Customer Reviews

Jabra C820S Active Noise Cancelling Stereo Headphones

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I've looked and tried nearly a dozen so-called active noise cancelling headphones and was tremendously disappointed by all of them, except the Bose, which I cannot afford. Then I saw the Jabra and since they make the best Bluetooth headsets, I figured, let's try it...I can always return it.

Somewhat to my surprise, the quality was outstanding: the noice cancelling does exactly that and there are no irritating hissing sounds etc. The audio quality is absolutely great and the set comes in a beautiful case.

I have now used it for about 40+ hours, most of which in airplanes and am still on my first battery (it's rated for 50 hours).

Last week I swapped with a Bose QC2 that the guy in the seat next to me was wearing and we did a little testing. Our conclusion was that the Jabra was slightly better in noise cancelling (but Bose was very good too), that both were equal in sound quality and that the Bose was slightly better in comfort (but the Jabra was very comfortable too).

So for $150 less I'll take the Jabra.

I own several cheaper models of noise canceling headphones, so I am well equipped to do comparison.

As everyone has stated, the headphones are very comfortable, have good battery life and excellent sound quality. As the matter of fact, these are the first headphones I tried that can reproduce Alicia Keys music without distortions with my iPod's equalizer set to "Rock".

Noise canceling is the most efficient among all headphones I have ever seen. Even in the loud train, they create quiet environment.

Sound quality is worse when noise canceling off, but it is still tolerable.

One major problem (at least with my particular unit) is relatively loud hiss. When you listen to the music in a loud place (like train or plane), this doesn't matter because this hiss will be masked by remaining ambient noise. However you don't want to use these headphones for music in the quiet home. The only way to avoid the hiss will be to turn off the power, which as I stated above, lowers the sound quality.

Here is the bottom line.

These headphones are excellent solution for noisy environments (for which they are of course primarily intended). Because of the hiss, they are not so good for music listening in the quiet places despite very good sound quality.

Update 12/11/07.
I have tried another pair of these phones and the level of hiss noise was identical to the first pair. So now I am sure that I didn't deal with a random fluctuation; they all are likely to be as described in my review above.

Update 08/07/2008.
I used these phones on a plane during a very long flight. Excellent experience. I wore them during the entire duration of the flight and didn't get tired. Listened to my iPod for some time, just used them for noise protection the rest of the time, and even slept with them on my head. They worked extremely well with airplane noise.

I own the Bose noise-cancelling headphones and the Sharper Image version. I was fortunate to find the Jabra C820s on sale from a source with a good return policy and decided to take the chance.

The Jabra C820s are the equal of the Bose at half or less the price. Period. No ifs, ands or buts. They are also more comfortable. Best of all, you can use the Jabra as a headphone without turning on the noise cancelling feature, something Bose missed the boat on.

Music reproduction without the noise-cancellation turned on is good. With the noise cancelling on, the music quality is terrific! True confession time - I am not an audiophile, so a real purist might have a very different opinion. For me, the fidelity is just fine.)

Noise cancelling is excellent, again fully equal to the Bose.

Battery life is excellent.

Jabra provides a very nice carrying case and all the adapters you'll need for most purposes.

The Jabra C820s is a great value. If you've lusted for the Bose, buy the Jabra. Just as good at half or less the price.

Jerry

Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7 QuietPoint Active Noise-Cancelling Headphones

Both got raving comments, but I didn't find review to compare those two, so I bought Jabra C820s($60) and Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7($120) from amazon at same time to compare head by head.

First impression is "Both are good, better headphones, and noise canceling function work equally great!"

But ATH-ANC7 is the winner in quality of sound. let me put in a little detail.

From most noticable to less noticable:
1) With noise canceling funtion on, Jabra C820s creates a little noticable white noise sound(/hiss sound but not in high pitch, as previous reviewer stated.) ATH-ANC7 is dead-silent. I guess it's due to their different impedance. Jabra C820s impedance 64 Ohm, while AT ATH-ANC7 260 Ohm! The sound generated by current in electronic circuit of battery is lower due to biger impedance.

2) Noise canceling switch in Jabra is not solid as ATH-ANC7, it could partially STAY in the middle of on/off, which will make left earphone no sound.

3) Jabra overall build-in quality is not as sturdy as AT, it contains more cheaper plastic and pleather. full of plastic smell. well, good thing is that it also relatively lighter than ATH-ANC7.

4) Bass is more punchy in ATH-ANC7, but muddy/blurred with low-mid range in Jabra. maybe I am comparing fully burn-in ATH-ANC7 with out-of-box Jabra. high pitch is kind of roll over in high end in Jabra, but fully present in AT. middle-range is very similar in both. due to its white noise, Jabra middle-range feels warmer.

5) Carry case: ATH-ANC7 has much better quality, Jabra case is thiner and softer.

BUT:
6) Jabra is almost half price of ATH-ANC7 QuietPoint. plus Jabra do contains two extra short 3.5mm male to male cables, a little lighter weight than AT, and ear cup is little bigger.

Final conclusion: I keep BOTH! At each price tag range, they are all outperformance!

Is extra better quality worth extra $60? well, you have to answer it by yourself while looking your wallet.

Edit on the train:

1)Noise canceling function Jabra is about 10% weaker than ATH-ANC7 only in bass-to-mid-range noise. some portion of train noise I can hear thro Jabra, but not from ATH-ANC7.

2)I have medium size big head and ears.... somehow, ATH-ANC7 is tight on my head even after I extend it to max, and I am not able fully tuck my ears into the ear cups, so after 2-3 hours of listening, ears begin to feel the presure of tightness, especailly if wearing glasses, it becomes a little unease, I noticed myself constantly taking the headphone off to give my ears a break. But My ears really appericiate the JABRA C820s: the bigger ear cups, and not-so-tight on band, light weight together make Jabra C820s much comfortable wearing for loong time(over 3 hours), even with glasses on. I guess I am willing to trade some quality of sound to a little bit comfy to my ears. hey, it's just my personal feeling.

I spent a decent amount of time on research before I bought these headphones - there are so many pros and cons to consider when looking at what's available in the noise canceling category; but luckily my time spent paid off. These are exactly what I was looking for: top of the line noise cancelling headphones, solidly made, without the INSANE pricing of the BOSE equivalent. And I mean equivalent, unequivocably. The Jabra C820s match up to the top of the line BOSE models. It could be argued the best BOSE model is a few percentages better than the Jabra C820s. I am not a 'super audiophile', but I have good ears and the difference is so slight to be all but negligible. However my friends who are audophiles have been amazed at the quality of the C820s. What's not negligible is the EXTREME price difference as you may notice. I don't mind paying a premium for a top of the line product provided it's well made. Time and again it's documented that although BOSE premium headsets work wonderfully and are top rated, the headset construction breaks, falls apart too quickly? What's the use of expert noise reduction if you can't place the headset on your head after a few months of use? The Jabra C820's are also comfortable enough to wear for long periods--one thing I really needed. I use them for two to three hours at a time, but feel I'd be able to wear them for much longer time periods quite easily. With noise reduction activated, outside sound fades to an immediately noticable ambient calm that is entirely satisfying for my needs while commuting and traveling--while you can still 'hear' most things, all sounds are relegated to the background of your immediate experience. However, with noise reduction and audio, the outside world simply melts away into your personal aural landscapes. None but the loudest outside sounds can be perceived in this mode, so I'd exersice caution if you are in situation where it might be critical for you to hear your outside world. This is a purchase that I am obviously happy with and would recommend to anyone searching for a reprieve from the noise pollution or just want to exponentially enhance the clarity of the sound of music on headphones. If problems with this model arise in the future, I'll be sure to document them here. Otherwise, Enjoy the silence or the purity of your music.

I bought these for my husband who has excellent hearing. We're flying to Oregon soon and I wanted him to be able to hear his CDs without interference from the jet engines and noise inside the jet. He tried them on and told me that all the noise in the area (that I usually block out) disappeared. He really likes the headphone and based on reviews, the Jabras cost much less than Bose headphones and blocked noise as well as many other headsets. He's happy. What can I say?

I bought the Jabra headphones after a good review in Spectrum magazine and positive comments on Amazon.
Compared them with my sister's more expensive Bose headphones and they were pretty similar.
The sound amplification is a little high, but the noise reduction is good esp. on planes.
I had also bought Sharper Image ones before, they aren't too bad, but Jabra & Bose are just a whole different category.

I have been looking for some quality noise cancelling headphones that don't cost a lot and I finally found them after trying multiple different kinds. I have used these in the office, traveling in the car and on flights and am EXTREMELY pleased with the results. Most noise is cancelled and the fit is extremely comfortable. I was a little cautious when I purchased this item because of previous reviews about the headphones not fitting comfortably on smaller heads or because of the 'humming' noise. However, the fit it great and the humming is barely noticable. I was also concerned about the sound quality, but have been extremely impressed. I am very pleased with my purchase

Since all the mini headphones that came with the various electronics devices I've bought over the years all decided to crap out last summer, I've spent about $600 buying five or six different replacement headphones over the past few months. While my favourite for home use are the Sennheiser HD600s, I also wanted something smaller, more portable, and with noise-cancelling capability for work. I considered the various Bose options (too expensive), and even bought the RCA HPNC300 noise-cancelling headphones, but by far the Jabra C820s are the ones I'm happiest with.

In non-technical terms (see the bottom of this review for tech specs), these 'phones work amazingly well. The closed-back, over-the-ear construction includes a pleather cushion which acts to passively block out about 30% of the ambient sound; then, when you turn the headphones on (the set comes with the required one AAA battery), it's almost eerily quiet - you won't hear anything below the level of someone nearby speaking loudly (they're rated at up to 22dB cancellation). The sound of music played through these phones is nicely balanced and clear, more than adequate for playing MP3s and CDs on a Mac or PC, or through the sound system on a plane.

In terms of physical construction, each earpiece is attached to the main headset by a tuning fork-shaped plastic prong, which can be extended up to an inch, and is held in place by a fairly secure ratchet system. Each earpiece can be swivelled independently up to 90 degrees toward the rear (facing behind you as you wear the set normally). A pleather sleeve encases the headband, and the overall construction is durable, yet the set is very light. The right earpiece accepts 3.5mm male connectors, which means you can use your own double-male cable or use one of the two included cables (1' (for use on an airplane) and 5' long), which affords great customisability and usage options, as well as allowing you to replace cables if/when they wear out. Finally, the set and all its jacks, adapters, and cables come in a stiff, durable case which is great for packing in a backpack or carry-on bag, protecting everything from the usual tortures of transportation. I didn't like that the front of the case completely detaches when unzipped all the way, but this is a minor inconvenience.

These aren't the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn (that distinction goes to my HD500 Sennheisers), but they're pretty close. The set is a little tight side to side (the width of the one-piece-construction headband cannot be adjusted), the pleather cushions a little snug on my ears, and - if music isn't playing - it feels like being underwater or in a plane after takeoff (you may find yourself trying to pop your eardrums!), but overall I feel quite comfortable in them. My only complaint is that I keep forgetting to turn them off when not in use! These are a great deal - especially compared to the comparably performing Bose options - and highly recommended, especially anyplace where ambient noise is bothersome. I'd give 4.5 stars considering all the minor flaws, but in a choice between a four- and a five-star rating, this set deserves the full five!

FROM THE PACKAGING:

"Active Noise Canceling removes up to 92% of unwanted background noise. Battery [one AAA] is required for Active Noise Cancelation feature, but is not required to listen to music."

Technical Specifications:

Frequency response - 20 Hz to 22kHz
Impedance - 64 Ohm
Active Noise Cancellation - Up to 22 dB
Transducer Principle - Dynamic 40 mm
Battery Type: 1 X AAA battery
Standard Connector - 3.5 mm stereo

Includes one adapter for most airlines, one 3.5 mm jack, one 6.5 mm jack, and one 2.5 mm jack (for stereo mobile phones)

This is my first pair of noise canceling headphones so I cannot give a fair review or comparison on the quality of the noise reduction effectiveness of the Jabra vs. another brand. What I would like to comment on is that the quality of the material used in my opinion is very cheap.

After diligent and careful handling, and making sure to gently replace the headphones back in their protective case after each use, the plastic that holds the headband together has still failed. Both sides have cracked and one side completely fell apart. The small bit of plastic at the top of the earphones themselves, the part that swivels, is cracked on both earphones so I'm hoping they don't fall apart as well. It still works fine with the help of black electrical tape on both sides, but this isn't something you would expect in a $100 product. $20, probably.

Most of the reviews for this product are favorable and the price is reasonable, which is why I purchased. I still use them regularly and will keep them as a backup once I purchase another pair/different brand. Hopefully this is just a bum pair I received and this isn't the case for the majority of owners of this product.

Update 3/11/09 - Both sides of the headphones have completely failed and one side broke off from the rest of the headset. I have black electrical tape holding both sides together. After reading other reviews I no longer believe I received a bum pair, but that this product is just poorly made.