First, I’d like to thank Able Planet for providing me these headphones to review. Next, I’d like to say … wow, that’s one heck of a long product name. At any rate, let’s get started.
The Able Planet Clear Harmony with Linx Audio Active Noise Cancelling Headphones (let’s just call them ABCH) aren’t cheap by any means. They have a MSRP of $299. This puts them in direct competition witht the Bose Quiet Comfort (QC) series, and particularly, the Bose QC 2.
From the Able Planet website:
LINX AUDIO™ ADVANTAGES
- Award Winning Sound Quality
- Maximum Speech Clarity
- Soft Clips Distortion
- Restricts Electromagnetic Interference
- Increased Perceived Loudness Without Increasing Volume
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Superior Noise Canceling Technology
- Patent Pending LINX AUDIO™
- In-Line Volume Control for Easy Adjustment to Safe Listening Levels
- Lightweight and Comfortable fit
- Ideal for Creating Your Own Personal Space Filled with Full Rich Sound
- Removable Cord with 1/8” and 1/4” Stereo Adapters
- For use in Computer & Language Labs, Stereos, Personal Computers, CD, DVD and MP3 Players
- For Use With or Without a Hearing Aid
It came with a nice case, with space for the headphones, held in by an elastic strap, on one side, and a compartment for the accessories, as well as quite possibly an MP3 player on the other. Inserting the two provided AAA batteres into the left earcup, I could hear the soft hiss of white noise once I flipped the switch (rear side of the left earcup) on. Even without the headphones turned on, I could hear a good deal of background sound cut off with the earcups on. But does it reduce noise? It’s supposed to reduce background noise by 18dB.
The answer is yes. Listening to music in a noisy coffee shop, and listening to Internet radio while my wife watched a DVD on our HDTV, I can attest to the fact that it really helps cut out the background noise. And, by turning off the cancellation feature, and by using a splitter to hook in a different set of headphones, I could see a great difference.
Battery life is estimated to be 35 hours. There’s an LED near the switch that dims when only 30 minutes of battery life remain. However, although the instructions say it will work with rechargeable AAA batteries, it also indicates that with the reduced voltage of rechareables (1.2V vs 1.5V), the LED may not be a reliable indicator … and the life of the batteries will be halved. Unlike the Bose earphones, if the battery dies, the headphone will still work, a major plus.
Able Planet doesn’t have the name recognition that Bose does, but these headphones work well, and have the plus of working when the batteries are dead … if I were you, I’d take an opportunity to compare the two when shopping for noise-cancelling headphones.
