Audio-Technica AUD ATHANC7BSVIS Noise-Cancelling Headphones, Black

This Review is updated from a previous Review. I have owned these headphones for several months now I use them on a nearly daily basis for Music, Movies, and Gaming. I travel on Long Haul International flights quite often and have found these head phones to be great for all applications that they are used for. I am very glad to have purchased these head phones. If I forgot them I would definitely miss them. When I travel I usually travel in Premium Economy and Business class. In these classes of service the Airline that I travel with offers much nicer headphones to use with the in flight entertainment. The airline advertises Noise reducing in Premium Economy and Noise Cancelling in Business Class. There is No comparison I have found that the offerings of the Airline are nothing more than standard over the ear headphones the airline headphones however are much better than what the Airline offers in economy. These headphones are excellent. Highly Recommended and for the price can not be beat. I am curious about the Audio Technica ATH-ANC 9 and the performance over these. There are some improved features that may make them worth the price. I purchased a set of Beats Audio noise cancelling headphones previously to these and found them to be terrible. I wanted a set of good Noise cancelling headphones. Several of my coworkers have the Bose Quiet Comfort 3 and 15 headphones. I wanted to save some money and see what else was out there. I happened upon reviews of these headphones and though Id try them. They were after all less than half the price. Where the beats Audio leaked and the music I was listening to could be heard clearly across the room while being worn the Audio Technica leaked very little comparatively. My co workers can hear the music I am listening to but only at High levels of volume and with no noise in the office. On an airplane this is not the case I have found that very little noise can be heard outside the cups at all. The Beats Audio noise canceling headphones needed to be turned up to higher volume to bring out the full range of the music while the Audio Techinca headphones did not. This is a sign of quality, I do not want to go deaf listening to my music or movies, likewise I do not feel it appropriate to bother my coworkers, other passengers, and people withing a close proximity of me with the audio portion of my chosen form of entertainment. Quality of sound is great and comparable to any high end headphones that I have ever used. I have used the Bose Quiet Comfort headphones momentarily but not at length having had that experience I can see why these headphones are compared to the Bose so often. While these are not Bose and are not quite at that level, they have the advantage of being much more affordable. For my tastes these headphones are right in the wheelhouse. You will not regret purchasing these headphones. If you want to try noise cancelling headphones Id try these. Remember these headphones do not cancel out all noise. They cancel out a specific range of noise. Mostly the background dirty noise such as air conditioners / heaters, fans, humming, jet engines and other such ambient noise. These do a much better job of it than the Beats Audio headphones do. With no music being played you can still hear conversations, television, radio and the like going on around you. Basically it filters out the bad stuff leaving you with only the good stuff to hear. When watching a movie or listening to music the audible world around you goes away leaving you with nothing but your music or movie. The sound out of these is great. You won't be disappointed. While I am sure there are headphones out there that produce much better and pure sound for this price I don't think you'll be able to find anything better. If your battery goes dead mid flight and you don't have a spare Not to worry. You can still use your headphones. A feature that many noise cancelling headphones do not have including the Bose and the Beats Audio. The sound you will get is not nearly as good, the background noise is not filtered, and the sound is not amplified. Suffice it to say the peace of mind is nice knowing that you won't be stuck without the ability to use your headphones should you run out of batteries. These headphones do a better than average job of isolating much ambient noise without the noise canceling feature turned on. I wear glasses, the ear cups fit nicely and comfortably around my larger than average ears and don't make my glasses uncomfortable as many other headphones do requiring me to adjust my glasses while wearing the headphones after a while. In short these Headphones are well worth the price. I highly recommend them. I will post an update to this review after using them quite a bit more and have more to add.

Great headphones. The active noise-cancelling is amazing. I flipped the switch and my PC's loud fans are instantly deafened. They're not totally silenced, but it sounds like my PC is instantly moved 50 feet farther away. I can't wait to try these on my next plane trip! Even better, unlike Beats that MUST be powered On to hear anything, these headphones *DO* work without being turned on or even without any batteries at all. Of course it doesn't sound anywhere near as well, but good to know you won't be 100% without sound when the batteries die (which according to the manual will last 40 hours). I purchased these "Used - Like New" from Amazon and the box was mangled (the top was crumpled heavily). (The headphone box was in an Amazon shipping cardboard box, so the headphone box damage was by whoever purchased and returned the headphones before me.) Everything inside seemed to be in perfect shape however, and I'm listening to some music with these headphones right now. For the cost (*under 3-digits*), this is an incredible value and I am *extremely* pleased with my purchase. I definitely recommend the headphones, and I definitely recommend purchasing Amazon's "Like New" products for the cost savings (this is my 3rd "Amazon Used - Like New" purchase). ----- [Edit 10/27/2014]: Update after nearly 2 years of using these headphones, including a warranty replacement after 1 year due to loss of hearing in one ear (fantastic customer service by Audio-Technica by the way). There are a few things that bother me about these headphones and why I am removing 1 star. First and foremost, with the noise cancelling turned on, the sound leaking is TERRIBLE. In a quiet environment like an office, everyone around you will hear everything you are listening to, guaranteed. I have tried the ANC9, and it is the exact same. In a quiet environment, either you can't use NC, or you have to listen to your music quietly with NC turned on. Next, the toggle switch to turn the NC on and off is extremely rigid. This is what caused my first pair to break. After a while, it would play music in only one ear and I would have to jiggle the switch into the "perfect" position in order to get hearing back. Eventually this trick no longer worked. To Audio-Technica: for future versions, please make this a button instead of such an incredibly hard to move switch which is prone to breaking and causing loss of hearing in one ear cup. And lastly, the low battery warning is *extremely* annoying, especially because it comes on many hours before the battery is dead. You are forced to a) waste the remaining 10-20% of every battery or b) deal with an annoying sound. I haven't read anyone else comment on this, even after extensive Google searches on this. This leads me to believe that this sound is a high enough frequency that you no longer hear it as you age. So if you're a young person like me, this will be annoying. If you're older, perhaps you won't hear it. ----- In an effort to fix the above issues, I have tried alternate headsets. I have tried the Solitude XCS headset (read my review on that product page), which was just terrible. And I have tried the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC9. I tested and compared the noise cancelling on ANC7B vs ANC9, literally putting them on one after another dozens of times. The result? I could not tell the difference between the ANC7B and ANC9. That extra 5% noise cancelling from 90% to 95% is completely indistinguishable. And regarding sound quality, this is extremely surprising, but I actually liked the ANC7B better. It sounded richer and clearer. Very surprising considering the ANC9 retails for $100 over the ANC7B. In the end, I returned the others and kept my ANC7B. Now I know for certain that I somehow made the absolute best choice on Amazon when it comes to noise cancelling headsets 2 years ago. I tried to go less expensive, and that was a mistake. I tried to go more expensive, and that was a mistake. (Note: The Bose QC15 can't be used if the batteries die, so that rules them out for me.) Bottom Line: If you can deal with the noise leaking, the ANC7B is by ***FAR*** the absolute best value product on Amazon for noise cancelling headphones. Buy these Used - Very Good from Amazon Warehouse for an even better deal. Fantastic sound, noise cancelling, and customer service, in one low price make a package that can't be beat.

Ich habe mir den Kopfhörer für längere Flüge und Zugfahrten zugelegt. Da ich bei meinen letzten Flügen in den Genuss von einem Sennheiser Kopfhörer mit Geräuschunterdrückung gekommen bin und natürlich auch den Bose Quietkomfort 15 testen konnte. Im Vergleich zu den beiden Kopfhörern liegt der Audio Techinica in der Mitte. Er hat zwar nicht eine ganz so gute Geräuschunterdrückung wie der Bose aber gefühlt ist er besser als der Sennheiser den ich testen konnte. Die Qualität gerade in zusammenspiel mit meinem Smartphone ist sehr gut, selbst meine Frau ist von der Klangqualität und der Geräuschunterdrückung sehr begeistert. Einziges kleinere Mankos sind, dass der Sound auch sehr deutlich nach aussen dringt, und dass zumindest ich, eine bequeme Position für den Kopfhörer auf meinen Kopf finden musste. Bei einigen Einstellungen tat es nach kurzer Zeit weh. Ansonsten bin ich vom Gewicht sowie Tragekomfort sehr begeistert. Das Preis-/Leistungsverhältnis stimmt hier auf alle Fälle. Ich habe den Kopfhörer mit verschiedenen Musikstilen und Filmen probe gehört und war von der Klangfülle sehr begeistert. Toller Kopfhörer den ich ohne bedenken wieder kaufen würde, und der mein Teufel aureol in Rente geschickt hat. Wie einige hier berichten soll der Kopfhörer / Kabel Störgeräusche von Handys sammeln, dass kann ich nicht bestätigen. Ich kenne das Phänomen von Boxen an meinen PC die Knistern 1 sek bevor mein Samrtphone klingelt, diesen Effekt konnte ich bei den Kopfhörern nicht feststellen.

I gave my first pair of these to my girlfriend, and had no hesitation with buying myself another. As noise cancelling headphones for long haul flights, these really do the trick. Music is rich and detailed with ample bass, clear treble and great vocals. Meanwhile the surrounding drone of aircraft noise is pushed into the distance. You might wonder what the fuss is about when you first try them at home, but activate the noise cancelling feature when airborne and you'll be amazed at the difference it makes. A note of caution: it's not magic! The low frequency background noise is reduced, not eliminated, and if the people sitting immediately behind you insist on having an energetic conversation throughout an eight-hour night flight, you'll have a much better understanding of the difference between low and mid-range frequencies by the time you land! If anything, removing the rumble only serves to unmask the sound of stray conversation, so make sure you have a good music collection that you can sleep through. That said, for in-flight entertainment these cans are unbeatable. No more straining to hear the dialogue in movies, or searching for your loudest rock/metal album to punch above the noise. Now even quieter classical pieces are listenable, and almost all music enjoyable. They're just about comfortable enough for a long haul flight. Back on the ground it's a different story. These are still good headphones with the noise cancelling mode enabled, but in passive mode the sound is flat and lifeless. You'll need to push the volume up a couple of notches anyway, but that won't bring any life back into the sound. To be honest, I'd only bother with these when flying (or maybe long train/car journeys - I've tested them on a train with less pronounced effect than on a plane). As normal headphones they're pretty average, and I'd find it annoying having to "switch them on" (despite the excellent battery life). I'd give them 3 or 4 stars in this role. Solely as a product that reduces low rumble on a plane, making music and movies vastly more enjoyable, I would rate these 5*. It will make your flight more enjoyable than a class upgrade, plus of course you can use them time and again!

Absolutely fantastic. How have I flown without these in the past?! Lightweight so no headaches.

good quality

Compré estos audífonos después de una minuciosa y extensa busqueda en internet (me guié por reseñas de otros compradores en Amazon.com y otras páginas de internet como CNET). Honestamente, no soy ningún experto en audio ni nada por el estilo. Simplemente, buscaba unos buenos audífonos a un buen precio. Y los encontré. No quería gastar una fortuna en comprar unos BOSE o BEATS. Los uso para: a) jugar videojuegos, b) ver películas, c) escuchar música y d) viajar (cancelación de ruido). Viajo mucho en autobús y a veces en avión, por lo que la función de cancelación de ruido era importante para mi, y funciona a la perfección. Cancelan el ruido ambiental en un 80-90%. Tampoco crean que no van a escuchar absolutamente nada, porque no es así. Dudo que hayan audífonos que cancelen el ruido al 100%. La calidad de audio es muy buena para mi gusto (de nuevo, no soy ningún experto), y vienen con varios aditamentos que mejoran el producto, como un estuche con 3 tipos de cables: uno con micrófono para llamadas, otro normal y uno un poco más largo; un adaptador con entrada para audio más grande, además de una batería AAA para la cancelación de ruido. Estos aditamentos vienen en una bolsita con zipper y velcro dentro del estuche para que no se salgan ni se estén moviendo dentro del mismo. Tanto la diadema como los audífonos, son acolchonados, lo cual los hace muy cómodos. Es cierto, pierden un poco de calidad auditiva cuando esta apagada la función de cancelación de ruido, sin embargo, puedes seguir escuchando música/video/etc, si se te acaba la pila. Lo mejor en ese caso, es cargar con una batería de repuesto que te cabe perfectamente en la bolsita del estuche. Estoy muy contento con mi compra, y definitivamente los recomendaría. Sobre los tiempos de envío por parte de Amazon como siempre, superan mis expectativas y llegan antes de lo previsto.