Customer Reviews

Aiwa HP-CN6 Noise-Canceling Over-the-Ear Headphones

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've been using these headphones for a while and have been very pleased so far. First the battery life is outstanding. I used the headphones for over a year before the batteries ran out. Others have complained about the fit but I guess I'm lucky in that they don't bother me. There is some hiss when you turn them on and I wouldn't recommend them for quiet listening. In airplanes and on the subway however I have found the headphones to work very well in cancelling noise and the hiss is really not a factor. Sometimes high pitched noise like voices or loud headphones feel like they are amplified. Overall, for subway/bus/plane listening these are a good deal and I recommend them.

The Aiwa HP-CN6 Noise Canceling, Over-The-Ear, Headphones was made with precision and great attention to the needs of consumers. Having owned the Bose Headphones for over one year, I allowed my Sister to borrow them for a long flight she had to New York. It was a Non-Stop and she was wanting to rest peacefully. So I gave her my Bose Headphones and off she went. Since she enjoyed them so much, I passed them onto her and told her to just enjoy them.

I tried going without a good set of headphones and finally decided that I HAD to purchase a quality set of headphones and needed them soon. I went online and did a great deal of research. In many cases, so many reviewers focused on the Bose-likely because of their large advertising budget. But if you think of it-it can't be too complex to put together a high quality headphone at a reasonable price.

What I immediatelty discovered what that Bose had some competition from a company called Aiwa. Wherever I looked, in my need to find additional technical reviews, I would seem to find the AIWA HP-CN6 Noise-Canceling Headphones. I could not believe that they were priced so affordably so I research that issue. Others had posed that same question and I learned that the ONLY real reason for their lower cost is that they didn't spend the millions of dollars in advertising that BOSE had.

I love all BOSE products and have nothing but good things to say about them. If I HAD to choose something to take up with BOSE-it would only be the cost of their products. However, I decided to purchase the AIWA HP-CN6 Headphones for just under $50.00.

I've had the headphones for almost 3 months and they have done nothing but continually impress me. In my opinion, the AIWA HP-CN6 Over-The-Ear Headphones are outstanding in every sense of the word. I wanted to write a review that would help others with their decision on whether or not to purchase these. In addition, there are sites like [...] that will allow you to read reviews from consumers and compare the competitive prices for them. There is plenty of very technical information that you can read about them. My intention is to allow you read all of that and then to listen to a consumer that has used them for 3 months-on an almost everyday usage.

I consider them to be very comfortable and attractive-as attractive as headphones can come! The only issue that I have had with them is that sometimes you may hear a hissing sound. In my own experience, however, that has been transient and would not be a huge factor in my decision making process.

If you're looking for a good set of headphones that can cancel out most noise, the AIWA HP-CN6 Headphones are a Consumer Best Buy. There are others to choose from, but if you can find these for $40.00 or less, you're getting a high-quality item at a great price.

AIWA has a strong reputation with its warranty and in the past was very helpful with a stereo that I needed serviced. They sent me the receiver and THEN asked me to send mine in for repair. They didn't want me to be without a stereo for any period of time. I appreciated their outstanding customer service and that was likely an additional reason that I took into consideration when buying these headphones.

Thanks for taking the time to read my review. I really hope that at least a portion of it was helpful to you. No matter what-I just hope you find a great set of headphones that you'll be happy with.

[...]

Summary:

Great noise reduction headphones for the money. Not as good as my current favorites, Sennheiser PXC-250s (which I also own). Also not as good as $300 Bose cans. But very capable. Good reduction of low frequency steady noise (which is all that any active noise reduction phones can properly deal with). Reasonably comfortable. Construction seems a bit on the cheap side, but they haven't broken yet. For sound quality, they are reasonably good compared to other noise reduction headphones, but mediocre compared to good non-noise reduction headphones. Typical story there.

Note that the predecessor model to these, the Aiwa HP-CN5, were basically identical to the Sony MDR-NC5, but the Aiwa were about half the price. (Sony owns AIWA, and on the back of the HP-CN6 package you'll even see a (c) Sony notice). As the HP-CN6 is a model upgrade from the HP-CN5/MDR-NC5, there is no reason in the world to buy MDR-NC5 given the major price difference.

Strengths:
The battery fits in the headphone band, which means no second in-line box to lug around. That's a BIG convenience compared to things like Sennheiser PXC-250 or Bose.

Very inexpensive for the quality.

Fold down into relatively compact size.

Excellent noise reduction.

Decent (but not amazing) sound. Certainly good enough for any environment where you'd want to use noise reducing phones.

Weaknesses:
Not the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn. OK, but not great.

Seemingly cheap construction (but haven't had any problems yet).

Better sound quality options are available at similar or lower prices if noise-reduction is not important to you.

I travel a lot on airplanes (>125k miles last year), a lot of it on international flights where a good set of headphones is crucial. I've been using the Aiwa headphones for about 2 years and have found them to be a nice compromise from the fabulous - and fabulously expensive - Bose headphones.

My version came with an airplane adapter (essential) and little attenuator cable that is required in most cases because the volume on the plane is set up to cut through the background noice with high volume. When the headphones cut out the background noise, the resulting audio is way too loud. Hence the need for an attenuator.

I don't use them on the ground or in any other situation very often, and never with the noise cancellation turned on, so the problems with hiss that others mention are never a problem for me.

If you can afford it, the Bose noise-canceling headset (about $300) is truly amazing. Comfortable (the earpieces fit around your ears) and with terrific audio response. American Airlines sometimes lets customers in international business class use a set, and it will spoil you for all others. However, I wasn't willing to pay 10X, and the Aiwa's are a nice compromise.

I bought these headphones hoping for a comfortable listening and gaming experience... I wasn't entirely dissappointed. The bass is true and clear as is the higher tones. However, after using it for a few months, the padding really starts to deteriorate. It gets to the point that after listening for about a half hour, my ears start to hurt. I have to take them off for about five minutes so that they don't go numb, and NO I don't have the volume on absolute max ;)

Overall a good set of headphones, but a bit overpriced for the discomfort.

Just looking at the product, you get an idea as to why it is not very expensive. It is a whole lot of plastic. There is not a great deal of padding around the ear piece and since the head phones fold up to be easily carried, the head band is just plastic. So, this basically will have to be ear phones that you use while travelling in noisy environments (like a train or plane). It is not comfortable for a long term/ every day usage. I can live with that.

Like other folks have mentioned, the noise cancelling function definitely produces an hiss. This would not be a big issue if you are in a noisy environment, but is very noticeable in a quiter space. Also, if you turn on the noise cancelling function while listening to music, it tends to amplify (increased volume)the music along with producing the hiss, which woul be useful in a noisy location. I also noticed that the length of the cable is pretty short (3 ft), which is sufficient when listening with a mobile audio device, but it is not convinient while working on a PC and listening to music off that.

I still give it 3 stars because of the cost factor (under $18) and also due to the fact that it is useful in certain places, very portable and not too heavy. I can live with hiss and even the lack of padding. Hope this helps.

When I bought these headphones, I went through these reviews and figured it may not be as bad as some these guys are saying. Some guys were praising this so much that, I overlooked all the bad reviews and bought it anyway. Now, when I put some battries for using the noise-reduction feature, I get some new noise. This Hissing is unbearable, even while some music is playing. I would suggest you to buy these only if you are not gonna use the noise reduction feature.

Ok,

I bought these two or three months ago after a colleague told me that noise-cancelling headphones are very nice when you are on the plane for hours and hours. He spend $299 for his. When this set was on sale for $15 I asked myself what can go wrong - especially when brand Aiwa is behind this.

Here are the reason why I don't like this set:
- very, very annoying "high hiss" (see others people's reviews)
- beside this extra noise I actually noticed only a little reduction of external noise; I tried it on the plane from California to Germany for I would say 2 min (couldn't stand the high hiss for longer), and also in an office with a desktop computer on; I'm not sure if external noise is really reduced or ears now focus on high frequency noise.
- it is not very comfortable due to plastic top
- with "high hiss" off, sound quality is like typical $5 headphones

Hope this helps.

Poeple need to understand what ANR is and does. The hiss you are hearing is the injected out of phase sound waves into the ear-cup. I have a Bose ANR headset at work and it does the same thing. It is the nature of the beast. I will order these and let you know a good comparison.

More importantly, do not expect any ANR headset to block out any frequencies above 500 Hz or so. ANR works primarily in the very low octaves, even in the most expensive models. That is why it will cancel out road noise or the drone of a plane or fan, but not conversations (they do to an extent. The attenuation you experience for conversations is simply the earphones themselves blocking out high frequencies.

When I first received my head phones I though they were ok at best, the sound quality was decent but the head strap appears bulky when wearing. Then I used them on a recent 11 hour plane trip and they came into there own, the lower level background noise was reduced greatly so much so that I did not have to turn the volume up at all to watch the movies and even when not plugged into anything they made a very noticeable difference.
Overall I would defiantly recommend for them for air travel, their worth every penny.