Able Planet NC200

"I've had the opportunity to use these headphones for the past couple of weeks and it's safe to say that they're definitely usable and good quality headphones, the question remains is if they're worth the asking price. At the MSRP of $100, I think it becomes difficult to justify unless you really need the noise canceling feature at which point it is one of the least expensive offerings around. However, if you expand your search then at the $100 price point there are a lot of high quality options available.

I do feel though, that these are positioned exactly as they're priced: Inexpensive active noise-cancelling headphones that can be bought for under $100. Actually, some prices are even as low as $50. And when it comes to the main feature they work surprisingly well. At first I didn't really understand how the technology work, and therefore tested it incorrectly. But when I realized that ANC doesn't turn the ear cups into cones of silence but rather filters out droning and repetitive sounds I was able to conduct a test using the office's air conditioning system and it eliminated the sound entirely. Considering the air conditioning unit is on most of the day that was pretty welcome.

Unfortunately, and this is a matter of personal preference, I enjoyed the sound quality of the headphones when the ANC feature was off. For some reason the frequency response of the headphones changes depending on whether or not the ANC is enabled, with the default state of off offering a more bassy sound, while the ANC engaged gives more emphasis on the higher frequencies. Also, when the ANC is engaged it adds an audible "hiss" to the background which can be noticeable in quiet periods of your music. Essentially you have to weigh the choice as to whether or not the hiss is better than the ambient sounds, and in the case of air conditioning units, or engines going on... I'd take the hiss."

"I've been able to personally try out the Sennheiser PXC-250 and the Audio Technica ATH-ANC7 and the change in sound quality as well as the audible hiss are both features of those headphones' ANC circuits too. In both cases the phones sounded much nicer with the ANC turned on - and weirdly enough there was very little bass on the Sennheisers without it enabled.

Either way - I wouldn't listen to either without the ANC on, which is unfortunate because it uses batteries and introduces noise. Still a great option for travelers and those who can't stand putting things in their ears."