Customer Reviews

Able Planet NC200 Foldable Noise Canceling Headphone

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I ordered the NC200 Noise Canceling Headphones when my Bose Triports "disappeared" from my dorm room. I THOUGHT that I loved my Triports until the NC 200's arrived.

The NC200's cancel noise. I can listen to them on the train and never hear the conversations going on around me. I am blown away at some of the reviews of these headphones because I think they are AMAZING!

The sound is crystal clear. And the bass hits.

If you want amazing headphones at a reasonable price, buy the NC200's.

I dont write many reviews, but I had to comment because I was almost scared away from the NC200's due to the negative reviews.

One more thing, these headphones have a LIFETIME WARRANTY. If something is wrong, send them back!

QUICK TAKE: If you're looking for the least expensive option for travel use for mostly voices or movies, this might be an option. But users looking for moderately priced options will want to look at some of the many other products in this now-competitive area.

Able Planet has developed technology to make it easier to hear voices clearly to assist hearing, and is applying that technology to headphones for more general use. An additional benefit of this technology is that it allows you to hear well with the headphones at lower volumes than you might otherwise use. If this approach appeals to you, their products may be worth a listen, though you should probably consider their more effective, more expensive models.

The headphones are fairly comfortable and not especially bulky, though still close to full size. They fold up fairly easily and somewhat compactly, some thought was clearly given to that, though they are still somewhat sizeable to carry given the design.

Unlike some other headphones, the NC200 can be used without activating the boost and noise canceling features. The quality with the electronics switched off is reasonably good, though not very powerful. So if the battery runs out, they are still useable.

While the sound quality was fairly good, even for music, I didn't find much benefit in the noise cancelling feature. I also heard a steady hiss when the power was on; that's something some might be able to ignore, though not me.

However, there are so many other choices, depending on one's preferences, that make this more of a niche product. There are many other good options to help you hear your audio with fewer distractions, and block outside noise, though different products approach it in various ways:

Two top options are the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7 QuietPoint Active Noise-Cancelling Headphones or the Sennheiser PXC 250 Active Noise Canceling Headphones.

For those looking for really small and portable products, with active noise cancellation, the Panasonic RP-HC55 Noise Canceling Earbuds.

Finally, there are noise-isolating earphones like the Shure SE110 Sound Isolating Earphone with Balanced Armature Driver (Black). These have no active noise cancellation - they block the sound by fitting inside your ear, which actually works well though some find it uncomfortable; you need to tweak them to find the best fit. But no batteries needed, and for those who like their audio straight up, nothing modifying the sound.

Lots of people still don't realize how much effect noise can have on you, and how much better you'll feel if you can filter it out. (Try something - even just earplugs - on your next airline flight!) But enough people have become aware of it that a lot of good noise-canceling or noise blocking products have been developed.

The biggest reason I got these was for the noise canceling feature, and hopefully good sound to go with it. Unfortunately I learned real quick that activating the noise cancelation didn't cancel much of anything, in fact there was very little positive change noticed. But even more shocking was this constant low frequency noise or rumble like sound that was only there when the noise cancelation was activated. Adjusting the volume did not affect this one way or another. You couldn't notice it when music was playing, but when there was silence it was very noticeable and quite annoying. I thought they were either broken or just really bad quality. Only positive thing I can say about them is the look and feel is decent.

A coworker of mine has the Panasonic RP-HC500 and we compared the two and OMG what a night and day difference. With the Panasonic, when you activated the noise cancelation it kind of did a vacuum effect which canceled out most of the outside noise and made you feel like you were in a room lined with Styrofoam with dead silence. When I put back on the Able Planet, there was no similar feeling and again just this low frequency noise coming through. As far as the music quality I found them to be just mediocre and nothing special. Clearly the cons outweighed the pros in this case. Not worth the $50 I paid. Even if they were free I would not use them given the issues. It's possible I suppose they were just a lemon set, but again I could feel that when activating the noise cancelation they did try to do something, but the results were just very poor. Given the cost of my coworkers Panny's were just a few dollars more than these, I might just go for that route

I live in New York City, which means that I'm surrounded by a ton of obnoxious sounds that I don't want to hear. Noise canceling headphones, therefore, are part of my daily routine. A good pair can not only make it impossible, or close to impossible, for me to hear me snap my fingers next to my ear, but will drown out an incoming train on a subway platform, as well.

These do neither. In fact, I can't adequately discuss the lack of noise canceling without first mentioning the general sound quality of these headphones.

These headphones are all treble and no bass. There is no low-end to them at all, and music sounds quite tinny through them. This is a major sell point for me: I not only don't want to hear you, but I want a well-rounded, rich sound from my noise canceling headphones. At its regular level, and at the highest volume they go, the sound was low-volume, high-treble, and 100% not for me.

I figured that perhaps this was because I did not have the noise canceling feature enabled, but enabling it only enhanced noticeability in the lack of bass. In fact, it was more of a slight increase in volume rather than any noise canceling feature that I've been familiar with in other headsets. Sound boost is important in these types of sets, but they need to actually do what they say they are going to do: cancel outside noises. This set did not do that at all.

Overall, my impression of this headset is quite poor. It fails on all counts, as I noted above. I will stick with my Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7 QuietPoint Active Noise-Cancelling Headphones, which sells for about $20 dollars more on Amazon than this pair does. But it's worth the price.

Having grown up in a musical home, with a composer/arranger as a father, I've been around good speakers and headphones for a great deal of my life. Having been in this situation, I found the quality of these headphones to be so-so. They're a little overpriced for what you get, and are probably worth more about $40 versus $80. The fancy, patented noise canceling technology doesn't really have much affect on the overall noise canceling experience. You'd have just as much noise cancelation by simply sticking two glass cups around your ears. With these headphones that's handled by the foam headphones that cover your ears, and, eventually, get very uncomfortable.

That being said, they do work. You don't hear much noise, so they do achieve their purpose. The design is also quite impressive, to some extent. I personally really liked how they designed the cable (which is a mediocre grade cable) and how it inserts itself into the headphones. The battery compartment is also quite nice, although I felt the flap was a little flimsy, and it wasn't immediately obvious that's where the battery needed to be inserted.

Able Planet has been in the business for awhile. They've got a decent line of products, and this fits well within their product line. Unfortunately, considering their brand, it could've been a better product.

Me and my family have owned about three pairs of these. While they did work wonderfully while they worked, all three of them eventually stopped working. One pair was dead on arrival, it didn't work at all the moment I got it, the noise cancelling simply created a clicking sound in the headphones. The second pair worked for quite some time, a month or two, and then it began emitting a terrible clicking sound every time a loud noise in the outside environment came about--an utterly terrible sound, not acceptable by any means. The third pair also worked for a while, but gave out after a ride on a plane--it began emitting the same terrible clicking sounds. Don't buy these headphones, we bought three, and three turned out to be defective. If this company wants to survive, they will fix their manufacturing problems. Until then, their products cant be trusted.

I would not, could not,
on a plane.
Not in the park. Not on a train.
Not in a car. Not on CD.
I do not like them, Sam, you see.
Not in my bed. Not on a boat.
Not on my head. Too big to tote.
I will not use them here or there.
I do not like them anywhere!


Pros:

1. Looks and feels like the more expensive models
2. Nicely padded and sturdy
3. Comes with a handy drawstring carrying bag, or you can get the optional hard case, which is extremely durable
4. Folds up much smaller than it looks
5. Comes with an adapter so that two headphones can be connected to the same audio source
6. Comes with a nice long cord, so you can use it at your desktop comfortably
7. Cancels out noise from your surroundings to a certain extent
8. Reasonably priced


Cons:

1. No instructions. However, it only takes minutes to figure out where the battery goes (right side), how it folds and adjusts, and where the cord plugs in. (I had to figure this out right away, because it arrived with the switch in the "on" position and a dead AAA battery)
2. For the noise cancelling feature, the on/off button is located quite inconveniently behind your right ear
3. While it muffles some of the background noise, it still lets through quite a lot, and the hissing noise can bother some users. You can still hear the sound of the keys on a keyboard when you type, but when you take it off there is a noticeable difference. A loud party in the neighborhood became a lot more bearable with them on.
4. As a regular headphone this one is unfortunately not very good. You can hardly hear anything with the noise cancelling feature off, and when you put it on, it manages to remove all the bass resulting in a tinny sound.
5. Even folded, it's still quite bulky to tote around


Conclusion:

Rugged and expensive looking, this headphone promises effective noise-cancelling features and good audio sound.
Unfortunately, it falls short in both categories.
I do not like them, Sam-I-am




Amanda Richards, December 12, 2008

These headphones are okay; they aren't great but they aren't bad. When you turn the noise cancellation on, you hear a slight crackle in the white noise but it was very faint for me. When I listened to music with the noise cancellation on and the volume turned up a little, it sounded pretty good but my 18 year old son said he could still the crackle. If you listen to music with the noise canceling feature turned off, the music sounds weak and distant.

When switching between the Able Planet Headphones and the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7 QuietPoint Active Noise-Cancelling Headphones there's just no comparison. The Audio-Technica have much better sound quality with and without the noise canceling feature turned on. If you just want to block the noise around you, both headphones work well but the Audio-Technica do a better job.

There are some features of the Able planet NC200 headphones that are nice. They fold up very small so they travel well. I plan to use them on my flight this weekend. They are comfortable and less expensive than similar quality headphones. Again, with the noise canceling feature turned on and the volume up (comfortably, not LOUD), they sound good. Not great - but good enough for my middle age ears that don't like heavy bass.

***UPDATE: Today I tried out these headphones on a three hour flight. I turned on the noise canceling feature as the plane was taking off and plugged in to the plane's music/TV. I was able to enjoy the TV shows and music and didn't realize just how much noise was blocked until I took them off to talk to the flight attendant. There was a huge difference in the noise level and how I felt. To be honest, I couldn't wait to put them back on.

I tested the Able Planet NC200 headphones on a home CD player with a headphones jack, on an iPod Touch, and on a desktop computer using iTunes with music stored in AAC format. On each device, I listened to rock, jazz, and classical music.

In each case, the source was set to produce sound without any equalization or use of bass, treble, or midrange tone controls. I also tried out the noise cancelling without connecting the headphones to a sound source.


Pros:
*The noise cancelling function is effective in reducing the intensity of the kinds of noise typically masked by noise cancelling headphones.

*The cord can be disconnected from the headphones, making it easier to avoid "cord spaghetti" when taking the headphones in or out of a carrying case.

*The headphones can be folded fairly flat or into a compact shape even though they are as large as traditional home-use headphones.

*The earpieces and headband are well padded and comfortable to wear for extended periods. I find that earbuds and small earpiece headphones become tiring to wear after a couple of hours.

*Big, soft ear cups block noises and augment the electronic noise cancelling.

*The cord has a clip, midway along its length, which contains a volume control.

*Integrated, one-piece design--no separate wand holding the noise cancelling circuitry or external battery pack to bother with.


Cons:
*Travelers will find the headphones to be quite large, even when folded up.

*If the noise cancelling is not turned on, the headphones sound terrible. This is another disadvantage for travelers because replacement batteries are not always readily available.

*The on/off switch is inconveniently located. When the headphones are worn, the switch ends up behind your ear and you have to reach around your neck to operate it.

*BIG PROBLEM: when the noise cancelling is running, a very noticeable crackling static sound--similar to the sound waxed paper makes when it is crumpled--is generated. It is not the usual background white noise that is generated by all noise cancelling headphones.


Bottom line:
The crackling static sound produced by the NC200 is a major flaw. The headphones are completely unsuitable for listening to music with quiet passages or a spacious soundscape. However, somebody who only listens to loud and busy music (ideally with lots of fuzz bass and distorted guitars) and/or uses the headphones in very noisy areas might not notice the crackling sound.

If the NC200 did not make extraneous noise, I would give it 4 stars. Able Planet has produced a pair of headphones that is comfortable to wear for long periods and is physically well designed. Unfortunately, the NOISY noise cancellation function makes it impossible for me to recommend these headphones.

My wife liked these so much, she took them from me before I could do the battery testing I wanted to do. I also haven't yet been able to test them on a plane, but our home server is pretty noisy, so it probably resembles a plane pretty well.

One thing to remember is that these aren't $300 Bose headphones, they are only $70 from Amazon (or $50 from some other Amazon Marketplace sellers.)

I found them to be very comfortable for multi-hour wearing. The ear cups are soft and supple, and breathe enough to keep your head from getting too hot. They are loud enough, and the in wire volume control is quite nice.

The packaging is very good. They fold up nicely, and the bag that you store them in seems to be well made. The cord is removable from the headphones, which should reduce the cord getting broken where it attaches.

My only slight complaint is that in a very quiet environment, I could hear a slight hiss when the active noise canceling was turned on. I get a similar hiss from my Sony Mdrnc22 (although it isn't quite as loud.)

I would recommend these headphones to anyone who needs active noise canceling headphones, likes this style headphones (as opposed to earbuds) and doesn't want to spend Bose money.