ANC For Audiophiles

The VISO HP 70 is NAD’s flagship wireless headphone. Construction is top notch and feels solidly put together. Though faux leather is used for the headband and ear cups, they are soft and cushy. Wearing comfort is good, but the ear cups might be a little small for some users. It doesn’t fold like some of its competitors though, making it bulkier to carry around.

The right ear cup is home to all of the controls, with a Bluetooth pairing button, volume, active noise-cancellation, phone call and track control switches. The numerous switches make the ear cup look fussy, but they are intuitive and effective to use.

Where the VISO HP 70 excels is in its sound. For a start, where most active noise-canceling headphone sound drastically different between active and passive modes, the VISO HP 70 is surprisingly consistent.

The VISO HP 70 is well accessorized with cables and adapters.

That said, the VISO HP 70 does sound best in active noise-cancellation mode because the headphone’s DSP circuits automatically apply NAD’s RoomFeel equalization. RoomFeel aims to recreate the sound of listening to high-performance loudspeakers in a room - hence the name. The headphone still sounds closed in, but the overall tonality is warm and quite good if a little dark and hazy. Bass is strong, slightly north of neutral, and a little muddy. I hear it bleeding into the mids, but it isn’t overbearing or excessive. Mids are smooth and organic-sounding though a little veiled to my ears. Highs are polite but also significantly rolled off.

Overall, amongst the wireless active noise cancelers that I have heard so far, I found the VISO HP 70 to be the most mature, natural, and refined. In comparison, the Bose QuietComfort 35 sounds cold and digital, while the Sony WH-1000XM2 has the tendency to be hot and bassy.

One nifty thing about the VISO HP 70 is that it can play directly off PCs using the supplied charging cable, while charging. Used in this manner, it bypasses the (usually inferior) built-in DACs of your PC and relies on its internal DAC and DSP.

While its active noise-cancelling performance is commendable—I’ve used it on a flight and ambient noise in the cabin was reduced by a considerable amount—Bose’s and Sony’s implementations are still ahead in this respect. 

If audio quality is your biggest priority, with active noise-cancelling more of a bonus, this should be one of the first headphones you audition.