advertisement


Noise cancelling headphones

jay

built for speed
Very quick question for everybody

Do noise cancelling headphones affect sound quality?

I am looking at buying a pair of B&O H3 anc headphones for £90 on Amazon. I need some cheapish replacement in ear headphones and thought they might be suitable as Ive some wired over ear h2's and they're quite good.

Thanks in advance
Jay
 
I've been impressed by the ones I've tried out, and think they'd be perfect for flights, train, etc. But I think at £90 the affected sound quality won't be that great to worry too much about.
 
I've been impressed by the ones I've tried out, and think they'd be perfect for flights, train, etc. But I think at £90 the affected sound quality won't be that great to worry too much about.

Thanks lennyw. I've read that they aren't necessarily the best out there for noise cancellation but sound well balanced and that would suit me.
 
Noise cancelling headphones are good at reducing noise in an aeroplane, and I would consider a pair if you do a lot of long haul flying, but that's the only thing I use my Bose QCs for. I much prefer the sound of a good pair of sound isolating IEMs and for me, the lack of active noise cancellation is worth sacrificing for that. Much less bulky for traveling, too.
 
Noise killing headphones also come in the hi-fi quality (performance and price ) strata and they are iPhone / smartphone compatible. They are not the usual cheap fare .... But you get what you pay for.

Throw in a good external microDAC and a hi-Rez player app player (Apple does not have them so you need a 3rd party app to pay,at FLAC or better quality digital tubes)... and voila !!!

Two of the best that I have heard (and thus bought) are :

(1) BEYERDYNAMIC t51i:

https://www.whathifi.com/beyerdynamic/t51i/review
http://headphone.guru/beyerdynamic-t51i/

(2) My faves: Master & Dynamic MH40's:

https://www.cnet.com/products/master-dynamic-mh40/review/
https://headphonebar.com/products/master-dynamic-mh40-s2
https://www.masterdynamic.com/products/mh40-over-ear-headphones
 
Thanks for the info AKG.

I went ahead and bought the B&O so I guess we'll see. I know that they work without the noise cancelling so if they're as good at the standard H3's I'll be happy.
 
If anyone's interested here are my thoughts on the in-ear B&O H3 ANC's.

Very simply, much better than the Sennheiser CX880i I have (I did buy them in 2011 and perhaps not performing to specification, if you get my meaning). The 880i's are a little bass heavy, which for in-ears, I like very much which used pretty exclusively with my iPhone 6S+. I suppose I can do better than that but for me it's all about convenience.

Sound wise, I find them very good. Well balanced from top to bottom and natural sounding. There's more detail than I'm used to but I not a super clinical listener to am happy to put them on enjoy. The extra ANC electronics are a bit of a pain but I think I'll get used the additional bulk. Bulk probably isn't the right word, it's just a little unweildy.

The party trick (ANC) works well. I mowed the lawns this morning before it got too hot (32 outside in the shade right now) using them with and without the ANC. When it's on and without music playing it's surprising how the sound of the mower reduces. With music playing it's really nice to hear the details come through when it's mayhem outside. Best of all I didn't perceive any impact on the quality with ANC on, my original concern.

Recommended and good value at £90.

Can I ask what's the recommended iPhone app to play higher bit rate music?

Jay
 


advertisement


Back
Top