[shortchange]

I was all set on purchasing the PXC 450 based on user reviews but then I read this:

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/rev...20-headphones/

They claim Bose is better.

Does anyone have opinions on the ATH-ANC7b or quitecomfort 15?

(other than I hate bose because its cool to hate bose

)

I'm more interested in noise canceling over fidelity.

Thanks

 

[Scott549]

I think ilounge is credible. I'm not a big Bose fan either, but some of their stuff does actually sound good. Similary, Sennheiser makes some stuff that sounds like absolute crap.

 

[dnullify]

i dunno. i find them insightful on cases, speakers and other ipod accessories. Not so much on headphones... i tend to take user reviews here on head-fi a bit more seriously.

Ilounge has helpful pictures, but i find they focus on build quality and accessories, rather than sound quality on headphones. it's a matter of perspective. i don't know whether their reviews are aimed at audiophiles, or standard consumers.

then again i wouldn't know about that model... i stay away from "noise canceling" models on principal...

 

[Gbjerke]

YouTube - Noise Cancelling Shootout!
Best NC there is. The sound is a lot more detailed, has a lot more seperation and you can hear silence between the sounds, not just a huge mesh. The bose have a lot more bass, and are easier to drive. If you dont care the bulk, and arent a basshead, id go ahead and get the 450 if ur certain that u want NC, as they have the state of the art NC as well as superb sound.

 

[shortchange]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gbjerke /img/forum/go_quote.gif YouTube - Noise Cancelling Shootout! Best NC there is. The sound is a lot more detailed, has a lot more seperation and you can hear silence between the sounds, not just a huge mesh. The bose have a lot more bass, and are easier to drive. If you dont care the bulk, and arent a basshead, id go ahead and get the 450 if ur certain that u want NC, as they have the state of the art NC as well as superb sound.

Thanks for the awesome reply!!

Why wouldn't I want NC? I often wear my regular headphones at work just to muffle out people/computers/noise (without anything playing). I thought NC would make it even better.

Now I'm trying to decide between the pxc 350 and ATH-ANC7B. Any links for a noise test on that one?

 

[nc8000]

The noise cancelling systems tend to muffle/distort/mangle the sound of the music to some extend so are generally not thought to highly of if sq is the priority. Also active noise cancelling is more suited to some types of background noise than others. One of the best applications is to kill the constant drone of an airplane engine. If sq is a priority (you say it is not for you) passive measures like iem's or some closed phones might be better.

 

[dnullify]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nc8000 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The noise cancelling systems tend to muffle/distort/mangle the sound of the music to some extend so are generally not thought to highly of if sq is the priority. Also active noise cancelling is more suited to some types of background noise than others. One of the best applications is to kill the constant drone of an airplane engine. If sq is a priority (you say it is not for you) passive measures like iem's or some closed phones might be better.

My thoughts exactly... i've had some bad experiences with NC cans. they didn't stay with me too long. though these do look good, much better than the bose crap.

 

[PetCed]

NC technology is still not ready we think. It mess with the audio too much and specially the lows. After all these years of new cool tech a cable of good quality is still Nr.1 in terms of audio quality.

 

[wantmyf1]

Don't like NC. Changes sound and there is usually some sort of background hiss when it's on. NC8000 is right, it really is intended to work with more constant noise such as a plane engine or some other type of droning noise. it is generally quite poor at cancelling out a human voice.