Audio-Technica ATHANC7 Noise-cancelling Headphones
by AUDIO TECHNICA
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List Price: Our Price: $79.99 You Save: $139.96 (64%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Audio-Technica ATHANC7 Noise-cancelling Headphones
Customer Review: Just gorgeous sound
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow! I stopped at a local music store tonight and looked at their array of headphones. I decided on these because I liked several things. One, the specs were what I was looking for. Two, they were noise canceling. Three, they had replaceable ear pads. Finally, they have a detachable cord! If the cord goes bad I can just buy another one.
I can't tell you how pleased I am with the sound. I'm hearing details I haven't heard before! I listen to all sorts of music. So far I've listened to some Jan Garbarek, Ralph Towner, James Taylor, Anne Dudley, Manuel Barrueco, Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, P.M. Dawn, Acoustic Alchemy, Deep Forest, Paul Winter, Chick Corea, Rachel Portman, Soul II Soul, John Mayer, Egberto Gismonti, The Art Of Noise, Jeremy Soule, Black Eyed Peas, Basil Poledouris, Panic! At The Disco, The Roots, Guns 'n' Roses, Guy, Dio, Peter Kater & R. Carlos Nakai, Pink, Nils Petter Molvaer, George Michael, Michael Stearns, Madhouse, Röyksopp, Steely Dan, Metallica, and Evanescence. Most of the music I listened to were in MP3 or FLAC format and had a bit rate of 192 or higher. I did listen to a few at 128 and they sounded good too, but never as good as the higher bit rate files.
I decided to list those artists because the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7 QuietPoint's sounded amazing while listening to all of them! I'm hearing things I've never heard before. Others have complained that they aren't hearing a good bass response in these headphones. It's true their is no bass boost like some other headphones have, they won't add bass where there is none. I've been in professional music studios for most of my adult life and these headphones remind me of the true, honest sound you would get from nice studio monitors or nice studio headphones.
The bottom line is that I love these headphones and look forward to many years of enjoyment from them. The best part is that I got them brand new for $106, tax included, from this local music shop. I was stunned when I looked up the prices when I got home. I would easily pay twice that for these headphones, they are amazing!
Customer Review: If you fly, then you NEED these headphones.
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought a pair of these for my wife and me for a recent trip from the USA to Europe. It was a long flight and I wanted to make it as comfortable as possible which means peace and quiet so that we could listen to music and possibly even sleep.
I'm a techie so I'm familiar with these sorts of products but this technology is all new to my wife. We were both VERY IMPRESSED with how well the headphones work. During a flight you are basically sitting a few feet away from a bunch of roaring jet engines. It's simply LOUD inside a plane. Put these on, turn on the active noise cancelling and the noise simply fades away.
The headphones come in a nice sturdy carrying case with a small zippered compartment for the detachable cord and adapters for 1/4" plugs and airline entertainment jacks. The case is big enough to also fit my iPod in there so it's also protected and in the right place.
I read some people mention "comfort" and my wife had absolutely zero problem wearing the headphones during the full 7 hour flight. My head is larger than most but the headphones are fully adjustable and I had no problem with comfort. After constantly wearing ANY headphones for 7 hours there will be some mild discomfort but for me simply re-adjusting them a little (moving them around a fraction of an inch) I was once again comfortable for a couple more hours.
I've tried the Bose headphones from a friend and these are less than half the price and I challenge anyone to do a blindfold test and tell the difference in noise-cancelling quality. When it comes to audio quality (these are still headphones after all) these definitely sound better than the Bose in my opinion.
If you do any amount of air traveling treat yourself to a set of these. You will NOT regret it. My school teacher wife is normaly skeptical of my technical purchases but even she admited that these are a great purchase.
And finally... Thank you Audio-Technical for making a top quality affordable alternative to the Bose headphones.
Customer Review: Best decibels for your dollar
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought these for my trip across the Atlantic to the UK. That's an over-night flight. I tested them in my living room while my wife watched some mindless reality show. They did a good job of knocking out the most annoying parts of the show while I listened to music - relegating the TV noise to unobtrusive levels.
It seems that the purpose of the electronics is to cancel the audio frequencies in the lower end of the spectrum that cannot be blocked by the padding. That is why I chose the over-the-ear rather than on-the-ear design, for more effective blocking of the ambient noise and efficient employment of materials and electronics.
On the flight to the UK the phones performed better than my expectation. Seated in a row aft of the engines where the roar was considerably greater than up front, they did a marvelous job of blotting out most of the noise allowing me to enjoy the movie, or my MP3 player comfortably.
But what was really nice was that when I wanted to sleep, I unplugged the phone and bedded down, with the noise-canx still turned on. I got five-hours of quality sleep. These phones did not become a burden to wear - no sore spots around my ears or on top of my head, no sweating around the pads. This was a real bonus!
The phones are not excessively large or heavy. So the case that they come in fits very nicely in the side pocket of my carry-on bag. And there is space in the case for my MP3 player. Looks like it has room for an iPod, actually. Very nice.
Finally, a really nice feature of the ATH-ANC7 is that you can turn off the noise-canx electronics and still enjoy your music, with no significant loss of fidelity. That is a feature that other, much more expensive units cannot claim.
So the Audio Technica ATH-ANC7 - in my opinion - are the best value, garnering a 5/5 rating. As I have been watching noise-canx phones for some time and I am glad I held on to my money and did not spring for the bloated Bose model.
And Amazon was - as always has been - great to deal with.
Customer Review: They work great if you use them fully
Summary: 5 Stars
I work in a very quiet office with conversations erupting frequently around my cubicle. I bought these headphones specifically for that environment. I've been using these now for several months. Putting the headphones on WITHOUT activating the noise cancelling switch knocks down around 50% of the noise. Activating the switch I would say knocks out the advertised 85% of the noise; however, it's only the low frequency noise. Unfortunately, most human voices are not very low frequency and some of the conversation can bleed through (especially women's voices). HOWEVER, if you want over 90% of the outside noises blocked out, connect these headphones to a music source (e.g. an iPod) and you will be hard pressed to hear much of the outside world. While I've never tested this during a fire alarm, I have used this method and had to have co-workers actually tap my shoulder to get my attention for something. Can't tell you how many phone calls I've missed though. If you play music through these phones AND activate the noise cancelling switch, you'll knock out close to 100% of all outside noise. Seriously, you can't hear A THING except the music you're playing! Music plus noise cancellation will put you in solitary confinement. It's great! And these cost about 1/2 as much as the Bose headphones.
I recommended these to a co-worker and she bought the earbud version instead (can't mess up the hair, you know). She seems to have trouble hearing outside noises when she's wearing them, and she says they work well. She seems to like them, but I can tell you that they don't work as well as the headphone version does. It's not physically possible. A large part of the passive noise cancellation (without music or switch activation) comes from physically shielding the ear from the outside noises. I highly recommend these headphones, and I recommend these headphones over the earbuds if you're serious about noise cancelling.
Customer Review: Best Set of Headphones I've Ever Owned
Summary: 5 Stars
I have gone through a LOT of headphones. A lot. These, by far, are the best headphones I have ever owned.
Pros:
The noise cancellation is absolutely incredible. I used the headphones on a trip to India (3 hours to Chicago, 15 hours to New Delhi), and I wore them the entire time. The constant drone of the airplane engines faded off and I blissfully fell asleep the whole way there.
Sound quality is excellent. I don't consider myself an audiophile, but I've discovered subtle nuances in my music that I had not heard before with other headphones. Treble and mids are crisp, and the bass is tight and well rounded.
Sound quality is excellent with noise canceling on. The noise canceling system runs off of a single AAA battery, and I average about 30-35 hours of use per battery. The headphones work fine with noise canceling off, but you will notice a significant drop in audio quality; the audio is rather muffled and lacks the fidelity found with the noise canceling on.
The headphones come with a very sturdy carrying case that doesn't take up much room in the average bag. There is a small pouch inside the carrying case for carrying extra wires and adapters; I carry the audio cable, the airplane adapter, an iPhone headset adapter for the recessed audio jack in the iPhone, and a spare AAA battery in it with no problem.
Cons:
As some of the other reviews stated, there is a moderate amount of noise leakage. You will be able to hear some noise leakage in a quiet office, but it is impossible to detect any noise leakage in an airplane; you definitely won't be annoying the passenger next to you, even with the volume 80% up.
This is a must-have for the frequent traveler. The bombastic noise cancellation, excellent audio quality, and superb build quality make this is the best headphone purchase I have ever made.