Kensington Noise Cancelling Headphones ( 33084 )

by Kensington

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10 x 9.7 x 4.5 inches ; 9.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002K6Y9E
• California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 warning.
• Item model number: 33084
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 9, 2004

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Take the noise out of noisy planes and accommodations with the Kensington Noise Canceling Headphones. These comfortable and compact headphones let mobile professionals travel in peace and quiet. A built-in microprocessor analyzes background noises and creates an inverse sound wave that cancels the offending sound. Engines, fans, snoring, and other low frequency annoyances virtually disappear, leaving the traveler free to work, sleep, or listen to music in blissful silence.

Features and Benefits

• Creates quiet environment for work, sleep, or listening pleasure
• Generates inverse sound wave to eliminate background noise
• Comfortable and lightweight for all-day use
• Foldable design stows in travel bag for carrying ease
• Airplane jack for hassle-free music or movie enjoyment

Product Description

Kensington Noise Canceling Headphone 33084 Headphones & Earphones

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended over Bose's QuietComfort, November 10, 2005

By 

almosthappy (San Diego, CA, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kensington Noise Cancelling Headphones ( 33084 ) (Electronics)

If Bose's "Quiet Comfort" was the only game in town, a useful but dispensable item like noise canceling headphone probably would have remained a luxury item that's beyond my reach. Luckily, the ultra greedy Bose is not the only player. Kensington's entrance into the noise canceling headphone arena took a completely pragmatic and value-centric approach - quite refreshing when contrasted with the THREE HUNDRED DOLLAR QuietComfort, which more or less do the same thing as Kensington's 33084. The biggest bone some users seem to have with 33084 is the complaint that the headset amplifies internal noise, such as tape hiss. I have no way to verify if the claim is true. But for most people-myself included, this would be a non-issue. I have used 33084 with my iPod, laptop, as well as plane audio system. For all these common systems, mechanical movements are minimal or negligible. The noises from these sources are practically non-existent to begin with, and 33084 certainly did not amplify any noises for me. However, if you're really old school and insisting on getting your tune fix from a hissy old tape deck, I don't think any headphone will pretty up the audio quality of granddaddy walkman to CD level. The actual noise cancellation part is also very decent. I've used the headphone on planes as well as next to an operating dryer, ambient noises do drop to a very comfortable level, while the music is maintained at near-original quality. Another thing I like about these headphones is the fact that they have very decent bass. The only fact I don't like about these headphones is the placement of the on-off switch. As another reviewer has mentioned, the on-off switch gets toggled in the bag too easily. But at less than 10% of Bose's price, I ain't complaining.

50 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable Headphones, December 6, 2005

By 

Ricardo Mendillo (Buenos Aires, BA Argentina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kensington Noise Cancelling Headphones ( 33084 ) (Electronics)

Noise-cancelling headphones that work are always a pleasant surprise. When they cost less than $40 and work with active noise noise canelling, they're remarkable.

The Kensington Noise Cancelling Headphones aren't the last word in noise cancelling by any stretch, but they can take off the droning noise of airplane cabins or other continuous sound sources.

The most you can hope for Noise-cancelling headphones is to reduce some frequencies of continuous noise and perhaps get a small reduction in some kinds of impulse noise. Noise-canceling headphones work by simply sealing out some external noise, then sampling the environmental noise and generating an out-of-phase signal to reduce its intensity in your ear canals and Kensington Noise-cancelling headphones do their job.

The Kensington phones are supraural, meaning that they sit on top of your ear rather than circumaural, or around it, as does the category-leading (and price-leading) Bose Quiet Comfort 2 headset ($299 direct). The soft pads conform easily to your ears and form a good seal, for a measured 6 dB static reduction in outside noise just from wearing them. With noise cancelling switched on, it was measured another 4 to 5 dB of active noise reduction, averaged across the spectrum.

The Kensington headset is smaller, far less expensive, and much more portable than Bose, Senheisser and Sony.

At 5.2 ounces, the Kensington headphones are light and very comfortable for extended wear. An elastic and soft plastic band provides support at the top of your head as well as mild compression against your ears. The sides are adjustable for length and are hinged for compact storage. A switch behind the right earpiece controls the active noise reduction, and a small LED tells you when it's turned on. Power is supplied by a single triple-A battery, with the holder built into the right sidepiece. Although it skims close to the side of your head, it doesn't cause discomfort or imbalance.

The audio quality is about what you'd expect from inexpensive headphones: pleasant but not outstanding. It's bass-heavy with a tendency towards muddiness. There's falloff in the higher registers as well, which is obvious on our frequency sweeps and in critical listening to piano, violin, and jazz percussion, but using the EQ you bring these sounds out. The sound quality is adequate for noisy, public spaces, though, and the noise reduction is sufficient that you'll hear more of your music and maintain more serenity.

In terms of sound quality, Noise-canceling headphones will sound worse than comparably-priced non-NC headphones, may exist some kind of technology limitation, I did not find the answer.

Bose has become a sort of status brand to some shoppers, many find Bose products to be expensive compared to products of similar quality from other manufacturers. If you do not worry about the status of your Noise-cancelling headphones I recommend this product.

(This is my opinion as user plus summaries of Cnet, PC Magazine, AudioCubes, Ziff Davis Media Inc, Paylist)

46 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Sound / Great Price, October 12, 2004

By 

JE "dad_from_il" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kensington Noise Cancelling Headphones ( 33084 ) (Electronics)

These are great sounding for those who use them while traveling on airlines. They fold so they are easy to store in the briefcase. They work either with your mp3 player/ cd player/ computer or the airplane system. Only problem that I have encountered is that they get turned on when in the case, draining the battery. I now remove the battery when not in use, and it is fine.