[Justice Strike]

I'm currently looking to buy some new earbuds, ideally i would want to go for Sony's, however it seems that they are not being sold anymore or the ones that are being sold are not that good (i.e. xba-nc85d).
 
I'm looking at two options. AKG k391nc (rebatched harman kardon soho II nc) or the Audio Technica ATH-ANC33IS.
 
I hear mixed sounds regarding the k391, some say the noise cancelling is non existant and some say the k391 doesn't sound all to good with high pitched hiss.
 
On the other hand, the Audio Technica's seem to have better noise cancelling, but are quite mediocre regarding sound quality. Also the build quality seems to be quite bad.
 
Does anyone have any opinions on the AKG k391? If you would have to choose between these two headphones, and they are the same price, wich would you opt for?
 
lastly,  is it still worth getting the akg k391, they seem to be quite old, i can get them at quite a nice price (70 usd) but I'd hate to invest in something that really isn't up to standard anymore.
 
As a reference I have and use the following headphones myself:
- Sony PFR-V1 (probably the best sounding headphone I've heard)
- Sony MDR-1RBT (best bluetooth headphone at the time and quite the steal at 50 euro's)
 
I used to have:
- Sleek Audio SA-6 (very good, but build quality was quite crap)
- Sleek Audio SA-1 (quite the let down after the SA-6)
- Various Nokia + Sony in ear buds.

 

[Justice Strike]

bump... surely there is someone that can tell me one way or another

 

[Justice Strike]

really? noone has any comment?

 

[wilsonlaidlaw]

I have just bought a set of these, having previously been delighted with my K 495 NC over ear NC headphones on which I mostly listen to classic music while travelling. I am afraid that unless there is something wrong with my set of the K391NC earphones, I think they are total c**p. The sound is awful, distorted, faint and the noise cancelling is very poor as well. They are not really usable at all with the NC off, as the volume is so faint as to be inaudible. I phoned up Harman UK customer support this morning but as the lady spoke little to no English (weird impenetrable Indian/Japanese accent), I did not get very far. The sound is not a patch on that from my old passive noise blocking Shure EC3 earphones and the active+passive noise cancellation on the AKG's is not as good as the passive only on the Shure. All in all as far as I am concerned a total waste of money. I am waiting for a response from Harman from their website contact form. I might post something on their Facebook site as that seems the best way nowadays to get a quick response to any complaint. 

 

[wilsonlaidlaw]

Update and much more positive. There was obviously something funny with the battery on this set of earphones or a capacitor had completely "unformed". I left it on charge for a further 3 hours but switched on, after it seemed to have completed its initial charging.The charge light was still on when I unplugged the charger after three hours but did not come back on when I plugged it in later for the "second" charge.  
 
When I tried the earphones again, after the second charge, not expecting much if any improvement, I was amazed. Even before I connected a source, I noticed that the noise cancellation was now working with a substantial reduction in the ambient noise levels, whereas before I could detect no difference. When I connected an iPod Classic, the volume was way up and the quality was hugely improved. The distortion which was previously horrible had gone completely. Very strangely even with the NC switched off, the volume was way up. Still a bit quieter than with NC on but not virtually inaudible like before. I went back and checked with my MacBook Pro to see if the good quality was maintained with it and I am delighted to say it was. My final test is now in progress, leaving it with NC switched on for a good few hours, to see if its battery charges properly again after discharging and the charge light comes on.
 
It takes breaking in a new bit of audio to a whole new level.