Customer Reviews

Audio Technica ATH-ANC1 QuietPoint Active Noise-Cancelling On-Ear Headphones

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(47)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

If you are looking for noise-canceling headphones for an MP3 player that deliver excellent sound reproduction at an affordable price, this product should be on your short list for consideration. I have owned noise-canceling headphones by Sony and Altec Lansing, as well as in-ear buds (which by their nature have a noise canceling effect) by Audio Technica and Etymotic Research, costing $200 and more. The earbuds were uncomfortable, difficult to insert and remove, and produced insufficient low-end sound and an uncomfortably sharp high-end. The noise-canceling headphones by Sony (MDR-NC6's - on ear) and Altec Lansing (over the ear) failed to produce acceptable sound in my opinion. Either they suffered from overall low fidelity (Sony MDR's), or mushy bass and poor sound separation (Altec Lansing). The Altec Lansing's were also too large to store and use easily during air travel (I fly a lot and economy of space is a major consideration). I've also owned the lower end Bose (on ear) headphones, but unfortunately found that they lived up to their snarky reputation among audiophiles (artificial sounding, way over-bassed, and a poor value for the money).

So these Audio Technica Quiet Point headphones, newly released this January, have been an extremely pleasant surprise. The sound reproduction is the best I have come across for portable music players. The overall sound is natural and full, without the juiced-up quality that some headphones substitute for real fidelity and which can quickly produce "ear-fatigue." Sound separation is excellent; bottom end sound is full and remarkably clean and sharp. The phones fit comfortably and securely, and can be worn for hours without ear-fatigue. They also reduce outside noise, whether from an airliner or a crowded coffee-shop, as well as any of the other players I've listened to.

These headphones are also well-designed. Whether you are a frequent air traveler or simply like to have your music player in your day pack for listening in a cafe or while shopping, the lightweight (1 pound) but sturdy construction, and a fold-up feature that makes the 'phones easy to store and also protects them from damage, are big plusses.

These headphones can't substitute for the fidelity of good full-size audiophile headphones for the home, but in my experience that is true with all headphones and earbuds designed for portable music players. Overall, they do a better job than any other product in this category that I have heard, and at about $100 the price can't be beat.

Highly recommended.

This is my first noise cancelation headphone. I picked it over SONY or JVC models in the same price range after reading online reviews. First of all, this headphone is not good looking and is built with cheap material. It feels like one of those low end headsets you can get from Walmart or Target for less then $20. Second, the noise canceling button is poorly designed and can be defective. In fact, the first order I got had a defective switch. When I turned it on, it generated a loud static noise that hurt my ears, and the button fell off after 1 day of use. I had to return it for an exchange. Fortunately, the second one I got doesn't have the same problem. No noise is generated when I turn on/off the noise canceling switch. I have to say the sound quality of this phone is excellent. I tested the noise canceling on both subway train and airplanes. It was very effective to low frequency background noise reduction. The rides became much more pleasant with this phone. If you don't mind the look, this product is a very good headphone with noise canceling function.

I was looking for comfortable headphones that I could wear at the office with my iPhone. I bought these after hearing on the "This Week in Tech" podcast how much they liked the Audio Technica brand headphones. The ANC1 just came out in January so I had to buy them sight unseen with no reviews but I'm glad I did. I have not used noise cancelling headphones before and while I'm a techy person and appreciate good sound, I am not an audiophile so take that into account when reading this review. I am very pleased with the sound and the design. They are light enough that you don't really notice them and the noise cancelling is very cool and works like a charm. Just flip the noise cancelling switch with no music playing and you hear a big difference if there is noise, AC, talking, etc. With music, it just sounds great and while it doesn't eliminate all sound (which is probably a good thing), it does make a difference.

I got them a couple of weeks ago and I've also used them at the gym on the treadmill and eliptical machine. They worked great there too.

They come with a little pouch that they fit into when you fold the headphones. Since they are light and foldable, I don't think they are super tough but they don't feel flimsy. I like how they are designed.

Overall I am very pleased and would recommend them highly. If $100 is not too much for you, buy them if you want something functional, lightweight, works great with iphone 3GS, noise cancelling and sounds awesome.

I had been looking for a pair of noise-cancelling headphones for quite a while, as I travel often, and get tired of all of the ambient(loud) noise on planes and trains. The criteria I used to look for the right pair was small, lightwight, comfortable, good music reproduction, quality brand, and under $150. That appeared to be a tough bill to fill, until I came across these ATH-ANC1's from Audio Technica. I have tried other brands including Bose, and found cons with each pair I tried. After now using these headphones for well over a month in multiple environments, I can say that these headphones offer very little downside for a business traveler. I have worn them in coffee shops, hotel rooms, trains, and airplanes. They offer good noise cancellation of ambient sounds (voices, and distinct/non-repetitive sounds are not blocked out). They are comfortable to wear, as I have had them on for four straight hours with no fatigue. For noise cancelling headphones, they are small when folded, and come with a real nice carrying case that will also accomodate your Ipod. The music reproduction is very good, however do not expect reference quality. Finally, the price is fantastic, as I was lucky enough to even pick them up on a lightning deal - however I would have no problem paying the regular price. Overall, I would say that these are a great pair of noise-cancelling headphones for the frequent traveler.

Plus: Sleek, quality product; Very good sound; Portable. Active noise cancellation cuts down most noise. Low price.

Minus: No iPhone controls; picks up interference from mobile phones; control unit/battery holder is annoying

This headphone is a nice piece of gear that sounds very good. It's not going to unseat the huge cup-over-your-ear audiophile phones, but nothing about the sound had me wishing to grab another pair. They look hi-end enough for me and I can't imagine the snob who would say it looks cheap, although I did read one review that said that.

I also read a review that voiced concern that the headband looked so thin it could snap. Look closer: inside a sheath of rubbery plastic is a spring steel that is going to last a long time, while helping the unit fold up into a very unassuming lump in the provided bag. But there is something about the headband, or a lack thereof: padding. If you have a shaved head like me, you'll wish they'd just put a little suave layer of felt or something. But they are light enough to stay put on the ears without having to rest too much on the scalp.

The noise-reduction, when you first try it without music playing, gives you one of those rare Jetsons moments, if you still haven't yet tried noise-cancelling phones. Apparently a few cars even have noise-cancelling interior sound systems, and I'll bet some of their owners don't realize it.

Flick the switch, and it's like you've gone underwater, with an accompanying slight feeling of pressure. There is a significant, but not complete, attenuation, of outside sounds. That's probably a good thing.

Play music, though, and it's allowed to shine through in its full glory, filling the provided empty space with nuance. The bass isn't the deepest on these phones, but it's well-rounded and in balance with the other frequencies. The phones sound a bit clinical and mid frequencies aren't savoured by this hardware. Unsentimental, yet clear and competent.

Like a pretty girl with thick calves, this headphone starts to look a bit ugly when you look down to the plug end of the part below the headset, though. Because it's an active unit that generates its own signals, it needs battery power. And apparently an AAA battery is the way to go. Unfortunately, there's probably no particularly elegant way to house an AAA battery inside a headphone cord. You can actually hear the designers cursing at this requirement when you look at the control unit, which looks like it can't decide whether it's square or rounded, resulting in an awkward appearance.

It's also heavy enough that you feel bad leaving it hanging off the headphone jack, and that you need to use its built-in clip to clip it somewhere on your clothes. Unfortunately, if you attach it to something like an iPhone, as I do, you have to pretty much unclip it in order to use the controls. Then clip it back on. Just enough awkwardness to make you feel dorky wearing it in public.

Another side effect of having this piece of circuitry seems to be that it picks up mobile phone signals. Not other's conversations (that might be a bonus!) but the tell-tale buzz-click I've heard with cheap computer speakers. I discovered this immediately on a regular 2-hour bus trip I do about every other weekend that I had bought the phones specifically to make more pleasant. Surrounded by other passengers intermittently accessing the network, the sound didn't occur so often as to be more than a brief annoyance, but it was disappointing.

The battery's now lasted a month of moderate use. I wouldn't mind changing it more frequently if it were smaller. Let me just throw something out there--if there were every a situation where a proprietary lithium rechargeable battery would be excusable due to the size and weight savings, this would be it. If I were on the board of directors of Audio-Technica, deciding on what changes to make to the next version of this product, that would be it. And I'd mount the battery on one side of the headset, and the noice cancelling circuitry on the other side. There's room for a small bit of weight gain on this model.

The battery would be chargeable by USB. No cables and no awkwardness: the battery would be moulded to one ear cup and when removed, reveal an integrated, low-profile USB plug. Comes with a tiny wall adapter ala iPhone.

I'd also add an iPhone-compatible mic and remote controls, or offer a model that had them. That's the thing I have most missed about my Ultimate Ears canalphones. (However, the tight seal in my ear canal with those made phone calls feel like I was talking through a brick wall.)

The red "on" LED needs toning down, as well. I guess it's to make sure the user doesn't leave them on and waste battery, but it seems overly coarse and bright compared to its likely companions, current personal electronics. Which brings up the central issue: these phones don't seem to know where they belong: in the living room on on the go.

It seems to me that the environments where users are most likely to require noise cancellation are mobile environments: vehicles, workplaces, public spaces. At home we tend to have more control over the ambient noise level. Indeed, the ATH-ANC1 is compact and foldable, even at the expense of comfort and noise reduction.

Yet its needlessly cumbersome and poorly placed "brain" is its downfall. I love the sound and the noise cancellation does the job, but I might just revert to my sleek, light canalphones. They filter noise pretty effectively just by creating a darn good seal, and sound great too.

As for the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC1's whiz-bang technology, I may leave it to labor on the surface of my desk at work, where an ancient, lumbering air-conditioner--two of them, in fact--mount a simultaneous attack on the environment and at my chance at a moment of mid-day tranquility.

Easy to travel with as they are more compact than my wifes Bose QCs. They don't cover your ear completely and maybe that is why the noise cancelling is not quite as good as the Bose. Works well and cut the jet noise down significantly. Comfortable and not too tight on the head.

I tested these on a recent airplane flight vs. a pair of in-ear, passive noise reducing headphones (Apple in-ear headphones ~$40). The Audio-Technica ANR headphones squashed ALL of the low-frequency roar of the airplane engines, but did not cancel the higher frequency "white" noise of the airplane cabin. These are definitely not a "cone-of-silence" type ANR headphones.

In comparison to the in-ear apple headphones, the passive noise reduction of the apple in-ear headphones was superior to the unpowered, PASSIVE noise reduction of the Audio-Technica headphones (i.e. the efficiency of the ear-cup seal). However, the apple in-ear headphones continued to transmit some of the low-frequency roar, and I found the the in-ear headphones more bothersome to wear. In addition, I could feel a disturbing sensation of the music "pulsating" against my eardrum with the apple in-ear headphones.

The Audio-Technica ANR earphones were much more comfortable to wear, as they are very light (especially if you clip the battery/amp unit to something). Also, there were no uncomfortable sensations on my eardrums from the Audio-Technica ANR earphones. In a side-by-side comparison, I judged the overall sound quality from the Audio-Technica ANR earphones to be superior to the Apple in-ear headphones on this airplane ride.

I was looking for noise-cancelling headphones for my job, which is radio production. I chose these for the price, as well as a favorable review on CNET, and ignored the unfavorable reviews here, which I now regret. The sound quality is adequate, but beyond that, they're of little use to me.

To begin with, they're not very comfortable. I have small ears, but the ear cups are still too small and press into my ears rather than cradle them. I can't wear them for more than an hour without having to take them off to let my ears breathe. Next is the fact that activating the noise-cancellation actually adds white noise. This might be great on an airplane or in another crowded place, but I can't have it when I'm editing audio.

If these were the only two things to complain about, I wouldn't be writing this review. The worst thing about these, which many people have written about in reviews here, is that the battery pack for the noise cancellation feature is located almost exactly halfway between the phones and the jack. This means that every time I move my head, I drag this tiny brick across my desk, ultimately taking the pack to the edge and dropping it, which then nearly yanks the phones off my head. They could have put the battery pack at either end of the speaker wire and this wouldn't have been a problem, but it being right in the middle makes it impossible to avoid. The only solution is to buy a long extension (the one they supply isn't nearly long enough) and attach the pack to my body.

Unless you plan on only using these on an airplane, I strongly recommend against purchasing them.

I bought two pairs of these (one for myself, a few months later one for my partner). We've both had the same problem-- eventually (mine after about 7 months, his after 4) sound only comes through one side. This means the wires inside the cords are breaking, a bad problem for such an expensive pair of headphones.

I really enjoy wearing these headphones. They are super soft and comfortable. I'm a small person and I have really small ears, so it's nice to have a pair of headphones that fit me so well. (However, they're adjustable so I assume they work well for larger people).

I'm a musician, so I know what sounds good and what doesn't. I can safely say that the sound on these is really good.

The only thing that I don't love is that the noise cancelling ability of these headphones is diminished by the size of the earphones. Even on my small ears, they go on top of the ear, not around the ear. So that means sound leaks in. I ride the NY subway and the train each day, and I still hear the ambient noise. HOWEVER, having said that, the noise cancelling mechanism is very good on the headphones, and works quite nicely. The limiting factor is only the size of the earphones. It makes sense.

The other thing that is great is the design of the earphones and the case. First, the leather used is super soft and cushy - on both the earpieces and the case. Luscious! Also, the headphones fold up in a really awesome way and save lots of space. GREAT for traveling. I put them in my handbag (which is relatively small) and carry them around everywhere. Also, the inside of the case has a little velcro pouch so that you can store the little airplane attachment in there without worrying about it falling out. Super smart design team!!!