Rating active cancellation headphones...

[hfcaveman]

Has anyone done a review specifically on active cancellation headphones? I have seen a bunch of reviews, but I am looking for a set to use in the office, and wondering what would work best for cancelling out just regular ambient (conversational) noise.

Any ideas or suggestions? I did a search in the posts, but was overwhelmed -- it would be nice to have a concise listing, or a listing under a generic post like this one.

 

[Steve999]

Here's a start, since I was just researching such things.....

One user prefers Phililps HN100s to Senn PX250s at less than half the price of PX 250s, others and CNET really like Senn PX250s

There's been a review at head-fi -- HN100s beat Bose Quiet Comforts for sound quality, but Quiet Comforts seal better and are more comfortable.

The HN100s are $60 at Target, or $70 at Good Guys. They look a lot like the Philips HP900s, the subject of another current thread.

PX250s run about $129, and I think Bose Quiet Comforts run $200 to $300. There's a new Quiet Comfort II out now as well.

Hope this helps.

People seem to like the PX250s a lot. I may be trying the Philips out soon.

Quote:

Originally posted by hfcaveman Has anyone done a review specifically on active cancellation headphones? I have seen a bunch of reviews, but I am looking for a set to use in the office, and wondering what would work best for cancelling out just regular ambient (conversational) noise. Any ideas or suggestions? I did a search in the posts, but was overwhelmed -- it would be nice to have a concise listing, or a listing under a generic post like this one.

 

[Music Fanatic]

The Bose Quiet Comfort 2 is an enormous improvement over the original model in convenience (no external box), sound quality, and comfort. It's not "audiophile" by any means, but it is quite good for plane flights or other noisy situations. I would not use them in non-noisy situations.

I have not used HN100s, so I can't directly compare, but the Quiet Comfort 2 is much better for both comfort and noise isolation over, say, the Sony MDR-NC20, which in turn is far better than what you get for free on some international flights.

I did not measure the difference, but I would estimate the Quiet Comfort 2 eliminated about 8dB of noise over what what the Sony eliminated.

 

[Davie]

Quote:

Originally posted by Steve999 PX250s run about $150, and I think Bose Quiet Comforts run $200 to $300. There's a new Quiet Comfort II out now as well. People seem to like the PX250s a lot. I may be trying the Philips out soon.

Actually, the PX250s retail for $129 where I've seen them.

 

[SunByrne]

I've not heard the Philips HN1000, but I have heard crappy Aiwa ones, the Bose things, the Sony MDR-NC11 earbuds, and the PXC250. Of those, I *strongly* prefer the PXC250s.

 

[MacDEF]

Right now the PXC 250 are the clear leaders in sound. The Phillips aren't close, IMO. The Bose are, well, Bose -- overpriced and underperforming.

Although the Bose do block out a bit more noise because they're circumaural.

 

[Davie]

Quote:

Originally posted by MacDEF Right now the PXC 250 are the clear leaders in sound. The Phillips aren't close, IMO. The Bose are, well, Bose -- overpriced and underperforming. Although the Bose do block out a bit more noise because they're circumaural.

So you've heard the Philips? What can you say about them?

 

[daniel808]

Quote:

Originally posted by hfcaveman ... and wondering what would work best for cancelling out just regular ambient (conversational) noise. ...

You may be disappointed with noise cancelling phones -- they are probably not going to do a very good job of cancelling out "ambient (conversational) noise" -- as far as I know they are designed to cancel out 'noise', like airplane, train, car noise, but not 'signal', like peoples' voices. I tried the bose noise cancellation demo at the bose store, and was quite impressed by how well the phones cancelled the simulated engine noises in the demo, however, for the whole demo I could clearly hear the two sales associates chatting away with one another. If you want to block voices, you may need isolation, like closed cans or canal phones.

 

[LobsterSan]

i've not heard the newest versions of noise-cancelling phones, but i did own a pair of sony mdr-nc5's and these certainly did not cancel out talking-pitched noise. it was best at cancelling out low rumbling noises, such as plane engines and traintrack noise. in fact, often times things such as conversations or phone rings became accentuated when i had the active noise-cancellation enabled, because the other frequencies get cancelled. this is often a benefit in my opinion, because as opposed to canalphones or closed phones which block out ALL noise, the active noise-cancelling phones let you hear most of the music without losing touch with your surroundings (and possibly critical auditory cues).

i would second daniel's words of advice, and you should probably give them a try before you buy them to make sure that they do what you want them to. in order to eliminate higher frequencies (such as frequencies above the low rumbling of an airplane engine), you may want to consider canalphones or fully closed headphones.

 

[clutch]

I bought the HN100s last Saturday, and returned them the following Monday because they hurt my ears. I am not sure if noise cancelling rigs are just not my thing or what. I first tried a set of Bose Noise Cancelling ones in our lab (our little corner has 21 servers, 2 SAN appliances, 3 drive arrays of 14 15K disks a piece, and numerous other disks and fans all over the place) and they were quite nice. I picked up the Philips units at Target thinking they would be worth trying (and hating Bose at the time, I figured that they could be at least as good as them). Unfortunately, after testing them over the two days in my home office (2 laptops, 1 PC, 1 Server with external drives, and a ceiling fan) my right ear started bothering me a great deal. I took breaks from the headset, and would try them again later on. The same issue came back after about 20-30 minutes. It seemed that my tolerance for them lessened after each session, and I constantly had this need to equalize my ears as if I was descending on a dive.

After I returned them, I went all over the place trying to find a *reasonably* priced set of phones to use in the lab. I wound up with the Bose (oddly enough) TriPorts. I know that the vast majority of people here probably do not care for Bose (I know I didn't, and I sold their stuff at an electronics retailer for a couple of years) but the shell design and assembly work very well together in my environment. A co-worker here has 2 V6s and still liked the isolation that these provided. So, I guess *all* their stuff isn't that bad after all...

 

[Davie]

Quote:

Originally posted by clutch I bought the HN100s last Saturday, and returned them the following Monday because they hurt my ears. I am not sure if noise cancelling rigs are just not my thing or what. I first tried a set of Bose Noise Cancelling ones in our lab (our little corner has 21 servers, 2 SAN appliances, 3 drive arrays of 14 15K disks a piece, and numerous other disks and fans all over the place) and they were quite nice. I picked up the Philips units at Target thinking they would be worth trying (and hating Bose at the time, I figured that they could be at least as good as them). Unfortunately, after testing them over the two days in my home office (2 laptops, 1 PC, 1 Server with external drives, and a ceiling fan) my right ear started bothering me a great deal. I took breaks from the headset, and would try them again later on. The same issue came back after about 20-30 minutes. It seemed that my tolerance for them lessened after each session, and I constantly had this need to equalize my ears as if I was descending on a dive.

clutch,

Was this just a physical irritation that might not happen on another person with a different head shape, or did it have to do with the sound reproduction?

 

[clutch]

Not entirely sure, but I do know that as soon as I turned off the NC my ears felt much, much better. Unfortunately, the sound just drops from the headset (they actually sound OK with the NC on, and would have been fine if I could have tolerated it) and since I bought them for the NC, I just returned them. Also, the headband wasn't especially comfortable (I have a shaved head) and that was annoying, but I would have worn a hat if they would have worked out for me. They did, for sure, cut down on the noise. But when the NC circuit was off, the shape of the cups seemed to make ambient noise worse. The fans on my server seemed to drone more and were much more noticable than when I wasn't wearing them. The other phones that I bought didn't have any of these issues. I tried some Sonys (700DJ and the MDR-V600 IIRC) and they couldn't isolate that well at all, as my ear would hit the inner lining over the driver. I immediately fell in love with a set of Senns, and then I noticed that I could hear everything (and I mean *everything*) going on around me in the store. I don't remember the model, but they were of circumaural/open back design that just wouldn't work for me. I deliberately avoided the Bose units at 2 stores, and then finally tried them after desperation and wound up liking them.

 

[Steve999]

Based on the below post, I decided to try a pair of the Bose Quiet Comfort 2s. My experience with testing the Bose Triports was not good, so I was not expecting much. With the Quiet Comfort 2s you get a 90 day money-back trial period. I anticipated a quick trial period and a trip back to the Bose store, but....

These headphones have outstanding sound quality, with no concessions needed for the high isolation or noise cancellation. I find them preferrable and clearly superior (to my ears) to all other high isolation or noise cancellation headphones I have owned or tried extensively, to include the AKG 271s, the Senn HD280s, Bose Triports, Koss Pro 4AATs, and Philips HN100s, as well as clearly superior to the Sony V6s, D66 eggos, and many fine open headphones as well. The sound quality is best described as smooth, neutral, detailed, beautifully balanced, and extended in both the highs and lows. The merits of these headphones are displayed beautifully with symphonic music, though they handle any other types of music quite well. The sound is not flashy in any way, it's goal was obviously neutrality. Their smoothness and neutrality make them suitable and very enjoyable for bright or subdued recordings alike.

I just wanted to add this to this noise cancelling thread for the sake of fairness and completeness after putting up a less the fair Bose post in this thread -- I would consider the Quiet Comfort 2s to be the very best headphone of this type on the market, and no slouch in any respect.

For $300 they had better be great, and they are. The sound quality, noise cancellation, isolation, and comfort are all heavenly, to create a tremendously satisfying overall subjective experience.

Quote:

Originally posted by Music Fanatic The Bose Quiet Comfort 2 is an enormous improvement over the original model in convenience (no external box), sound quality, and comfort. It's not "audiophile" by any means, but it is quite good for plane flights or other noisy situations. I would not use them in non-noisy situations. I have not used HN100s, so I can't directly compare, but the Quiet Comfort 2 is much better for both comfort and noise isolation over, say, the Sony MDR-NC20, which in turn is far better than what you get for free on some international flights. I did not measure the difference, but I would estimate the Quiet Comfort 2 eliminated about 8dB of noise over what what the Sony eliminated.

 

[Music Fanatic]

Glad to hear that the Bose QC2 worked out for you. I found that there is a big difference between the original Bose QCs and the QC2. And, the QC2 is one of the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn (only my Sony F1s are more comfortable).

 

[jona]

IMHO regarding overall sound quality (not isolation)- The Bose QC2's are better than the old Sony V6/7506 (except for bass extension), but in a/b testing I found the QC2's do not match Senn 280's. In that comparison I found the QC2's to be a bit flat and lifeless overall with marginal bass and treble extension in a variety of musical styles (mostly instrumental jazz and classical). They sound REALLY lifeless compared to Grado 80's or 225's. Overall, I would not choose QC2's for home listening over most mid-fi (or better) cans I've heard, particularly at their price (~$300US).

In trying them at a Bose store display recently, I found the QC2's to be comfortable but with marginal noise cancellation capability. Noise cancellation seemed excellent at first, but the clerk had set the volume MUCH louder than normal. Listening to jazz at moderate volumes with these cans (NC on), I could still clearly hear the sales clerk at the counter about 20 ft away (i.e. I could hear his voice but could not make out all his words). Outside noise did seem to be attenuated with these cans, but those expecting near-complete isolation from even moderate background noise will likely be disappointed.

Jon