16 out of 16 people found this review helpful.
Noise canceling? Not!
Date of Review: Nov 21, 2002
The Bottom Line: These headphones look good and the packaging is very convincing; but they just don't deliver. Don't waste your money.
FEATURES:
These headphones were advertised as noise canceling, supposedly great for use when on airplanes, using the lawnmower, etc. The noise canceling feature is via a battery powered device that is attached to the headphone cord. There is an on-off switch for the noise canceling feature, and also settings for "mid" or "max" noise canceling. The headset folds in half and fits into a small travel bag. There is also a separate volume control for the headset. The earpieces are nicely padded and the headset is adjustable for different size heads. Yes, our heads are not all the same size.
REVIEW:
Fit of the headphones: I found that while these headphones looked real sexy in the package, when placed on your head they just do not fit well. I was able to adjust it to the right size for me very easily, but no matter how adjusted there is never a feel that this headset is firmly in place. The ear pieces don't really cover your entire ear, rather they kind of sit on top of your ears. But there is not enough spring in the head piece to make it feel like the headset is firmly "on". You know, how you want the headset to feel snug and not like it is going to fall off your head at the slightest movement. In fact, with the heavy noise canceling device hanging from the cord, it really bugged me the way these headphones always felt like they were about to fall off. Once you put them on you find yourself constantly fiddling with them because they never feel right.
Controls: The noise canceling control is a box about the size of a package of tic tacs, that holds a single AAA battery; the controls are easy to use; however the box hanging on the cord constantly causes a pull on the headphones. You are forced to find a pocket or something to stuff it in; but when you do that, you find the volume control gets rubbed during movement (it is a wheel on one of the corners of the control box) and as you might imagine it is also annoying to have the volume going up and down and forcing you to continue to fiddle with the control. Or, you will find that having to secure the control box in a pocket or something will restrict your movement and cause pull on the headphones because you have in effect shortened the cord.
Sound Quality: I found the sound quality on these headphones to be (and pardon my scientific jargon) "crappy". Very tinny, little bass, very flat sounding. If you take both hands and squish the earpieces down on your ears, they do sound better. But, this is no way to enjoy headphones. The poor fit adds to the problem here. The sound quality of these headphones reminds me of airline headphones you get for listening to in-flight movies. About the best thing you can say about them is that you can hear sounds out of them.
Noise Canceling: In a nutshell, I almost feel like it is false advertising that these headphones claim to be "noise canceling". As far as I could tell, the only noise canceling effect is that when you activate the noise canceling button on the control box, the overall volume of the music gets reduced. So, if you count cancelation of a portion of the actual music volume you are trying to hear as "noise canceling", then I guess they didn't lie on the package. I tried these in the house with a vacuum on, with a tv on normal sound in the background, and while mowing the lawn. I have to be honest, I did not notice any noise canceling. In fact, these headphones worked better and got more music to my ears when mowing the lawn, when I had the noise canceling turned off. At least then I could get more volume out of the headset.
Portability: These headphones are pretty portable. They do fold up nicely and fit in a small bag that comes with the headset. This allows you to carry your crappy sounding headphones almost anywhere! Sorry for the sarcasm; I am just very disappointed in this product.
Warrantee: 90 days parts and labor
Instructions: Comes with complete and easy to understand instructions.
BOTTOM LINE:
Don't buy these headphones. They are not noise canceling (more accurately, the are expectation canceling), and don't sound as good as other similarly priced headphones you can buy. Part of the story is that you get what you pay for, I guess. Bose and a few others make a really good set of truly noise canceling headphones; but you gotta shell out several hundred bucks for them. So I guess my lesson learned is that you can't get good noise canceling 'phones on the cheap. Save your 35 bucks and don't buy these.
