Customer Reviews

Philips SHN2500/37 Noise-Canceling Earbuds

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(48)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(24)
1 star:		(51)

 

 

I got desparate just before taking a long flight, and purchased these for about $30. They did a good job of cancelling background noise on the plane, and for that purpose, I would highly recommend them. They even come with an adapter for jacks that require two plugs instead of one (like US Airways).

Overall, they sound pretty good. As with most earbuds, to get good bass, you need to make sure they are snug inside your ear.

When you turn on Noise cancelling, the volume increases, and this is typical because Noise Cancelling works by amplifying the sound and "subtracting" the outside noise that is being picked up. With a standard AA battery, you can get several hours of Noise Cancelling. When the battery begins to die, the volume actually drops, and it is much better to just turn Noise Cancelling off.

The earbuds fit well (there are 3 sizes included) and help to block a lot of external noise, so even without Noise Cancelling turned on you can block out of lot of unwanted noise.

And here is where Philips went wrong...They made the cable nearly 4' long (1.2 Meters), but in the middle, there is the bulky Noise Cancelling switch that holds the AA battery. Not a problem when you are sitting (eg. on and airplane, or at work) because you can just set it down. But for example, when you are walking, it hardly reaches your pants pocket, so you can't stand up straight, or it will pull the buds out of your ears. Leaving it hanging will do the same thing. In fact, this has been such an annoyance to me, that I never use these anytime I'm being active. And it's a shame, because they do a good job of cancelling lawnmower noise.

If you need a more general purpose solution and can spend a little more, I would suggest buying a set of Noise Isolation phones, which do not even require a battery. They are designed to completely block all external noises from getting into your ear canal.

However, if you plan to use them only for travelling, they are decent for the price. I have travelled with these for several months, and they still function well.

These were the only "in ear" headphones I could find that claimed any noise cancelling properties.

Having tried a few from the apple store, namely their in ear sony made model with switchable rubberized ends like the philips, and their set that wraps around the back of your head for around the $25 price point, I could never get either them to stay in. 10 years ago finding in ear headphones with a plastic or metal link between them that went up over your head was not an issue. More difficult to find those today, being that in ear models are convicted of causing more hearing damage.

I wanted something noise cancelling for business travel, but no so large that they would add much bulk to my travel bag. The noise cancelling feature was optional for me. I've been very interested in it, but not enough to spend hundreds.

These seem to be a decent mix. Sound quality is great for the price, and the sound cancelling is moderately effective. I enjoy a clear bass and these do pretty decent compared to the average in ear sony set that doesn't boast extra bass capability.

The noise cancelling works at least enough to not hear voices if a TV is on, or someone is talking near me, especially when trying to listen to music. As others have said, not as effective when the noise cancelling feature is used while not listening to music.

For covering the light stuff like typing, background hum, TV reporters voices, that stewardess' squeaky beckon, etc. these headphones do a fine job at a low price you won't mind losing if you forget them or lose them. One of the reasons I stayed away from the more expensive sets that cost more than my ipods.....

I bought these earbuds to help combat some of the sounds that were bothering me at work. I'm a cubicle dweller and there are some noisy folks in my neighborhood. I wanted to block out voices, phones ringing, photocopier noise, etc.

These earbuds work pretty well and are reasonably priced. I find them comfortable to wear and they even help block some sounds without the noise canceling turned on. The rubber cups work like earplugs, so I can listen to my music at a lower volume and yet not be bothered by external noise.

I do hear a little "white noise" along with the music when the noise canceling is switched on, but it doesn't bother me. With noise canceling turned on I think the music sounds better, the volume is boosted a little but not super-loud.

I've also tried using these in the car and they block out traffic sounds, open windows, etc. pretty well.

I am happy with this purchase. If I'd had very high expectations I would have bought one of the top-of-the-line, super-expensive sets of noise canceling headphones. I just wanted something comfortable, effective and inexpensive, and these earbuds delivered that nicely.

After sampling and rejecting several modestly-priced headphones, I've finally found some that are even better than the quite-good ones that came with my Creative Zen Touch MP3 player. The first moments were unimpressive, but I had not pushed these earbuds in snugly. Once that was done and I flicked on the battery-powered sound enhancement, I smiled. Crisp, clear highs, and sufficient lows, combined to delight my auditory nerves.

The need to replace one AAA battery and to manage the in-line noise-cancelling box (which fits nicely in one's shirt pocket) may bother some, but for price, compactness, and performance of these headphones, these two things are only slight detractions. I recommend them.

These phones do block noise fairly well but it's mostly because the rubber buds seal the ear and not because of the active noise reduction circuitry. I did A/B comparisons using a test tone generator at several frequencies, switching the active reduction on and off. There is some noise reduction at low-mid frequencies but it's quite marginal -- by ear, probably about 3 to (at most) 6 dB. The phones also add a pink-noise "hiss" that can be mistaken for noise reduction. These phones are not really bad; just don't expect too much in the way of noise reduction.

It appears most of the reviewers who found the noise reduction ineffective were testing it out in normal listening environments such as a home or office. The NR will not be noticable for this use, as it primarily works on the low frequencies. All you will hear when activating the electronics is a slight increase in volume & associated hiss. I also thought the NR wasnt working, so I took my mp3 player to a laundromat and put them to a test. The NR worked very well in reducing the low frequency washer & dryer rumble. The 70% figure seems about right, but only on the lows. I am a professional musician & recording engineer, and was very impressed by these phones. 5 stars, as they are a fraction of the cost of similar Bose units.

I bought these for use in my Jeep. They do a terrific (and very noticeable) job eliminating wind noise from my soft top (and my usually open windows).

They also have terrific sound compared to regular headphones in this price range. I hate hiss, but the tiny amount they add is unnoticeable when the are being used for their intended purpose. (In a quiet environment, I go back to my Philips Surround Sound earbuds.)

If you look at the specs for noise cancelling headphones, you'll see that the active cancellation handles low frequencies (50-1500Hz). Higher frequencies are eliminated primarily by the earphone/headset physical design itself.

I bought these noise canceling headphones to use when flying. I was hoping to be able to listen to my music without having to turn it up so loud it could drown out the jet engine noise on its own (I'd like to save my hearing for the future). So, I tried them out on a few flights, and I have mixed feelings about how they performed.

What I liked:
-I think these headphones sound decent. I'm no music snob, but I like good sounding music, and these headphones fit the bill.
-The way the earbuds are designed allow for them to fig snugly in my ear (there are three sizes of inserts that come in the package for different sized ears). The snug fit and the rubber material helps block out exterior sounds even without turning on the "noise canceling" switch. But this is more of a "noise reducing" method than "noise canceling".

What I didn't like:
-The noise canceling switch that holds the battery can be a little annoying hanging off of the headphone cord like it does. Not a big deal for me though.
-The noise canceling technology these headphones use did not impress me. When you switch on the "noise canceling", the volume of music increases a decent amount, and you also get a little hiss in the background. Granted, when you are in a truly noisy environment, you don't really notice the hiss much. It was mainly the volume boost and lack of real "noise canceling" that disappointed me. Yes, I couldn't hear background noises as well anymore, but it seemed more like the reason for this was that the music was louder. I couldn't help but think, "I could do that on my own by just turning up the volume on my mp3 player." Just to see, I switched back and forth numerous times to compare the "on" and "off" of noise canceling (while adjusting my mp3 volume to try to take out the variable of the music getting louder), and I honestly couldn't tell a big difference. I won't say there was no difference, because it was a little different. I'm not sure it was an improvement though, just different. For instance, it would change the pitch of the jet engine background noise, but I don't know that I would actually say it was decreased. Plus, every time I turned on the noise canceling, I felt an extra "pressure" of sorts on my eardrums. I don't know what to attribute it to, but that was what I experienced.

So, I guess the bottom line is, I will still use these headphones because they do block some external noises due to their earbud design. I just don't know that I will bother with the "noise canceling" switch anymore. If I could redesign these myself, I would take out the noise canceling feature, get rid of the switch/battery compartment from the cord, and leave the rest as is - since I do like the sound quality and the earbud fit (which cuts out external noises a little).

These headphones deliver surprisingly good sound for the price, and the noise cancelling works well. (There's the slight hiss when the noise cancelling is active, but this occurs with all noise cancelling headphones to one degree or another.) Long battery life, too.

But the cables are way too short. At 6'+, I can't walk with these because the awkward electronics/battery enclosure doesn't quite reach my pockets. And, inexplicably, the weight of the thin earbud cables is enough to drag the earbuds down against your ears, probably aggravated by the weight of the electronics enclosure. An irritating sensation; feels like they're about to fall out.

If you plan to sit and listen, or if you're very short, these will work great. Otherwise, the absence of a longer cable and a little clip to keep the cables in place on your shirt make these otherwise good headphones pretty useless.

I bought these for work so that I didn't have to listen to the woman in the next work area's rather flat taste in music. I work in a big hall where everyone is allowed to play their own music pretty much as loud as they want to on top of the normal noise of pallet jacks, junking of equipment (we're a computer and electronics recycler) and random computer peripheral noises. I'd always been jealous of one of my fellow tech's pair of 350$ noise canceling ear-buds but could never justify the expense for myself. Well, I was already in the market for some cheap ear-buds at Wally-World and saw these. With a price tag of a paltry 20 Dollars I snatched them up instantly. Heck, a competing brand of ear-bud without any kind of noise canceling whatsoever were right next to these on the rack at the same price. I call that added value for my money.

I got them home and did some testing in my computer room and was pleasantly surprised at the sound quality and, yes, the noise canceling abilities. I sat next to an obnoxious fan that circulates the air in the room, switching the active circuit on and off and even without music playing could hear a major difference. It didn't kill the noise entirely, but then the package only claims "70% less external noise" anyway, not total isolation. Again, with this price tag that's good enough for me. With music going there might as well not have been any sound at all on the other side of the buds. Blissful, responsive music with little to no outside influence was all I could hear. Yes, the sound quality is just a touch on the "tin-ey" side at first, but a little equalization adjustment on my MP3 player took care of that with no trouble at all. That's exactly what equalization is there for, after all.

The only thing I don't really care for is the placement of the amplification/noise canceling "black box" where it's at on the cable. Given a foot more of cable on the headphone side, one could stick it easily in a pants pocket or with the addition of a clip one could clip it to one's belt or waist-band. It's a bit clunky but -=+IF YOU WEAR THE UNIT CORRECTLY+=- there is no weight put on the buds themselves. The correct way to wear the unit is shown in a handy little picture on the back of the package that it comes in. Here's a clue, negative reviewers: when all else fails, READ THE DIRECTIONS!!

The ever-so-slight hissing one hears when the active noise cancellation is engaged is normal in any kind of amplification circuit and explained on the Philips website quite well. A little research would also do some of these reviewers good, in my opinion. It's not obnoxious by any stretch of the imagination and once you play music you can't hear it at all. As for the person who couldn't find the noise canceling microphone on the black box - and on those grounds alone panned the product - I can only shake my head in consternation. The microphones for noise canceling are built into the back of each of the ear-buds themselves, you nitwit. Leave it to the technically challenged to write a scathing review for a piece of equipment they don't posses the where-with-all to understand in the first place.

All in all, a great product for the price. Not perfect, but what more can you expect for a mere 20 Dollars? I would have given it 5 stars if not for the placement of the circuit box on the cable where it's at. A bit more cable would have been preferred so as to be able to hide that part of the unit altogether. I agree with the reviewer that suggested wearing it under a shirt or jacket. As s/he said, It aint pretty, but for the price I refuse to complain so vehemently as some, here. At such a price, even if they do go bad in a few months/years they're easily and affordably replaced. Too many people want far too much for nothing, these days.

I would recommend these for anyone on a budget that wants better quality from their replacement headphone listening experience.