Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I am looking forward with dread to four months of apartment renovations starting soon and I was looking for ways to keep my sanity during all the racket and mayhem. The idea of Noise Canceling headphones seemed just the ticket to help me keep from losing my mind.
I tried the Bose, the Sony, and the Sennheiser in a comparative listening bout. Overall, I liked the Bose a little better than the Sennheiser, but not enough to justify the increased price. Both blew away the Sony, which just doesn't sound that good and conducts too much movement noise up into the headphones. The Sennheiser are closed ear headphones, very lightweight and comfortable to wear unless you are exercising, where they tend to get a bit too hot. The snug fit of the earphones helps block out sound, even without the noise-canceling feature. But with the feature the amount of noise that is reduced or effectively canceled is remarkable. Most of the daily rumble of Manhattan is removed from your listening experience, though louder and sharper sounds still can be heard. The actual sound in the headphones is excellent, very clear, with a focused treble and a distortion free bass response. I tested the phones using a variety of music, orchestral, jazz, rock, and organ music. For my money, organ is the most difficult of instruments for headphones, as the rich bass frequencies almost always lead to distortion. Happily, the Sennsheimer phones were able to reproduce the massive sounds of Messiaen without mishap!
As a final test I took my headphones on a street run last night. I picked out the quietest CD that I have, Morton Feldman's Rothko Chapel, which never really gets above a whisper. Walking through Lincoln Center, which was crowded with concertgoers, I barely heard a thing. Walking down the street, there was an eerie sense of calm. I could hear car horns, and some other ambient noise, which I was glad of, since it could be dangerous otherwise, but the quiet and clarity of the Feldman was remarkable. The final test was a Subway ride. While I can't say that the Subway ride was noise free, the headphones did a wonderful job of blocking all but the loudest noises. I didn't even miss notes when the express train rumbled through my station.
The design is a bit of a negative. As has been said, the battery pack is a bit bulky, though not so much as to really bother me. And the headphones do fold up nicely, making them a good compact option for travel. But the wires tangle easily, unlike the Bose. Hopefully, in future models, Sennheiser will find a way to improve this feature.
Overall, I am extremely pleased with the performance of this product, and at the price point, it can't be beat.
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Product Description:
Portable audio takes on fresh life with quality headphones, and Sennheiser's folding, lightweight, closed-ear PXC 250 is designed to keep outside noises out and headphone sound in--perfect for use in busses and libraries alike. Increase the peace! The PXC 250 features a noise reduction unit
that cancels out background noise.
When engaged, NoiseGard active noise reduction drops steady-state low-frequency noise (from about 500 Hz and below) by 15 dB--which the human ear perceives as more than halving the noise--thus enhancing the clarity of your music. The noise reduction circuit requires 2 AAA batteries (not included), but the headphones work fine without the circuit engaged.
Sennheiser's fold and flip design lets you turn the ear pieces 90 degrees and fold the headphones closed. Their ported design lets them move more air for greater bass response.
What's in The Box
6-foot Kevlar-reinforced cord, .25-inch stereo adapter, airline adapter, belt pouch.
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