Able Planet NC200 Foldable Noise Canceling Headphone

Other products by AblePlanet

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.8 x 2 inches ; 14.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001EYU8FI
• Item model number: NC200
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank

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  Electronics > Accessories & Supplies > Headphones > Noise-Canceling Headphones

• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 28, 2008

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Able Planet NC200: The Power of LINX at an Affordable Price

Able Planet made its mark in the portable audio field at the 2007 International CES trade show, where its LINX Audio technology won the Most Innovative Embedded Technology Award. Since then they have won over 16 Awards and significant praise from consumers and top experts alike, all who rave about the phones' ability to eliminate almost all background noise while offering superior sound quality. Ideal for everything from iPods, home stereos and portable DVD players, with full, rich sound that shuts out such extraneous sounds as airplane engines, bus motors, and background conversations.

The Clear Harmony NC200 is an exciting new entry level product that lets you step up into quality noise-canceling headphones without breaking the bank. Enjoy the latest technology at an affordable price and convenient foldable size. The NC200 features an adjustable headband, superior sound quality and clarity, patented LINX Audio technology, inline volume control for easy adjustment to safe listening levels, and state of the art active noise cancelation.

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What Critics Are Saying

"You can hear the difference up in the higher frequencies of your music. These 'phones are very comfortable, especially for people with big heads." --Josh Quittner, Time Magazine, "Top 25 Must-Have Travel Gadgets"

"…Able Planet’s Sound Clarity unit is a big leap forward in quality. And it won’t break the bank. The lightweight earphones are comfortable, and the stereo sound is good – in fact a lot better than good, providing both clear speech and full rich background sound." --Jay Palmer, Barron's

"We put the Clear Harmony headphones up against the Bose QuietComfort 3 headphones for side-by-side tests, all of which the former handily won." --Russ Fischer, Laptop Magazine

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LINX Audio Technology

Listen to the difference between Able Planet's Linx Audio technology and standard audio sources

Originally developed for a new generation of top-of-the-line hearing aids, LINX Audio technology. This makes it easier to hear words, music, and sounds in the higher frequencies where clarity is often lost, while also ensuring that speech and other high-frequency sounds are not smothered by bass tracks. Able Planet compares the results to the difference between hearing a "C" note on a piano as opposed to a "C" chord. The "C" chord, which sounds richer and more complex, demonstrates the impact of adding harmonics to the audio signal.

LINX Audio technology also fits into Able Planet's mission of creating audio solutions for people with hearing disabilities. By filtering undesirable sounds and noise via the state-of-the-art active noise cancellation (ANC) technology, Able Planet headphones encourage users to listen to music at lower volumes to reduce long-term hearing loss. The phones also provide crisp sound for people already suffering from moderate hearing problems, and even accommodate hearing aids thanks to a new technology that restricts electromagnetic interference.

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Special Features

Clear Harmony headphones also reduce distortion at higher volumes by soft-clipping the sound wave rather than squaring it off, delivering a full-bodied frequency range of 20 Hz to 20. And as a bonus, the phones offer an inline volume control that makes it easy to turn the volume up or down without reaching for your portable audio device. Other features include a 5-foot removable cord with 1/4-inch; a lightweight adjustable headband that provides a superior fit; full-size swiveling ear cups with soft cushions; and a soft carrying pouch with a storage area for iPods and other MP3 players.

The headphones--which can be used at home as well as on the road with TVs, computers, portable DVD players, CD players, MP3 players, and assisted listening devices--fold up easily for easy storage and travel.

Note: The noise cancellation feature requires one AAA battery (included), but can also be turned off should the batteries run down. As a result, users can still listen to music without power, unlike many competing noise-canceling headphones.

What's in the Box

Clear Harmony NC200 headphones, removable cord, and 1/4-inch stereo adapters, and soft carrying pouch.

Product Description

Ideal for the traveler, student or music lover. The latest technology at an affordable price and convenient foldable size. The NC200 features an adjustable headband, superior sound quality and clarity, patented LINX Audio technology, In line volume control for easy adjustment to safe listening levels (no more hunting for the volume control) and state of the art active noise cancellation (ANC). With over 16 International CES and CTIA awards, the sound quality will delight even the most discernible ear.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointed. I returned mine, November 20, 2008

By	D. Cobb - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Great until it breaks., February 20, 2009

By	Benjamin A. Grose (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars No., November 25, 2008

By	Misty Matonis "mist." (new york, ny) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.