The Gadget: Sony’s MDR-NC500D, the “world’s first headphones with digital technology for noise cancelling.” These over the ear noise cancelling headphones have three different environmental modes, a monitor mode, internal reachable battery and a case full of accessories and adapters.
According to Hearing Components, their new Comply NR-10 Earphones can deliver more than 48 decibels of noise reduction using the same technology enjoyed by the US Army and Special Forces. They were also designed to “maximize bass response and deliver superior sound quality.” At US$80, it would seem like a decent value—if they worked. Fortunately, the folks at iLounge took them for a spin and weighed the pros and cons.
Sony’s NWZ-A720, A820 and A820K Walkman players all look alike, but the 8-series has added Bluetooth to sweeten the deal. It’s quite similar to their NW-A829 and NW-A828 brothers that were announced in Japan, in fact. And yes, they have noise cancellation.
Sony figured out two reasons people don’t buy flagship noise-cancelling headphones—whether Bose or Sony or others: they’re awfully expensive and freakin’ huuuuge. The MDR-NC40 coming out in March costs US$100, and is both cheaper and slimmer than the bulky US$400 NC500D. This set runs for 40 hours on a single AAA battery and can be used as passive headphones when the battery runs dry. Most importantly, you can fold them up into their leather case and slip them into your bag without causing a massive luggage hemorrhage. [Sony]
Audio Technica’s noise-cancelling earphones strike me as somewhat impractical, despite the fact that the sticky-in units have a few things going for them. Find out what, plus another pic, below.
Road gamers who have the scratch they need to buy an insane SLI / PhysX enabled notebook might not be all that happy with the sound performance they have been getting out of on board speakers – there’s only so much air small speakers can push. So the arrival of these cans from Creative could be music gunshots and shell casings to the ears.
The Creative Aurvana X-Fi Noise-Cancelling headphones will do what any headphones do, but now you also get the X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity audio technology in the mix too. Fancy name, but what’s it mean? There’s an intelligent ‘Crystallizer’ engine to replace missing areas of compressed audio, plus the critical ‘CMSS-3D’ surround speaker system every hardcore freako gamer demands.
A nice touch is the on-board controls for volume as well as independent on-off for noise cancellation, the Crystallizer engine, and the CMSS-3D. Two AAAs will run the headphones for nine hours, but they’ll run without any of the special features if the batteries are dead. Every set comes with an iPhone-compatible extension cable (though it sounds like it extends your cable to 3m – not very ‘on the road’ friendly?), plus airline adapter. $399.95 is the Xtreme price point. Specs after the jump.
The Gadget: A Bluetooth noise canceling headset from nXZEN, a company whose strange fascination with the letters N and X belie the quality, size and performance of their headsets.
The Verdict: The nX6000 is a small, comfortable, and best of all, great sounding headset that blocks outgoing noise well but also gives you a really loud and clear incoming sound, which works great in noisy places.
The Catch:
Today JVC introduced a pair of noise-canceling headphones that are said to lock out up to 85% of background noise, thanks to circuitry that “constantly monitors the noise cancellation process.” It’s also got a “double housing,” better for physically insulating your ears from the world’s more audible hustle and bustle.
newVideoPlayer("noise_gawker.flv", 475, 376);NY Times badass David Pogue took a look at noise-canceling headphones, looking for a pair that can match the quality of Bose’s QuietComfort 3′s without the ridiculously high price ($350[!!!] ). What he found were a bunch of pairs that did the job decently, and a couple that came close enough to the QuietComforts to make spending $350 an option only a real sucker would choose.
The two that he liked the best were the Panasonic RP-HC500s ($100) and the Audio-Techinica ATH-ANC7s ($132), saying that they cancelled surrounding noise out while also delivering top-notch sound quality. As anyone who’s listened to headphones on a plane can tell you, the ability to shut out that engine noise makes your trip a whole lot sweeter. It’s nice to see some quality choices for people other than the rich and the clueless. –Adam Frucci
Headphones to Shut Out the World [NY Times]
