Headphone News

New York Times writer David Pogue has an interesting round-up of 9 noise-canceling headphones. The article compares headphones like the JVC HA-NC100, the Logitech Noise Canceling Headphones and the Sennheiser PXC 450 against the market leading Quiet Comfort 2 and Quiet Comfort 3 from Bose.

As expected, Pogue has the Bose models as his favorite but does rate the Panasonic RP-HC500 and Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7 as being right up there. It’s an interesting read and shows that you can get almost match the Bose Quiet Comforts and for a lot less money.

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Australian newspaper The Age have a quick round up of four headphones that anyone thinking of getting a set of headphones as a last minute Christmas present should check out.

First up is the Skullcandy Skullcrushers which are awarded a lowly 2 out of 5 due to their overwhelming (and over-vibrating) bass. Slightly better are the Sennheiser MX90VC receiving 3.5 out of 5 but much worse are the Creative SL3100 which only get 1 out of 5.

Finally, and best of all, are the Bose Quiet Comfort 3 recieving 4 out of 5. The Age were impressed by the noise-canceling technology on these ‘phones but feel the comfort let them down.

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At the moment, it seems nearly every new set of headphones released incorporate some sort of noise-reduction technology. But how does it work? And will it work for you?

How noise-canceling works
There are two basic ways for headphones to reduce external noise. The most basic way is to simply block external noise from reaching your ears. This can be done by either encompassing your full ear with a tight seal like the forthcoming Sony Altus headphones or by blocking your ear canal like the Bose TriPort IE earphones.

Both of these techniques work to an extent, but have their down sides. The over-ear design relies on forming a seal with your head which can get very warm and uncomfortable. It also tends to produce large and heavy headphones, fine for use in the home but not so useful in the sort of situations where you’d actually want to block out external noise, for example, on a train. The ear canal design is more successful at blocking out sound but, unless you can find a set of earbuds that fit perfectly, can quickly get uncomfortable. Many ear-canal ‘phones come with a selection of sleeves to offer you a better fit but even they are unlikely to fit perfectly (those with lots of money might try Ultimate Ears custom-fit headphones if they really crave the perfect fit).
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