Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7 QuietPoint

"Honestly these are my first set of over the ear headphones so my experience with these is limited. I have used Sony bud style headphones over the last decade including the following models (MDR-888, MDR-EX90LP, MDR-EX71SA, etc, etc). I bought the ATH-ANC7 at Yodobashi in Japan so I was able to test a whole range of brands and models. The ATH-ANC7 and the Panasonic RP-HC500 were very close in noise canceling capability with the Panasonic being about USD$60 cheaper. I couldn't test the sound quality so I opted with the ATH-ANC7 since I had read some good reviews. I wasn't disappointed, my uneducated impression is that the headphones have good range and has brought a new experience to all my music. It is a marked improvement over the sound quality of my current in-ear headphones (MDR-EX90LP). Initially I found the headset uncomfortable, since I am not used to over the head, but a couple of weeks of use has made things good. Now for the most important part. Active noise cancellation works fantastic. When listening to classical music in a quiet room there is a small amount of white noise. Not sure if this is a problem with my unit since I could not detect this white noise at Yodobashi. However, Yodobashi is far from quiet and the ambient noise leaking into the headphones probably masked this white noise. With other kinds of music this white noise is not noticeable. If you are buying these for a plane flight you won't even notice the white noise with all the ambient engine noise leaking into the headphones. Recently I tried out the QC2 and QC3, honestly I couldn't tell the difference so I'm glad I got the ATH-ANC7 over the Bose. Overall I am happy with their performance and do not regret the purchase."

"An update. Just did a couple of 12 hour flights, one during the day and the other overnight. Both times I wore the ATH-ANC7 and they worked superbly. They remove the roar of the engines, which can fatigue passengers, leaving a comfortable level of noise. I don't have a single regret buying these headphones and they definitely made for a more comfortable flight experience. They worked so well I could hear a high pitched whine in the aircraft's video/audio on demand system. If you don't have good noise cancellation you wouldn't hear this whine over the roar of the engines. I've clocked up about 40 hours of use from a single AAA Energizer alkaline battery and its still going strong. Just bought some AAA lithiums so I'm patiently waiting for the alkaline to die."

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Seems like most everything has been said. Yale added "requires battery" as a con. It does a terrific job of passively cancelling ambient noise, of course the battery is required. I would say it's a pro that it's a small built in AAA and still gives you 40+ hours of operation.

Also, the noise quality is just fine with the active cancelling off. It's just quieter.

The bass is okay on these headphones, you can't expect much more considering they're noise cancelling (which can makes bass reproduction more difficult) and not that large.

Listening to music on these with my Cowon A3 on these is absolute heaven, I can tell you that. Way better than busting your hearing out on the airplane with a pre-amps and earbuds like I had to do before.

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