[vanger]

I made a topic a long time ago asking what headphones would be suitable for my mom. Well, a long time has past and she still hasn't decided on any but recently she did her own searching and came upon the AT ATH-ANC7. She came up to me and asked me about how well they shut out noise, but I had no clue. I know head-fi'ers generally tend to stay away from noise cancelling headphones, but shutting out as much noise as possible is the absolute highest priority (next to price) for her.

She isn't up for IEM's because of the extra maintenance and wouldn't be ideal for her in her work station (taking them off/on when someone comes up to her).

They can be had for $125 on amazon.com and another guy on the FS forum has them for $109.

What are your guys' opinions? Will they do the job (shut out the noise from her chatty cubicle neighbors)? Are there any better alternatives?

And just to add, the Bose QC3 was way above her budget ($350).

Thanks

 

[slwiser]

Search for ATHANC7 and get a thread with reviews.

BTW, I compared them to the QC2 and the ANC7 were notably better. But if you want Bose feel free to spend the money.

 

[selfdivider]

I agree w/ slwiser. As for "noise-canceling," you can't take that phrase literally as you'd still hear ambient noise filtering in. The best way to cancel out noise is still through the canal phones. I think ANC7s are the way to go as Amazon has a huge price-cut on them. Or maybe look into Sennheiser PXC350 or something... I don't know how much they are. I have PXC450 and they're amazing.

 

[vanger]

I just read that whole thread. Thanks for the input

If I can test them after she gets them, I'll post my impressions back in that huge thread.

Thanks again.

 

[jm5]

I read through the thread as well. Seems good.

However, I have read other reviews where noise leakage has been reported as a serious problem.

How can there be such extremes of view on this ? Granted, there are significantly more reviews that do NOT complain about leakage, but there are enough that do complain about it to make me ask the question.

 

[Rednamalas1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jm5 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I read through the thread as well. Seems good. However, I have read other reviews where noise leakage has been reported as a serious problem. How can there be such extremes of view on this ? Granted, there are significantly more reviews that do NOT complain about leakage, but there are enough that do complain about it to make me ask the question.

Maybe you just need to get a proper seal? If they don't give you a tight grip of your ears (like HD280) I would assume there's some sound leakage.

Still a great bargain compared to many of other brands, for sure.

 

[jm5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rednamalas1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Maybe you just need to get a proper seal?

Yes. That's what I would have thought as well. Fairly basic suggestion, which is why I am interested to hear that there are some reviewers who still complain of leakage.

I know everyone's standards are different, but some of the reviews claim that the sound is the same on teh outside as it is on the inside !!! i wonder if they are wearing them the correct way round ?

 

[peterskim]

Active noise canceling headphones won't cut down the noise of chatty neighbors any more than good closed-back headphones. I tried on my coworker's Bose QC2; it did an excellent job of cutting down white noise but it's ability to block out people talking was no better than my open-backed Sennheiser HD-497s!

 

[jm5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by peterskim /img/forum/go_quote.gif Active noise canceling headphones won't cut down the noise of chatty neighbors any more than good closed-back headphones. I tried on my coworker's Bose QC2; it did an excellent job of cutting down white noise but it's ability to block out people talking was no better than my open-backed Sennheiser HD-497s!

Its not about what you can hear from outside. The reviewers report that people sitting next to you when you are listening to music etc through the ANC7 can hear everything very clearly - i.e. the sound leakage is coming from your music out to the general public.

 

[wontanamo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jm5 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Its not about what you can hear from outside. The reviewers report that people sitting next to you when you are listening to music etc through the ANC7 can hear everything very clearly - i.e. the sound leakage is coming from your music out to the general public.

i agree; mine leaks as much as my HD580 & SR60, but not as much as AKG 501. Good quality sound though (only with active NC on); much more detailed & accurate than Bose QC-2. Also musical and has enough bass. Noise cancellation circuit does seem a tiny bit inferior to bose; once in a while i get buzzing noise on one ear, and if i adjust my head a bit it goes away (a problem i never had with bose). Another problem is that the head band doesn't extend very much; my medium-large head extends the band all the way and it would be unusable if I was any bigger headed. Build quality is top notch, just like QC-2.

 

[diab0lik]

i've tried the anc7 which my brother bought home. they are pretty good definately better than bose qcs. but i do love canalfones for true isolation. the shures with the black foamies i have kick ass and i can barely hear any outside noise when i got music playing.

 

[scompton]

Short of canal phones, the anc7 are the best I've tried for isolating. I tried them at a noisy meet and the background noise went away. No one was standing right next to me talking, but there was about 30 people in the room talking. They isolated almost as well as my UM1. Even with the UM1, I can hear people talking right next to me. My im716 isolates a lot better, but I can't wear them for longer than an hour or 2 before they irritate my ears.

 

[aluren]

noise cancelling is only good on planes. i bought a pair because i travel alot. otherwise, it wouldn't be much use to me as my UE-10 custom IEM can shield noise better (with the exception of plane engines). i just got them recently and the sound quality is actually not bad!

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aluren /img/forum/go_quote.gif noise cancelling is only good on planes. i bought a pair because i travel alot. otherwise, it wouldn't be much use to me as my UE-10 custom IEM can shield noise better (with the exception of plane engines). i just got them recently and the sound quality is actually not bad!

Mass transit is very similar to planes. At least hear on the DC Metro. If anything the DC metro is worse. I bought an SPL meter at a Radio Shack near work and measured the noise levels in the Metro system on my way home. Background noise in a station without a train was 85dB, with a train 95-100dB. On the train 100-110dB with peaks of 130dB. This was late enough in the evening that I was sitting alone so wasn't measuring people talking right next to me. Nor was I measuring PA announcements. I've never tried active noise cancellation on the Metro because I've never owned any. Active noise cancellation may not cancel out people talking next to you or PA announcements, but my IEMs don't either, at least at the low levels I listen.

 

[Skylab]

I agree, noise cancellation for planes and trains, and use portable closed cans for everything else.

That said, the ANC7's are great for NC headphones, better than the PXC450 and QC2 (both of which I tried).