Noise-cancelling headphones are commonplace on a flight, where people are trying to drown out the drone of the plane, get some sleep or watch a movie in peace. But they’re not just good for travel; noise cancelling lets you listen to music at lower and more comfortable levels by keeping out ambient noise and distractions.
Noise-cancelling headphones are commonplace on a flight, where people are trying to drown out the drone of the plane, get some sleep or watch a movie in peace. But they’re not just good for travel; noise cancelling lets you listen to music at lower and more comfortable levels by keeping out ambient noise and distractions.
AKG N60 NC
The AKG N60 NCs are easily the smallest and most portable headphones of the group, folding away to a size no larger than a standard notebook. They sport an on-ear design with a perforated grill finish to the ear cups. These have plump ear cushions and are matched with a flexible headband that makes for a comfortable fit.
Only one switch adorns the headphone, and that activates the active noise- cancelling.
This glows green when active and red when low, but the headphones will also work fine in passive mode if you exhaust the 30-hour battery.
What’s interesting with these headphones though, is that the internal battery charges via the same 35mm audio jack terminal that you use for audio. Meaning you save real estate space on the headphone, but can’t charge the headphones while simultaneously listening to music.
In terms of noise cancelling performance, we were very pleasantly surprised to find that the N60 NC was one of the stronger contenders in the group despite its on-ear design. We ran our noise cancelling tests by playing a recording of a typical journey on the MRT train, and the N60 NC was able to dim down most of the track noise.
Running the N60 NC through our usual set of audio testing showed that the headphones are slightly light on the extreme bass end, but is very able to create a good sense of depth with a clean and crisp midrange. For example, on a recording of Spanish Harlem by Rebecca Pidgeon, the cello that provides the bass line seemed a touch light, but the violins and guitars were very well resolved, while Pidgeon’s vocals were lush and inviting.
This was again reflected on our formal testing, where the headphones turned in one of the better performances of Melt my Heart to Stone that we’d heard this year. There was a good sense of naturalness overall, with enough punch to the bass, making for an engaging listen.
+ Very light weight and compact.
- A bit lacking in the lower registers.
AT A GLANCE
TYPE
On-ear ANC headphones
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
10Hz-22kHz
WEIGHT
150g
PRICE
$369
AUDIO TECHNICA ATHMSR7NC
The ATH-MSR7NCs are a fairly stylish pair of headphones from Audio Technica that feature their typical over-ear design – sleek, modern and simple. Large comfortable ear cups and the cushion neckband make for comfortable wearing, and more importantly, do a good job of taking the weight of the headphones off your ears.
Listed as High Resolution Audio (HRA) headphones, the ATH- MSR7NCs are said to deliver an extended frequency response of 5Hz-40kHz, way beyond the recognized range of human hearing. Whether you’ll actually hear all of that is debatable, but it’s clear that these headphones are designed to deliver very solid performance throughout the spectrum.
In terms of audio performance, “musical” is how we would describe the ATH-MSR7NC, as it excels on musical instruments, with good naturalness and clarity. For example, on a recording of If I could Sing Your Blues by Sara K, the headphones provide great depth and imaging, allowing you to really place the trumpets, drums and of course Sara K herself.
Feed it a HRA track, and the headphones really sing. For example, listening to Come Away with Me by Norah Jones, we were taken from the start. The headphones gave an engaging rendition of the piece, letting you hear every tinkle of the piano and of course all the string work of the guitars. Jones’ seductive vocals are nicely forward, with nice warmth to them.
On our own formal tracks, we felt the ATH- MSR7NC did best on Hotel California by The Eagles. Mids are a strength with these headphones, so a piece like this with plenty of guitar work is right up its alley. We thought it handled the layering of crowd, guitar and vocals well, presenting good details throughout the track.
What’s not so strong, is their noise- cancelling performance. This was average at best. On our tests, the headphones only seemed to block out a minimal amount of chatter. Typical noises from trains subside some, but not as dramatically as on the top headphones in this shootout.
+ Good performance throughout the audio spectrum.
- Very basic features compared to the others.
AT A GLANCE
TYPE
Over-ear wireless ANC headphones
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
5Hz-40kHz
WEIGHT
305g
PRICE
$379
BANG & OLUFSEN BEOPLAY H8
The BeoPlay H8 was easily one of the most stylish headphones in this shootout, but coming from Bang & Olufsen that’s certainly not a surprise. These are slightly larger on-ear headphones that also feature wireless capabilities and a user- replaceable battery so you can easily get spares for long trips.
As with any offering from Bang & Olufsen, these headphones are suitably luxurious, with trimmings of anodized aluminum matched with lambskin leather earcups. The earcups themselves are touch sensitive, allowing you to control playback and volume with the need for an in-line remote. While the headphones are certainly light, we thought they weren’t the most comfortable on our ears; you probably need a break every half hour or so to recover from the clamping.
As for the noise cancelling performance, we’re sorry to say the BeoPlay H8 was one of the weaker performers in the group. It was slightly better than the ATH-MSR7NC, offering just a bit of relief from sustained train noises. It also seems that activating ANC dramatically affects the performance, causing highs to be rolled off and the loss of layering, resulting in a somewhat veiled sound.
For example, listening to November Rain by Guns N’ Roses you get the feeling that the guitars just aren’t as crisp with ANC activated, with the epic solo lacking the energy that it normally has. That said, we must say that the headphones are able to produce good audio when given the right tracks.
Spanish Harlem has a strong leading bass beat, and this is produced with good weight by the BeoPlay H8. It’s also suitably dark, with enough decay to be enjoyable. Pidgeon’s vocals are nicely rendered, and the headphones pick up good detail too.
On our own test tracks, the headphones did especially well with Hotel California by The Eagles and Sail on Soothsayer by Buckethead. With these two tracks giving it a chance to showcase its strong midrange and imaging capabilities.
+ Nice clean design with good features.
- Poor noise cancelling abilties.
AT A GLANCE
TYPE
On-ear wireless ANC headphones
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
20Hz-22kHz
WEIGHT
255g
PRICE
$698
BEATS STUDIO WIRELESS 2.0
Love them or hate them, Beats headphones are very much ingrained in popular culture, and they’re not going anywhere any time soon. The Studio Wireless 2.0 are the latest incarnation of their over-ear headphones, and in typical Beats fashion, sport a range of flashy colors.
What’s new is that there are no longer visible screws, and the headphones are now slightly lighter than before at 260g. As the name implies, these are full-sized headphones that are wireless enabled, and of course feature noise- cancelling capabilities.
The Studio Wireless features two modes of noise-canceling, with one for listening to music, and another that allows you to use the headphone just to cancel noise. Apparently, in this mode the headphones increase the level of noise cancelling to make things “even quieter”, but we certainly didn’t feel that in our testing. In fact, there was an obvious hiss due to noise-cancelling at play when using it in music mode, and the ANC seemed to be the weakest of the bunch when put through real-life scenarios. This certainly isn’t going to hang its hat on its noise- cancelling abilities.
In terms of audio performance, we thought the headphones fared best with fast pieces, like with our own formal test track – Elements of Life by Tiesto. The headphones do a good job of creating a wide sound stage, and the booming bass actually works fairly well for the track. It won’t be the last word in detail by far, but can definitely be an enjoyable listen if you pick the right pieces.
Listen to something like Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns N’ Roses and there will be plenty of energy to get you moving. If you’re a critical listener, the big booming bass will seem a little too bloated for comfort, but it does do a decent job on the vocals too. For our money, these are better than the previous versions, but still don’t quite turn in audio performance in line with their asking price.
+ Works well with dance tracks.
- Performance doesn’t match up to the asking price.
AT A GLANCE
TYPE
Over-ear wireless ANC headphones
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
20Hz-20kHz
WEIGHT
260g
PRICE
$590
BOSE QUIETCOMFORT 35
The Bose QuietComfort 35s (QC 35) have a distinction of being from the family of headphones that have long been the standard in noise-cancelling headphones. Get on any flight and chances are you’ll see people with a pair of QuietComforts on. They’ve just been that good.
These new QC 35s feature pretty much the same overall design as the QC 25s before them, but now have a row of basic controls under the right ear cup. This replaces the in-line remote from before because the headphones now feature wireless capabilities.
They’re also slightly heavier now because they feature an integrated rechargeable battery for 20 hours of listening. A quick charge feature lets you get another 2.5 hours of listening from just 15 minutes of charging; handy indeed.
In terms of audio, there’s detail in the upper midrange as well as a good sense of naturalness. Listening to a recording of Correnteza by Ana Caram, we felt the headphones portrayed good detail in the strings and a recreated the nature effects well, creating a good sense of atmosphere.
They seem to do pretty well on jazz pieces too. Me and Mrs Jones by Michael Buble has a cello segment that resonates throughout the track, and the QC 35s did an excellent job on them, projecting a good sense of depth to the piece. Buble’s vocals are well-handled too, and we’d say the headphones in general will do great with anything in the Rock/Pop/EDM genres.
No surprise then that it did best on Elements of Life by Tiesto In our formal testing. The piece has a heavy bass line that leads the entire track, playing to QC 35s strengths perfectly. We must note that the headphones did pretty well on the high notes too, while doing a good job of creating a fairly wide soundstage for the piece.
Where it lags the top headphones would be in precision and refinement. While better than before, the QC 35s still tend to be more aggressive than accurate.
+ Good detail and naturalness.
- Isn’t as accurate as the top headphones.
AT A GLANCE
TYPE
Over-ear wireless ANC headphones
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
N.A
WEIGHT
310g
PRICE
$549
JBL EVEREST ELITE 700
The JBL Everest Elite 300 impressed us in our over-ear shootout in September, and the bigger Everest Elite 700 doesn’t disappoint either. The two are very similar in design, with a clean modern look, and controls on either ear cup. Where they differ is in the format - the Everest Elite 700s are full-sized over-ear headphones, whereas the Everest Elite 300s are on-ear models.
Both headphones have wireless capabilities, and noise-cancelling that can be fine-tuned via a companion app. In our testing, the noise-cancelling worked rather well, with the headphones coming in just below the top contenders in terms of being able to tone down the various noises from a moving train. Of course, it helps that the ear cushions are suitably large enough to create a passive seal too.
The Everest Elite 700 was fairly impressive during our listening tests too. The headphones delivered a nice, neutral rendition of I Love Paris by Johnny Frigo – a faster moving piece with lots of string elements. The cello in this was on point throughout the song, well-controlled with just enough presence to stand out from the violins.
Listening to other tracks with prominent guitar work (like Neils Lofgren’s Keith Don’t Go and even Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N’ Roses), we found that the headphones are generally good in the midrange, but could do with a bit more clarity in the upper registers.
That’s something that also surfaced in our formal testing, where the headphones did best on Hotel California by The Eagles. On this particular piece, the headphones handled the intro riff well. We thought the main bass line was also well delivered; being adequately large, but controlled so it didn’t come off as bloomy. There was good weight on the lead guitars so that they weren’t overwhelmed by the backing instruments, but we did feel like the lower mids were a little lacking. Just a bit more weight on these and it would have been a memorable performance.
+ Works well with all genres of music.
- Lower registers are a little lacking.
AT A GLANCE
TYPE
Over-ear wireless ANC headphones
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
10Hz-22kHz
WEIGHT
305g
PRICE
$429
PLANTRONICS BACKBEAT PRO +
Plantronics has been on a bit of a roll lately, producing value-friendly options in their BackBeat series that have delivered on both price and performance. The new BackBeat Pro+ however, seems to be essentially unchanged from the BackBeat Pro (released in 2014) both in terms of looks or capabilities.
What is new, is the inclusion of a Class 1 Hi-Fi USB Bluetooth adapter that bypasses what’s in your computer to deliver quality audio direct to the headphones. This will be good for the times when you’re watching a video off your laptop perhaps, but given that most people are using their mobile devices for their audio and video needs now, may be a coming little too late.
Noise cancelling performance seems to be similar to the previous version too, offering a strong performance that just falls behind that of the top performers. On our tests, the headset handily cut out low train noises, while toning down nearby conversation, allowing us to enjoy your music without having to increase the volume.
In terms of audio, the BackBeat Pro+ again turns in performance similar to the original. It has a slightly brighter sound signature than the Everest Elite 700 we tested just before it, but offers an enjoyable rendition of I Love Paris by Johnny Frigo, highlighting the cymbal work and the violins in the piece. Vocals are a strong point with these headphones, and modern pop which feature vocals heavily (like Sam Smith’s Leave your Lover for example) work beautifully given the headphones’ naturalness.
This translated to our formal tracks too, as the headphones performed best on Hotel California by The Eagles. With the BackBeat Pro+, the piece is engaging from the start, as the headphone manages to provide bass thump without washing out detail. The bass is slightly more bloomy than accurate, but there’s a good sense of energy to the piece, and it does a good job of bringing in the cheers of the crowd too.
+ Works well with all genres of music.
- Costly upgrade when the only addition is the USB dongle.
AT A GLANCE
TYPE
Over-ear wireless ANC headphones
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
20Hz-22kHz
WEIGHT
340g
PRICE
$449
SENNHEISER PXC 550 WIRELESS
The PXC 550s may be expensive, but they’re also the most fully-featured; with everything from adjustable noise- cancelling to wireless capabilities to touch controls thrown in. They’re also interesting in the way they’re powered on. Folding the earcups inwards (ready for listening) activates the headphones, while folding them flat (for storage) turns them off.
These headphones are clearly targeted at travel and come with a built-in limiter function that avoids sudden and extreme sound level peaks – like cabin announcements for example. They also have app support in terms of a dedicated music player that also allows you to fine tune the audio.
The PXC 550 excelled in the audio department, delivering the best audio in the group. On Spanish Harlem, the headphones showcased its ability, rendering every instrument in the piece beautifully. From the shakers in the rear to the string ensemble’s guitars, violins and cellos. These headphones show good performance throughout the audio spectrum and an ability to handle faster pieces while also have a good sense of musicality.
Moving on to a slightly grittier piece – Keith Don’t Go by Neils Lofgren – the headphone showcases incredible detail in the midrange. You can really hear every hammer and slide, and the headphones also pick up the sounds of the crowd so well that you almost feel like you’re watching it live.
Thus it’s no surprise that the headphones do best on Hotel California – the only live piece in our lineup of formal test tracks. With the PXC 550, you get a good sense of the crowd being around you. There’s a nice warm tone to the lead guitars, while the guitars playing melody are nicely resolved too. The headphones create a nice medium-sized soundstage with this, and offer up a nice balanced performance that’s most enjoyable overall.
Where these headphones are held back though, is in their noise-cancelling performance, and that’s more testament to how good the top headsets are.
+ Excellent detail throughout the audio range.
- Cost is high while noise cancelling isn’t the best.
AT A GLANCE
TYPE
Over-ear wireless ANC headphones
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
17Hz-23kHz
WEIGHT
227g
PRICE
$649
SONY MDR1000X
One of Sony’s latest products, the MDR-1000X features the latest of Sony’s audio technologies. The headphones are optimized for HRA, and come with Sony’s S-Master HX for reduced distortion and greater detail.
Playback can be controlled via touch on the right earcup, and a single button activates Ambient Sound mode, which in itself has two options: Voice mode and Normal mode. Voice mode allows you to still hear announcements and nearby conversation while knocking out street sounds, while Normal mode just lets everything in.
Hit the NC button and the pure noise cancelling kicks in. This is where the MDR-1000X shocked us, as the headphones were easily as good as the QC 35s in knocking out ambient noise. It’s almost as though the headphones create a vacuum of noise so everything seems distanced from your music. So, while sudden loud noises may still seep through, everything else will be dramatically dampened. This can be further calibrated to your own ears and wearing style at a touch of a button so Sony have certainly stepped up their game in this area.
In terms of audio, the MDR-1000X was impressive overall, with an analytical sound signature that’s great for acoustic pieces with lots of musical instruments, like Come Away with Me by Norah Jones. The headphones do a great job of picking up detail, and seem to present a more neutral version of the solo than the other headphones in this shootout. Shifting to some classic Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody showed off its strength in the midrange while The Show must Go On showed off its lower registers – gritty and bassy.
On our formal test tracks, the headphones provided an engaging listen of Hotel California. There was good body to the bass, and the imaging of all the guitars was spot on. These headphones really provide good separation so you can still keep track of the shakers and the percussion drums in the rear while the respective guitars are going at full force.
+ Great noise cancelling features.
- Sound can sometimes be a little too neutral.
AT A GLANCE
TYPE
Over-ear wireless ANC headphones
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
4Hz-40kHz
WEIGHT
275g
PRICE
$599
