Customer Reviews

ABLE PLANET NC200B True Fidelity Foldable Active Noise Canceling Headphones (Black)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I'm an international traveler addicted to noise-canceling headphones. My most frequent travel these days is Houston-Los Angeles-somewhere in Australia. That's a lot of hours with the roar of jet engines. Recently I left my phones at home and couldn't bear the thought of not having them on the 14-hour ride to Sydney, so I visited the airport shop. (I know, not recommended.) I found these Able Planet NC200B phones for the MSRP of $99.99, which is as much as I was willing to pay. They definitely did not make me forget my Sony MDR-NC60's. Here are my pros and cons:

Pros:

1. When the battery was on, they canceled noise...a lot of it. At the end of the day, that was what I wanted and they did a reasonable job of it. On this trip I sat on the 71st of 74 rows. The roar back there is incredible and these phones really made a difference.

2. With the battery on, the sound quality is acceptable. Not great, but decent enough. It won't make an audiophile happy at all, but at 37,000 ft, it is ok. I didn't notice the hiss that some others have reported. The bass is good enough. At home without the noise, the clarity is not great, but on the plane you don't notice it so much.

2. These things are pretty solidly built. They feel and look like they will hold up for a lot of use.

3. The cord is detachable. This is nice on the plane because I can get up, keep them on my head but leave the cord behind.

4. The cord includes a volume control. This was a very nice surprise. (Wish my Sony's had it.)

5. Accessories include carrying bag, double-pronged "airplane" jack and 1/4" "home" jack. I wasn't going to buy something that didn't include a way to keep all the bits together, and this does.

Cons:

1. Like some other NC phones (but not all), you have to turn the battery on to get reasonable sound. I tried them in the gate lounge before the flight without battery. Urk! It was terrible. The worst, least expensive phones you can find would sound better. Don't plan to use these without battery.

2. The carrying bag is a thin, fabric bag. Yes, it keeps the bits together, but provides very little protection. My phones are carried in my backpack along with a lot of other stuff. If something were to get on it hard, the bag would not help.

3. I don't prefer the way these fold up for storage. The headband folds in the middle and the phones rotate to face each other. So instead of lying flat in a case, they make into a block with the headband protruding out a bit. This wouldn't be so bad if you were storing them on your shelf, but it doesn't work very well in the seat-back pocket on the plane. It is too thick and unwieldy.

As mentioned, these phones don't make me forget my Sony MDR-NC60's. They may not even be the state of the art these days for the money, but I will stick with mine and let the NC200B's be my backup.

Sony MDR-NC60 Noise Canceling Headphone

I got these as a Christmas gift last year and I noticed right away that the noise canceling was pretty loud - hissing/buzzing. Later the right ear went out completely. I finally sent these back to Able Planet recently and they sent me a brand new pair free (lifetime warranty)! I think they improved the design a bit since the first pair. The folding action is much smoother now, and the place where the cord connects is now a standard port where before it was a custom-shaped plug that fit into the earpiece. The best improvement, however, is the noise canceling. I don't know if I had a defective pair before, but I think it's much better than the other pair I had. There is only the very slightest buzz/hiss when you have NC on, which is inaudible when you have any music playing. Unlike a lot of headphones I've tried, they are pretty comfortable - and I have a big head and extremely sensitive ears. I can wear them for a couple hours without much of a problem.

I appreciate reading user reviews whenever I purchase a product like this, so I felt the responsiblity to also leave some feedback. If you're looking for a solid noice cancelling headphones, these certainly meet the criteria. They will not be of the quality you'll get from Bose, or some other $250+ headphones, but they are worth the money. I would recommend for sure. They fold up nicely, but only downfall (if you can even knock it for this) is the case for carrying. I would prefer a little bit harder case, but it's a soft fabric bag. It works, but not ideal. Overall, the headphones are great for the money!

I like these headphones... a lot. However, they have some unique signal processing circuitry that some people may not like, so visit the manufacturer's website (ableplanet.com) and do a little research before buying.

I grabbed these at Costco on a whim. I've owned noise canceling headphones in the past, but wanted another pair to throw in my briefcase. It was only after I took them home that I read about Able Planet's "Linx Audio" technology, which is designed to create harmonics in the upper frequency ranges. The idea is to make speech and music more intelligible, and improve the listening experience at lower volume levels.

After decades of loud rock music and concerts, and motorcycle road racing, I have a little bit of tinnitus, but my hearing is still very strong across the frequency spectrum and my high-range is as good as many people who are twenty years younger. (Several years ago, I started wearing earplugs when riding a motorcycle or going to a loud show.)

I've found that I really can listen to music -- from Gershwin, to the Allman Brothers and Jimi Hendryx, to Ultravox and the Dead Kennedys -- at lower volumes, but still get good sound. A couple of reviews have complained about poor bass response, but it seems pretty tight and accurate to me -- though I'm sure it wouldn't appeal to someone who drives a car with a trunk full of subwoofers and amps.

Listening to "She Said, She Said" by the Beatles (via Pandora on my Droid, with a standard quality audio stream, not HQ) while writing this review, I noticed that the cymbals seemed a little more prominent that I remember them, and the vocals seemed to have a bit of a boost. I'm in a busy coffee shop, and can barely hear the espresso machine and other noise with the music at a moderate volume level.

Some reviews have talked about a hiss or noise, but that's natural in active noise canceling phones without any audio input. The circuitry samples outside noise and inserts an out-of-phase signal. In a quiet setting with no audio input, that will create some white noise, but it goes away when the audio is added to the mix.

The headphones will also fold flat enough to fit into the pocket on the airline seat in front of you... just fold the ear cups flat, but don't fold the headband.

PROS:

- Comfortable, with rubberized finish.

- Good noise canceling.

- Removable cord with inline volume control, so a damaged cord won't put you out of business. Compatible cords are available at most airports.

- Nice, tight sound across the spectrum.

- Good sound at lower volume.

CONS:

The Linx Audio technology, which was developed for hearing aids, may produce audio that seems a little bit too bright, or otherwise might not appeal to an individual's taste. For me, that's a small tradeoff for saving my hearing.

My back-fence neighbor believes that all the world shares his taste in music and plays

it on his radio outdoors at full volume, often beginning very early in the morning. Given the widespread ownership of firearms in our society, I'm not comfortable approaching him on the subject of mitigating the volume. So I began a search for noise-canceling headphones of high quality at a reasonable price and found these.

While others have complained about the quality of their sound reproduction and a hiss when their noise-canceling feature is turned on, my ears have no problems of this sort, and I'd happily rate them a 5, except that my ears do have a problem with the comfort level of the fit. However, it's not that bad, and they are very effective at canceling my neighbor's "music" which has given me a level of tranquility that I truly believe has saved my sanity and saved me from exercising my 2nd Amendment rights in protest!

I've been on a quest for quite some time to find a pair of headphones with a sound quality that I like at a price I can afford. Yesterday I bought the Able Planet NC200B Noise canceling headphones. I've had them for one day, and I'm really amazed by them. The sound quality is excellent (but you must have the noise canceling turned on or the sound quality is poor). The noise canceling seems to work quite well (I don't experience the hissing sound that others have mentioned). The over-the-ear design is very comfortable and helps reduce the outside noise. The connecting cord is detachable from the phones, is about 6 feet long and has a volume control. Great idea to have a detachable (and replaceable) cord so you don't have to replace the entire headphones if you damage the cord. I'm not impressed by the carry bag, but I can live with that. Construction seems solid, but I'll have a better opinion after I return for an upcoming trip. Based on other reviews, I will be taking extra batteries with me on that trip. Even though I didn't buy them from Amazon (I bought them from a local electronics store at a very low price) I thought I would share my experience here.

Update 8/29/10 - took these on a trip to Hawaii. Performed exactly as expected - Sound quality was great and I could barely hear the roar of the jet engines. Still using the original battery. Still very happy with this purchase.

These are the best head phones on the market next to Bose Noise cancelers. I own Sennhieser Hd 555's which are not noise canceling, but are outstanding in quality. My experience in buds are Sonys, Sennheiser, Panasonic,and Klipsch. These are all very good sounding products. So let's go. The Able Planet NC200B are out of this world....Stop the planet I wanna get off type of perfection. For like 100 bucks you can pick these babys up at this site. Fact, they are noise canceling head phones. Fact they sound incredible when compared to my Sennhiesers HD 555. Able Planets Nc200B are the most comfortable head phones I ever worn period. <(arrow= period) ..Every sound plugged into a Pioneer VSX-919AH is displayed brilliantly. The highs and the lows with these on make you feel like you are in a Cathedral of sound. The bass on these head phones? They vibrate ok, that's how good they are.

People posted saying their Sonys are better, others say Bose is the best and that may be true but look at the price. When these are delivered to your door and you open it up and look at them, your floored. That's a good sign of quality. That's nothing until you put them on your head. I watched the movie Kickass with these on they blew me away. Its the Thomas English muffin of head phones, cheaper than Bose and their competitors yet you can hear every nook and cranny of sound.

Pros : Buy it, all good

Cons: Battery life goes quick ,buy a rechargeable set of batteries, it will last forever

No other cons I use them for movies, music, and TV only.

Best headphone for the price on the market. Bose better watch these guys...They are very good.

These things rock! The quality is amazing, completely blocks out any noise on the plane! The price is excellent compared to others that cost twice as much, but at least to me, don't sound much different. I think the detachable cord is a huge plus because if you want to plug these to your home stereo, then you also can buy a really long cord and connect it directly to the headphones. This cuts down on the number of connections that the sound has to travel through, so there is less concern with losing audio quality.

These Headphones are very good, quality sounds, clear, quiet to all other noise around you. Best headphones I have every owned!!

So, as the title suggested my headphones broke - was on a flight and was folding them open, when the main join across the top band broke in two.

Up to that point they were great - good noise reduction, and they felt great to wear. They also sounded great in general.

If you do buy these, make sure to keep the original packaging as Able Planet won't except warranty claims without it (per their website).