[TheExselsior]

Hello! I am a new user to this site and am also a relatively new headphone enthusiast. I just recently became interested in headphones more in depth. So I have a question for you; Is there a pair of headphones that are ANC but they have an option to allow voices to come through. I know that this does exist but I believe they are pretty expensive. Is there a pair that is below $100? If not, what is the cheapest pair that has this capability and actually works? Thanks a lot!

 

[serman005]

Do you mean a feature that turns ANC on or off or a feature that specifically allows vocals/voice through when the ANC is on?

 

[TheExselsior]

Do you mean a feature that turns ANC on or off or a feature that specifically allows vocals/voice through when the ANC is on?

I meant a feature that allows you to make the headphones go from ANC that blocks everything to allowing voices to come through. I guess both of your options though really.

An example would be the Sony MDR 1000x

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I meant a feature that allows you to make the headphones go from ANC that blocks everything to allowing voices to come through. I guess both of your options though really.

An example would be the Sony MDR 1000x

What the MDR1000X has isn't really selectively knowing that voices should not get a cancelling signal to take them out, but:

1. Some kind of gesture so when the flight attendant is near you you just wave at the earcup to instantly lower the volume instead of mashing a button or taking it off so you can hear if she's asking whether you want beef or chicken.

2. Variable levels of the noise cancelling signal, so you can walk around; or only cancelling out the average and weaker noise levels, so when an announcement comes through on the PA system which normally tends to be louder. Normally. If you have a lot of people yelling at the ticketing counter near you it's not going to work when the PA system tells everybody that all flights are grounded due to bad weather or that a second plane has hit another tower.

In short, don't expect it to be anywhere near perfect, considering that even if it can distinguish voices from the ambient noise, it can't tell which voices are important enough to hear.

Also you might as well get the MDR1000X. I've tried it on and as far as full on ANC is concerned it works a lot better than his slightly older Bose.