Customer Reviews

JVC HANC100 Noise Cancelling Headphones

5 star:		(77)
4 star:		(100)
3 star:		(52)
2 star:		(26)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

There are a few things about these earphones that need mention right up front, because they are so very well done.

1. Most noise cancelling headphones have a bulky battery pack in line on the headphone wire. These DO NOT, which means the wire is small and free of things to catch on airplane handrests and such. This is great.

2. Many noise cancelling headphones have a constantly connected cord, or allow the cord to be removed if you only want noise cancelling. With this, the cord rewinds into the left earpiece. This is again, extremely well thought out. If you just want noice cancelling, rewind the cord up. It's easy and since it's attached, you can't forget and leave the cord on the plane or at home. This is great.

3. It runs on a single AAA battery, which resides in the right earpiece, again nothing external to snag on anything.

4. They fold up nicely for travel.

5. Noise reduction works very well. I even use them at my office to block out the white noise and fans of my building.

6. Audio quality is fairly good, nice rich tones but a little lacking on bass. I enjoyed my videos and music with them very much. An audiophile might be dissappointed, but if you're using noise reduction in the first place, you probably are in a noisy environment where you can't appreciate perfect audio anyway. All in all, the sound is very good however.

All that is very good.

What's not so good. The headphones look like over the ear designs, and for the most part are. The earcups are actually very small and barely fit over your ear. I'm OK with that, and the padding is very soft. On the inside however, the cup where your ear sits is not very deep due to the electronics and such in them (battery on one side, retractable cord on the other). The top of my ear touches this inside panel and while not instantly uncomfortable, by the time I landed, both ears were a little sore from this. I flew from Chicago to Tokyo and by half way... both ears were sore. I continued to wear them because they worked so well and the noise reduction and audio with my computer was so good, but this is the only drawback I saw.

I bought these to use with my Ipod, especially on long haul flights. They fold down to a compact size so are excellent for travel. Sound quality is excellent when listening to music. The full shell earphone is comfortable and the noise cancelling function cuts out a lot of low frequency sound. Priced in the middle of the range I think these are great value.

GOOD

- active noise reduction really helped in airport terminal and on plane when listening to music or the movie.

- the best passive sound reduction anywhere near this price

- fold up nicely. (If you in to ultra-small, then these are to big for you, as you can see from the pictures)

- retracting cord is great.

- sound was good, and even ear-to-ear.

- I could not hear any hiss in a noisy environement. If I turned on the noise-reduction in a quiet room I could hear the hiss at first. Tip: don't use noise reduction if it is already quiet ;-)

Not-as-good:

- After about 5 hours one of my ears were getting sore from the touch of the earphone, and my ears are fairly small. I was able to move the headphones around a little and make it a bit more comfortable. I think that after 7 hours almost any headphone would make my ears sore. If this worried me, then I would buy a second pair of noise-reduction earphones, tiny ear-bud ones, and switch off between the two before springing for the Bose. I also always carry those little foam ear plugs with me when travelling.

- After only a few hours, the un-padded over-the-head piece does feel hard and uncomfortable. I stuck a piece of my scarf under it and that was fine. I am going to play around with other possibilites now that I am home.

My top reason for choosing the JVC's was for the passive sound reduction. Active noise reduction is great and reduces the general low-frequency roar of terminals and planes. But if you are trying to sleep to music and a baby is squealing 2 seats away then you need passive noise reduction. I tested the Bose, and I did not think they were any better for passive noise reduction.

I bought these then used them in an airport terminal and on a 5-hour flight. My first comment, is that no matter what kind you get, do get some noise-cancelling headphones, they make a huge difference in your comfort, and I'm sure your health. These JVCs had even sound from ear-to-ear.

I am rating this a 5 in part with consideration of the price, if they were 2 or 3 times the price, then I would lower my rating to 4, only because after many hours the comfort is only good, not excellent.

About a year ago, I switched from a commute by car to a commute via train and subway (from New Jersey to New York). I am an audiophile, so I wanted a good-sounding CD player/headphone combo. And since I damaged my hearing years ago with a Walkman that I played too loud (causing Tinnitus), I wanted as much noise isolation as possible. For various reasons, in-the-ear-canal ear buds don't work for me, so I set out to find a good pair of on or over the ear cans that offered good fidelity and a reduction in exterior noise. Note: I don't do reduced bit rates, so all of the comments refer to performance using standard "Red Book" CDs.

Although I started out with an iRiver CD player (which is a pretty good-sounding player), it was too picky about the CDs it would read, so I switched to the Sony D-NE320PSBLK Psyc player. This player reads almost all CDs, sounds OK, although the treble is somewhat rolled-off (but I actually prefer this when listening to headphones; it compensates for overly-bright CDs). It has great battery life and great features.

First, I tried the Sennheiser PXC-250, an on-ear portable design. Although neutral sounding, the Senns lacked good bass extension. Worse, the out-board noise cancelling module created a mess of tangled wires. After only three months of daily use, the wires went, and since everything is hard-wired, the Senns were now useless (quite a difference from my home headphones, Sennheiser 424X I bought new in 1976 and still work perfectly).

Next, I tried the Aiwa HP CN6. This is an open-air, on-the-ear design with electronic noise cancelling. The noise cancelling works well, and these cans sound fairly good. A little bright, but with extended, powerful bass and fairly neutral mids. The noise cancellation circuit increases efficiency to 106 dB, one of the highest efficiency ratings for noise-cancelling phones. This saves battery power on your player. However, the circuitry adds a significant amount of hiss. Battery life of the Aiwas was fantastic. Comfort-wise, they were only fair, and the thin foam earpads were beginning to wear out after about six months of use. Then, the noise cancelling function stopped working. Time to look again.

I visited the Bose Store with my player and tried the $300 Bose cans. The sound was OK, but not what you'd expect for the price. The electronic noise cancellation seemed to work well, with less added hiss, but the passive noise cancellation from the sealed, over-the-ear design was poor. I could clearly hear the Bose salesman talking on the phone a few feet away, almost as loudly as without the headphones. Plus, it was much less efficient than the Aiwas, which would have meant heavy battery use in my player (which takes only one AA battery). Just not worth the money (like most Bose products, IMO).

Then I tried two Koss noise cancelling models. The QZ-50 is an inexpensive, behind-the-neck, over-the-ear design. It was aweful. It's electronic noise cancellation added hiss but no apparent noise reduction at all. It's passive noise reduction was inneffective as well, since the ear pieces did not make a tight seal over the ears. And it was very innefficient, making it a poor choice for portable players. The newer QZPro was on sale on line, so I tried it as well. This padded over-the-ear design is comfortable, but passive noise cancellation was minimal. Active noise cancellation was OK, with some added hiss, but it was the least effecient design (90 db!) I have seen. Sound quality was fair, but I preferred the Aiwas, and I was ready to buy a new pair of them when I started reading about the JVC HANC100 phones.

Feature-wise, the HANC100 is nice. Unless you have larger-than-average ears, they are comfortable. The headband bothering so many hasn't bothered me yet. The ear cups fit over my ears, although I do have to partially fold my outer ear into them. They seem sturdy, although the cord is thin and I have gotten it caught on things a few times, without causing damage. I do not retract the cord, since I cary them inside a duffle bag when not in use. The only issue I have with comfort is that they are warm. In February, they double as good ear muffs, but I fear that in warmer weather they will make my ears sweat. After an hour or so, I do feel the need to shift them to relieve pressure on my eyeglass side-pieces. These comfort issues are half the reason for 4 instead of 5 stars. Like all of these electronic noise cancelling cans, you can't use the noise reduction feature in windy conditions, since the wind noise through the built-in mics is too loud. But at least you can shut that function off on the JVCs, and listen without it.

Efficiency-wise, the HANC100 is fine. Not quite as effecient as the Aiwas, but I suspect that the published spec of 103 dB with noise cancelling off and 100dB with noise cancelling on, is innaccurate. First, it's the only time I've seen a *decrease* in efficiency with the noise reduction on. Second, I hear no difference in level whether it's switched on or off.

Sound-wise, they are OK. They would benefit from a less resonant enclosure, since there is a little of the "cupped-hand" effect in the mid-band. I adapted to that quickly, though, and overall, they sound clean and neutral. Bass is a bit muddy and does not extend too deep, but the Sony player has numerous bass-boost features that compensate for this. When a CD is bass-heavy, the JVCs respond well to a point, but can be overloaded with extremely high levels of bass, and they then distort audibly. The highs are noticeably rolled-off, but I prefer this for headphones.

I have had no issues with uneven channel level.

One thing to be aware of is that they are not shielded from cell-phone interferance, and you will here buzzing (like an old morse code device) when cell phones are in use nearby. I can live with this, although I hear that Sony has added shielding to its noise cancelling phones. How about it, JVC?

Now the best part: The noise cancellation. Passive noise cancellation, which covers higher frequencies, is excellent. With all the other cans I tried, I used to hear conversation of other passengers clearly. With the HANC100, I can tell people are speaking, but at levels reduced so much that I can't tell what they're saying - awesome! They only thing they don't block out is the elevator music that the Port Authority plays - at fairly high volume - in its larger train stations.

The electronic noise cancellation is also quite good. If you commute by train or subway, then you know how loud trains and subways can be, both from outside and inside. With the HANC100, I can barely tell when a train car end-door has been opened while the train is moving. With other headphones, this made listening impossible. And the rumbling of the trains is almost completely eliminated when inside the train. Outside, the trains are very loud. While the HANC100 doesn't block enough of that noise to listen through it, it does reduce the noise significantly, and that's a good thing for my ears.

The one star was deducted for comfort, although I doubt they could be made cooler (with ventilation) without loosing some of the passive noise reduction, and for the lack of cell-phone shielding.

The HANC100 would be a good value at its list price of ~$90. At street prices, which are much lower (check Amazon's price!), they are an outright steal! I recommend the HANC100 over any other noise cancelling headphones I've tried.

EDIT (3/13/06): After a few weeks, and some unintended tugging at the cord, the right earcup developed a crackling sound which modulates both with the audio signal and amount of external noise. Sounds like something is loose within the earcup. I have ordered a second pair. If these last about a year, fine - can live with replacing them no more often than once per year. If not, I will have to look at something else. Oh, well.

EDIT (7/10/07): The second pair lasted well over a year. Even then, they failed because the wire got snagged on something, and frayed. So, this is due to being damaged by me, not because they failed with normal use. They still work, but the left channel sometimes cuts out. Overall, I have enjoyed these 'phones, and I will replace them with another pair. Strongly recommended.

Noise cancellation is adequate considering the price.

Positives:
Handy retractable cord
Decent battery life
Comfortable

Negatives
Noise cancellation uneven between earcups

This is the second pair of these headphones I have tried. I returned the first pair because it seemed as though the cancellation was not equal on the left side. I even flipped the phones around and sure enough, one side sounded different. My second pair behaved in the same way and I concluded that the microphone on the top of the earcup must have been obstructed by the headband.

Overall, a good entry level setup however my next purchase will be the Sennheiser PXC 250. They offer better cancellation abilities and music reproduction. Or, if you really wish to go all out, there are the Bose. . .

I have purchased and tried 6 different noise cancelling headphones in the past 2 years, and JVC HANC100 is absolutely the BEST I have tried - for the under-$100 category. The other headphones I have tried include the Panasonic, Sony, and TDK, and none of them are even close to this set, especially in the sound quality, but also in its construction and the noise cancellation effectiveness.

Sound quality: Excellent and balanced sound. Good clean midrange, crisp treble, and solid bass. No part of the sound is too punchy or brassy, and there is really no weak part that needs much compensation.

Ergonomics and design: Well-designed all around. The noise cancellation is built into the headset, so no dangling piece of hardware outside. The cord is retractable so there is never any extra cord that gets in the way. The automatic retraction is an easy one-button push - very sweet! Finally, it folds nicely into compact size for easy transport. It even comes with a nice leather-like pouch.

Noise Cancellation: Definitely remove most low frequency rumble. The ear-covering design also helps reduce the noise further, allowing me to listen to classical even during the rumble of subway going at 70 MPH through tunnels.

Battery: Rated for 10 hours of continuous use. I use a rechargeable, and it certainly has lasted me much longer than that.

If there is one complain, it will be the tightness on your ears at first use. But after a few uses, it loosens up just enough such that they no longer hurt your ears even after a couple hours of use.

I personally haven't tried the Bose, but of course, the Bose costs only about 5x as much as this pair.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

When reading the myriad of reviews for a product like this, it's sometimes hard to determine what is a reasonable objective assessment of performance and what is sometimes just anger because expectations were set too high or people tried to do things like retract the cord without reading the instructions properly. Well here's the scoop.

WHY I BOUGHT IT.

I was very close to buying the Senn PX 250s for three times the amount and decided that I just didn't do enough traveling to warrant that kind of outlay. After all, a plane is hardly the most optimized environment for Hi-Fi anyway. After reading the reviews on Amazon, I felt enough people were happy with the JVCs that it was worth the roughly $50 gamble. (I must admit, I was also somewhat suckered by the huge discount off the full price which equals the Senns).

GENERAL SOUND AND NOISE REDUCTION QUALITY.

Just after purchasing these phones, I flew from San Francisco to the UK and back, as well as made trips from the UK to France. I was, in a word, DELIGHTED with this purchase. Audio quality was very acceptable for such a budget priced set of phones. I don't have specifications but let it suffice to say that there was adequate bass, midrange and high-end present to make for a 'complete' listen of anything from solo violin to Drum and bass. There were no glaring inadequacies. But let's get real. For fifty bucks, what is one expecting? Recording studio quality?

Noise reduction was really surprisingly good. There is a slight low level hiss that is part of the mechanism for cancelling out external low frequencies but I found I had self-filtered that out within seconds. Be aware that this hiss is present on all noise-reduction phones. I even heard it on the BOSE set. The difference with the reduction on vs. off was most palpable. There was an instant drop in the low end whine of the engines. Sure, you could still hear some surrounding sound but truthfully even that was substantially dampened, if not removed. Movies were, for the first time EVER, engaging and a pleasure to watch onboard.

BUILD.

Some have complained about discomfort. I found the earcups to be fine but extra large ears could be problematic. As mentioned again and again, the band is unpadded and I think this really is a shame. I have a thick head of hair so I experienced no discomfort at all but I think someone less gratuitously folicled might find them uncomfortable.

Allow me to warn you: careful with the retractable cord. Don't force it until it breaks. It works perfectly, but as a safely measure, one must have the cups in the retracted position before the cord can be retracted. This prevents the cord from somehow accidentally whipping back up towards your eyes while it's on your head. I am quite sure that this instruction was ignored by the compaintants below.

These phones felt solid enough. I don't know how they will last. After all I've only had them a few weeks. But with proper care I think they'll make future flights far more pleasurable than they were before.

BATTERY LIFE.

I did all the aforementioned travel on a single AAA battery without any deterioration of Noise-reduction capabilities. That's a total of about 23 hours travel in total.

OVERALL...

I say YES. Go for it and feel good about it. If you have sufficient hair on your head to overcome the discomfort and average sized ears, and if you have reasonable rather than outrageous expectations I think you'll be delighted with this purchase.

Since these are now being sold now in the mid $40 range they are probably the best in class. I've had the chance to compare the Sony MDR-NC6, Philips HN50, Philips HN110, Maxell HP-NCIII as well as the Sennheiser pxc250 and pxc300. note: pxc250 had a small amount of hiss, 300 had almost none.

Honestly the Sennheiser pxc250 at three times the price is similar in function and pxc300 at about 5 times the price does a better job and both Sennheisers are very comfortable - but In a contest of price vs small but noticible comfort and function difference, to me the difference doesn't justify significantly the higher price. The Sennheisers were the most comfortable and the pxc300 literally silenced an airport terminal.

The Philips HN50 and HN110 with good audio quality were probably the least effective in noise canceling. The HN110 barely affected the fan noise of my PC and had no passive noise canceling effect - very disappointing. both had slight hiss noticable in quiet areas

The Maxell HP-NCIII had surprisingly good audio quality with and without noise canceling enabled. Noise Canceling was similar to the Sony and with similar wearer comfort. The split wiring system and in-line battery/electronics module is a little clumsy but not terrible and Sennheiser has similar. For around $30 street price these are actually not too bad and I'm keeping the set I tried to use in the office. very slight hiss in quiet areas

The Sony MDR-NC6 which has similar or slightly better noise canceling to the Maxell but disappointing audio quality (weak bass) with canceling enabled. If your player has a BASS boost this may not be a factor for you. My PDA/MP3 player has no bass boost so the sony nc6 sound was disappointing. hiss noticable in quiet areas.

My favorite in the under $50 (street price) is the JVC HA- NC100 . The audio quality is very good0 with Nice bass response and almost no difference between with and without Noise Canceling. No tinniness in the sound as I found with the Sony MDR-NC6. The retracting cord is a really nice feature as you can use the headset for just noise canceling without a tangled cord to deal with. The noise canceling is similar to the Sennheiser pxc250 and may even approach the 300 in effectiveness. Not as comfortable as the Sennheisers but not as uncomforatble for extended wear as the Sony and Maxell - though both were only slightly less comfortable. A very slight hiss noticable in quiet areas.

Since I find in-the-ear phones painful after an hour or so, I prefer an over the ear type. These are a great deal and I'm actually looking forward to my next cross-country trip.

PROS (What I like best):

Audio Quality
Retracting Cord
Full ear covering add to passive reduction
Compact portability

Cons (What I don't like):

Slightly small earpieces A silghtly bigger and softer padded earpiece would be nice.

a slight hiss - noticable in quiet areas (almost all ANC's have this)

No Volume control

I use these headphones for long flights. The noise reduction is great and the music quality is good. They are easy to carry and store. I was worried they would go through batteries quickly, but I have used them on 2 international roundtrips with the same battery. The only thing that can be improved is the top of the 'headband'. The padding is not very good so they dig into my head which is irritating after a few hours. I can live with this for the price. If I had paid more, I might have rated these a 4 instead of 5.

I bought these initially for a long plane flight, and have also used them in a somewhat noisy office. They won't eliminate all the noise of a plane, or even an office environment, but they reduce the drone quite noticeably.

On the plane I found it helped to wear them with the noise-cancelling function turned on even without listening to anything else. I watched DVDs with these on my flights, and it was easy to hear the dialog without cranking up the volume very high. You could still hear people speaking (like the stewardess offering you a drink), but the plane itself wasn't that loud. In my office it minimizes the drone of two computers, the air conditioning, and the microwave that's outside my cubicle (though I still clearly hear the microwave's beep at the end of the cycle).

I found them to be mostly comfortable, though my ears do sometimes get a bit warm. They cut off any air circulation to your ears, but then that helps stifle the background noise.

You do hear a small electronic whine when the noise-cancelling is turned on, but it's quieter than the background noise and is completely unnoticable if you're playing a DVD or music through the headphones. The sound quality is very good -- better than many regular headphones I've used in the same price range. I didn't notice any issues with the balance being different as some have complained about -- perhaps making sure the bar that goes over your head is centered helps.

The cord is very thin, which probably helps it wind into the headphone easier. I worry slightly that it might be less durable, but I haven't had any issues yet. I had no trouble rewinding it as some have had -- the owner's manual does warn that the headphones have to be in their "compact" position for the rewind function to work (it's hard to reach the button otherwise, and it's disabled even if you manage to reach it unless the headphones are folded up).

I've seen some headphones at 4X the price or more, that probably do a better job cancelling noise than these do, but these are great for those on a budget.