DavidMahler
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2007
- Posts
- 4,124
- Likes
- 352
Hey all,
As many of you know I am now working at Headphones.com. One of my tasks is to review some of their headphones. I wanted to post this thread to share with you all that I am flabbergasted (that's right I used the word "flabbergasted"
) by one of the headphones I have auditioned. If you haven't guessed it's the Audio Technica ATH-ANC23. When I'm asked to review under $100 headphones, I keep the price in mind, but with these I'm not sure I had to at all. The sound was on par with headphone at a much higher cost in my opinion. For $80 I feel these deserve much more attention.
Here's my review...
[size=small]DESIGN & FEATURES[/size]
[size=small]I wasn’t sure how the ANC23 would fare in my vast collection of in-ear-monitors. Unlike most of the others which I’ve had the pleasure of trying/owning, the ANC23 include a very nice Active Noise Canceling feature. I was initially inclined to care less about QuietPoint ANC feature because I find that most canal-phones do a good job at canceling out noise even without an ANC feature. However, I found that because of this feature I was less inclined to push the IEMs as deep in and this lead to a comfier fit without sacrificing sound quality. When the music is turned off and the noise cancelling feature is turned on, you can truly notice the ANC feature at work. However with music playing, the feature was less noticeable to me.[/size]
[size=small]
[/size]
[size=small]I tend to prefer IEMs where the cable wraps over and behind the ear. I just find the fit more comfortable this way and the cable also tends to be less intrusive as well in this configuration. The ANC23 have a cable which does not natively wrap behind the ear but instead is designed to fall straight down. Even though this is not my preference, it did not bother me because I still found the earphones themselves to fit very nicely within my ear. I found it particularly easy to find a good fit with these earphones using the medium-sized tips included in the assortment of silicone rubber ear tips. If I had any real quibble with the overall design it would be that the QuietPoint feature (which has a belt-clip on it for easy travel) is just a bit too close to where the cable terminates to make clipping it to my belt or pocket as comfortable as it should be. I wish perhaps the cable were just one foot longer for this reason, but others may not share this experience since I’m a tall oneJ [/size]
[size=small] [/size]
[size=small]SOUND – THE IMPORTANT STUFF![/size]
[size=small]
[/size]
[size=small]I listened to these directly out of an iPod Classic 5G. The sound was truly impressive. The first thing I noticed was that the sound of the ANC23 felt more outside the head than many IEMs. One way in which I test to see how the sound envelops the head is to use a mono recording and take note of the shape and size of the overall sound. I found the ANC23 to present sound in a rounded and in-front-of-you manner. Listening to Duke Ellington’s “Take The ‘A’ Train”, I felt as though I was seated before the band rather than having the band play inside my head.[/size]
[size=small]At its price-point, the ATH-ANC23 is the best sounding earphone I have yet to hear! While I will further scrutinize the sound reproduction, my overall impression of the sound was that in terms of overall transparency and detail. The tonal balance I found to be a touch on the warm side, but the bass showed to be fairly tight. In some orchestral music I found the bass a little under-controlled, however the spatial presentation of these earphones still allowed for plenty of detail to make its way through. I found the midrange to be fairly flat, but it did present some etch up in the upper spectrum of the midrange. The highs feel extended if just slightly rolled off for a nice non-fatiguing experience. I felt I was capable of listening for hours without breaking, using these! I don’t like sibilance from my headphone (the harsh sound of the letter S) and I am very pleased with the fact that these earphones are some of the least sibilant which I’ve tried. Listening to Eminem’s “My Name Is” I was impressed to hear the subtle percussion elements in the left channel be perfectly audible. Guitars are rendered well. Listening to “My Michelle” by Guns N’ Roses, it was very easy to focus on the left and right guitar tracks independently and differentiate them. Perhaps a little of bit of details in the highs were just slightly lacking here, but the detail presented here is the best I have heard at this price-point.[/size]
[size=small] [/size]
[size=small]RECOMMENDED FOR….[/size]
[size=small]I recommend these for any commuter looking to have a quiet ride with their portable player while enjoying a variety of music. I thought these were fantastic with most of the genres I threw at it (rock, pop, rap, reggae, jazz, electronic) For classical I thought these were good but I would recommend a earphone which was slightly flatter.[/size]
[size=small]LAST WORD[/size]
[size=small]The ANC23 is a very affordable and comfortable earphone with an excellent active noise cancellation feature and slightly warm tonal balance, perfect for the commute and long listening sessions. These were perhaps the best earphones I have tried thus far for under $100![/size]
[size=small]
[/size]
[size=small] [/size]
EDIT: I've added a chart which breaks down my ratings with more precision for head-fiers
As many of you know I am now working at Headphones.com. One of my tasks is to review some of their headphones. I wanted to post this thread to share with you all that I am flabbergasted (that's right I used the word "flabbergasted"
Here's my review...
[size=small]DESIGN & FEATURES[/size]
[size=small]I wasn’t sure how the ANC23 would fare in my vast collection of in-ear-monitors. Unlike most of the others which I’ve had the pleasure of trying/owning, the ANC23 include a very nice Active Noise Canceling feature. I was initially inclined to care less about QuietPoint ANC feature because I find that most canal-phones do a good job at canceling out noise even without an ANC feature. However, I found that because of this feature I was less inclined to push the IEMs as deep in and this lead to a comfier fit without sacrificing sound quality. When the music is turned off and the noise cancelling feature is turned on, you can truly notice the ANC feature at work. However with music playing, the feature was less noticeable to me.[/size]
[size=small]
[size=small]I tend to prefer IEMs where the cable wraps over and behind the ear. I just find the fit more comfortable this way and the cable also tends to be less intrusive as well in this configuration. The ANC23 have a cable which does not natively wrap behind the ear but instead is designed to fall straight down. Even though this is not my preference, it did not bother me because I still found the earphones themselves to fit very nicely within my ear. I found it particularly easy to find a good fit with these earphones using the medium-sized tips included in the assortment of silicone rubber ear tips. If I had any real quibble with the overall design it would be that the QuietPoint feature (which has a belt-clip on it for easy travel) is just a bit too close to where the cable terminates to make clipping it to my belt or pocket as comfortable as it should be. I wish perhaps the cable were just one foot longer for this reason, but others may not share this experience since I’m a tall oneJ [/size]
[size=small] [/size]
[size=small]SOUND – THE IMPORTANT STUFF![/size]
[size=small]
[size=small]I listened to these directly out of an iPod Classic 5G. The sound was truly impressive. The first thing I noticed was that the sound of the ANC23 felt more outside the head than many IEMs. One way in which I test to see how the sound envelops the head is to use a mono recording and take note of the shape and size of the overall sound. I found the ANC23 to present sound in a rounded and in-front-of-you manner. Listening to Duke Ellington’s “Take The ‘A’ Train”, I felt as though I was seated before the band rather than having the band play inside my head.[/size]
[size=small]At its price-point, the ATH-ANC23 is the best sounding earphone I have yet to hear! While I will further scrutinize the sound reproduction, my overall impression of the sound was that in terms of overall transparency and detail. The tonal balance I found to be a touch on the warm side, but the bass showed to be fairly tight. In some orchestral music I found the bass a little under-controlled, however the spatial presentation of these earphones still allowed for plenty of detail to make its way through. I found the midrange to be fairly flat, but it did present some etch up in the upper spectrum of the midrange. The highs feel extended if just slightly rolled off for a nice non-fatiguing experience. I felt I was capable of listening for hours without breaking, using these! I don’t like sibilance from my headphone (the harsh sound of the letter S) and I am very pleased with the fact that these earphones are some of the least sibilant which I’ve tried. Listening to Eminem’s “My Name Is” I was impressed to hear the subtle percussion elements in the left channel be perfectly audible. Guitars are rendered well. Listening to “My Michelle” by Guns N’ Roses, it was very easy to focus on the left and right guitar tracks independently and differentiate them. Perhaps a little of bit of details in the highs were just slightly lacking here, but the detail presented here is the best I have heard at this price-point.[/size]
[size=small] [/size]
[size=small]RECOMMENDED FOR….[/size]
[size=small]I recommend these for any commuter looking to have a quiet ride with their portable player while enjoying a variety of music. I thought these were fantastic with most of the genres I threw at it (rock, pop, rap, reggae, jazz, electronic) For classical I thought these were good but I would recommend a earphone which was slightly flatter.[/size]
[size=small]LAST WORD[/size]
[size=small]The ANC23 is a very affordable and comfortable earphone with an excellent active noise cancellation feature and slightly warm tonal balance, perfect for the commute and long listening sessions. These were perhaps the best earphones I have tried thus far for under $100![/size]
[size=small]
[size=small] [/size]
EDIT: I've added a chart which breaks down my ratings with more precision for head-fiers
| Bass Extension | 7 |
| Bass Impact | 7 |
| Bass Quality | 8 |
| Mids | 7 |
| Highs | 7 |
| Detail | 7 |
| Transparency | 6 |
| Handling of Sibilance | 8 |
| Isolation | 9 |
| Comfort | 8.5 |
| Microphonics | 6 |
| Does it need an amp? | No |
| Portability | 10 |
| Look & Feel | 8 |
| Accessories | 8 |
| Excels @ | Most music genres |
| Performs poorly with | Critical listening |
| Recommended uses | Directly out of portable player; Commuting; Exercising |
| Overall value at $80 price point | 10 |
