEM. Incredible isolation.
Cons: High microphonics on the cable.
 
First of all Id like to thank Headphones.com for the IEMs, I was the lucky and happy winner of the weekly giveaway a couple months ago and of course AudioTechnica.

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I received them about a couple weeks ago, they arrived nicely packed, so no complains about that.​
 

Cosmetics

The IEMs have a very strong built quality, the exterior finish is nice and attractive with a brass like color, the cable is ok, but the way its coiled in the package makes it hard to manage once you start using them; its like it has a mind of its own and finally it is a bit noisy the microphonics are very present.

The ATH-ANC23 has a control attached to the cable that houses the noise canceling circuit and one AAA battery, this control is pretty simple, On and Off button, and a volume knob on the side and a belt clip on the back.

The package includes the IEMs, a battery, a small velour bag, a pair of foam tips, and silicon "olive" tips in small, medium and large sizes; and an airplane connector adapter.

 

Comfort

First I want to point out that I'm not an IEM user, I really like full size headphones and I had 4 over the ears pairs, so this is my second pair of IEMs, of course besides the apple earbuds and so.

Putting things inside your ear canal can be tricky and some people don't like it, in my case I'm not used to, but I can say that you can live with them, this is the first time I have them in my ears for more than 10 minutes and so far, they put some pressure on the ear canal specially on the right side, but only custom IEMs get rid of that issue. Maybe is my ear that has to get used to them.

 

Sound Quality

I let them burn for about 40hrs using my office system a MACBookPro - FiiOe7 - MeierCorda HeadFive (only 500 were made).  Just to be fair my main pair of cans are a DT990s so you understand that I like bass and treble and it is my main reference for comparison.

The first thing I noticed is that this IEMs are midcentric, with very forward mids, too much for my taste, I found a hump on the 1khz to 3khz. They are clean but not as detailed as the mids in DT990s.

The Highs have some sibilance around 8k and I expected some grain but there is not, they have great extent.  In some songs they can get kind of harsh. 

Lows had great extension and quality too, but I felt it a bit bloated, it has punch and you can hear the lower end very clear, of course not with the punch of a full size can, but if they are correctly inserted in you ear canal, they have a very interesting frequency response.

I coincide with DavidMahler from Head-Fi and Headphones.com about the soundstage on this IEMs, is great, good imaging, you don't feel the sound behind your eyes, in fact is more like the singer is singing 2 inches in front of you, the center image is a bit diffuse but I've heard some closed cans that can't even compete with the ANC23's soundstage quality.

 

Isolation

WOW! that resumes my experience with the isolation with this IEMs, in my case the Silicon "Olive" like tips isolated better than the foam tips. Im a frequent flyer, but I never thought of buying noise canceling HPs or IEMs, most of the flights I take are 2 hrs or shorter, so I really thought noise cancel was a luxury, I can wait 2 hrs to hear my music… OH I WAS SO WRONG!!!! as soon you turn on the noise cancel function the plane roar disappears, I did it first without music and you hear only a very low frequency hum, thats it… once you play some music the plane is completely gone, I mean TOTALY gone, the great thing is that you still can pick the voices around you but in a low level, and the ability to turn the volume up or down with the knob on the side of the noise cancel unit is a great feature, the noise canceling is kept but the music goes up or down.  I even took a trip to the plane's bathroom and let them on, without music cause my source was the macbookpro. I LOVE THEM… Im sure I'll never fly again without them…

 

Conclusion

Great sound for the price

Amazing soundstage for an IEM

Incredible isolation

This is a great option for the frequent traveler, they take very little space and have really good isolation, you wont regret buying a pair of this IEMs.

Tardisk

New Head-Fier
Pros: Very good noise cancellation, relatively little background hiss, great sound.
Cons: Bad microphonics, and the cable has a mind of its own.
Really excellent for travel, as they're quite comfortable and have excellent noise cancellation for the price. My one complaint is that the cable is a bit short, and makes a good deal of noise. Furthermore, the rubbery plastic coating makes awful tangles in your pocket. Otherwise a fantastic IEM, especially considering the $50 price tag on Amazon right now.

ColeTheSoul

New Head-Fier
Pros: Solid Noise Cancellation for in-ear, Good Battery Life, Can Be Used Without N/C on, Sound pretty good, Fine Volume Control
Cons: Oddly Shaped, Battery Box Not in the Best Spot, Weak Y-Split
At this point I have had these earbuds for a bit over three years, and they are still serving me well. In the first year the y-split to each bud began to actually split, but this may have been slightly my fault. Still a flimsy cable. But these actually sound pretty good, and cancel out a good amount of background noise. Fans and stuff like that it does pretty well. In public places they perform adequately. They take one triple A battery that lasts long enough (can't really say how long maybe 30 or so hours maybe more?). The fine tuning volume wheel is fantastic, I use these to fall asleep, and the volume adjustment along with the cancellation make them great for that. I initially thought these were a bit of a gimmick but I have grown to love them. If they were to break, I would buy these or a similar product for replacement in a heartbeat. They may seem uncomfortable at first, but you get used to it. For their current price of $40 it would be hard to find a decent competitor.
ColeTheSoul
ColeTheSoul
After paying closer attention to the battery life. It seems that it can last far far longer than 30 hours. I have accidentally left it on for a couple days and i'm still using them on the same battery I put in two months ago. So far it has been over 100 hours and its still going strong.
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