 Travel headphones |
| Review Date: April 12, 2004 |
| Reviewer: Jason Sekula, Arlington, TX USA |
After many hours of online researching and trips to Ultimate Electronics, Circuit City, and a few other electronic stores I decided on this pair. Online customer reviews aside, I highly recommend a visit to the music store, electronics store, wherever. If you are going to spend a hundred dollars on anything try it out first. There is a huge diversity out there in ear cup size, sound, and build quality. I personally was looking for a good set of headphones that I could use on a plane. These more than exceeded my expectations for that purpose. If you are looking for a set to use in the office at your desk, these are not for you. You can get a better set at half the price. I'd recommend something with closed cups and passive noise reduction if your office is noisy. Most active cancellers don't help with this problem. The same holds true for most other noisy environments. These actually work best with low frequency noise, i.e. the plane. I also tried them in our computer room which has blowers and stacks of servers humming along. They actually seem to reduce the noise there by approx 50-65%. I had a few coworkers try them out here to see what they felt and they agreed that they were excellent noise reducers. On the plane and with my personal dvd player I normally played the volume between 5 and 6. I watched several movies and the sound effects and speech were heard easily and clear. Before I had a 10$ set that you inserted into your ear. I had to play the same player at 10 and had a difficult time hearing some parts of the dialogue. With the Sennheisers I am able to comfortably wear them for hours at a time on the plane. The noise attenuation works so well you grow accustomed to it. After wearing these a few hours I took them off and couldn't believe the difference.
Pros
Great low frequency noise reduction
Very comfortable, light on the ears and top of the head. They don't pinch like a lot of others, or get hot
Sound quality above average
Cool carrying caseCons
Noise circuit wand can be an irritant, depends what you are doing. On the plane I didn't have any issues.
100$ or more, they are kind of expensive and lack hard bass. For a hundred bucks I'd like it to do everything, which I guess is unrealistic. 5 Stars, buy if you intend to use for travel |
Does what I bought them for
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| Review Date: November 29, 2003 |
| Reviewer: Torrey Pines, Bethesda, MD USA |
| I bought these headphones for a flight from Washington, D.C. nonstop to Tokyo. That's 13.5 hours. I wore them almost the entire way and felt no discomfort from having worn them for hours on end. I even wore them when I didn't have them attached to anything, just to reduce the noise from the sound of the engines. Sound is very good, especially with the noise reduction on. You never heard movies or music sound so good on a plane. I assume this would be true for trains and buses, as well. No, they don't sound as good as my high-end Sennheiser headphones since a) the PXC250 is not closed, and b) they are smaller than the higher end headphones so that they travel well. I bought these for a purpose other than listening to music in my home (although I do occasionally since they are so convenient to use and the sound is very decent). I tried the Bose and they were not for me. Twice the price, larger, and less comfortable. At this price, especially, I'm very satisfied. They work well at both reducing ambient noise, are very comfortable, and produce an enjoyable sound. Highly recommended. |
Silence IS golden when flying or at the gym...
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| Review Date: May 15, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Just Duckie, S FL |
When I was shopping for a noise cancelling headphones, the first one I considered immediately was the Bose Comfort 2. I had used them before on plane trips & absolutely loved them. The only 2 problems I had with the Bose was that when the battery died, so did the silence/music/movie & that they were a lot more than I was willing/able to pay. So I did some research & found that Sennheiser was also good brand name & much cheaper than Bose. All the reviews (Consumer Reports, C-Net, other Amazon reviews to name a few) I read gave these Sennheiser headphones a thumbs up; & the price was more than within my price range of what I wanted to spend. So thanks to Amazon, I bought them.
I have now had them for over a month, & I am thrilled with my decision on buying these headphones. I have used them several times, & they work perfectly with my 5.5 generation Ipod, while on my computer playing Oblivion & other video games, & on the plane. It definitely helped in tuning out the crying babies, loud speaking people near me, as well as some overhead announcements by the Captain & Stewarts. Although I will admit that turning up the volume on my Ipod also contributed in tuning out all the noises on the plane.
The sound quality is crisp, clear, & sharp. I felt there was some depth to the sound effects while watching "Batman Begins" on my Ipod. With the noise cancelling feature turned on, my favorite songs & movies sounded even better. The bass & treble were at the perfect levels for my needs. There is no built-in volume on the headphones or 'battery wand,' but I don't really need one since I use my Ipod's or computer volume controls.
The ear pads are comfortable & the headset is quite light. Although, I will say that they sit right on your ear (not around your ear, like the Bose Comfort 2) to which could be a little uncomfortable for those who don't like any pressure placed directly on their ears. I'm one of those types of people, but these headsets didn't bother me at all. I liked the sleek compact look of the carrying case, & love the fact that the headphones fold neatly away when not in use. The inclusion of the plane & stereo/computer plug adapters was a very nice extra as well.
I was concerned that the 'battery wand' would get in my way, but to my surprise it wasn't really a problem. There is a built in 'belt clip' on the wand which works perfectly whether I was on the plane. Plus the cord between the headphone & 'battery wand' is more than long enough to able to move around without it ('battery wand') getting in the way. The headphones works superbly with my ipod & didn't shift or fall off while I was on the treadmill. The carrying case that came with the headphones has a belt loop on the back & a small zippered pocket on the front. That came in really handy since I used it to keep my Ipod & 'battery wand' protected while walking & jogging. And, yes, the Ipod fits in the bag along with the folded headphones, 'battery wand', & cord with no problems whatsoever.
The other feature I really love about these headphones is that they still work as headphones even when the 2 AAA batteries die. The battery life can go pretty quickly if you use the noise cancelling feature for a long period of time. However, now that Energizer AAA lithium batteries are now on the shelves, I haven't found any problems with prolonged use. I just have to remember to turn the noise cancelling switch off when I finally done using the headphones for the evening.
All in all, I'm very satisfied with this purchase & very happy with the headphones. I hope that this review helps others in their decision making process on whether to buy these headphones or not. |
A Great Value for Travelers
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| Review Date: April 16, 2004 |
| Reviewer: P. McLain, Sammamish, WA USA |
| If you will be spending any time on airplanes this year, I highly recommend you buy yourself a pair of these Sennheisers. I used mine for the first time on a long international flight and was amazed at the results. They did a great job at eliminating roughly 80% of the ambient noise both while listening to music on my MP3 player and watching in-flight movies. It's remarkable how much less fatiguing air travel is if you block out the overwhelming ambient noise. Pros:
- highly effective active noise reduction
- very reasonably priced
- collapsible with small carry case and adapter plug for dual prong aircraft jacks
- very light weight and comfortable (noise reduction circuit and batteries are located in a belt clip module, not the headset itself)
- much less bulky than the Bose noise reduction headphones Cons:
- not quite as effective as expensive fully enclosed noise reduction headphones (ie. Bose) If you are a true road warrior (ie travel every week), you might choose the $300 Bose noise canceling headphones. They are slightly more effective, but not enough to justify being 3 times as expensive as these Sennheisers. |
Very satisfied
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| Review Date: June 22, 2005 |
| Reviewer: Music lover, California |
I bought these headphones a couple months ago to use with a Creative Zen Micro MP3 player, because (1) I knew I had to upgrade to something better than the included earbuds, and (2) I wanted something with noise canceling ability to take with me when I periodically fly to the east coast. And I have never been a Bose fan, I'll take fidelity over artificial booming bass any day :)
So far I have been very happy with these headphones. They are not cheap (I got them here on a brief special offer, which helped ease the pain a little), but in my opinion, these headphones are definitely worth the money.
First, as far as the noise canceling goes: like other reviewers have stated, you have to know what to expect. Total noise isolation? No way. But these phones do a great job of blocking out low-frequency background noise, while preserving input audio quality, with very little 'noise' added. I have not had the opportunity to take them on an airplane, but I've been using them in the office daily, and they do an admirable job of getting rid of the rumble of three computer fans and the air conditioning. The noise canceling makes a huge difference, especially at low audio volumes. Very impressive! When turned on, a slight amplification of the input signal is apparent, accompanied by a tiny amount of high-frequency hiss, not disturbing at all though.
Audio quality, with or without noise canceling, is of course way better than with the cheap earbuds you get for free with MP3 players. The PXC250's are not audiophile standard, as are the top of the line Sennheisers (e.g. the HD650), but they produce clear, well-balanced sound, free of any perceptible distortion and with good, tight bass response. I've tried these on my home theater system and I was suitably impressed - very typical neutral Sennheiser sound. Like most audio equipment of decent quality, they seem to improve after a break-in period.
The phones are very comfortable to wear: light-weight with adequate padding all round, probably the most comfortable headphones I've ever owned. I can wear these for hours at a time without feeling any fatigue. The included carrying case and converter plugs are a nice touch, like everything with wires attached to it, it takes some time to get the hang of properly folding and stowing them, but they are certainly very portable. The construction seems sturdy enough and I expect these to last a long time with proper use and care.
Something to consider: the input impedance is quite high (300 ohms, compared to the more typical 16-32 ohms of cheaper earbuds/phones), so to drive them properly you need some oomph. My Zen Micro manages to drive them to adequate volume levels (I plan on retaining my hearing for a while still), but if you insist on stretching your eardrums to bleeding levels, you may want to consider getting a headphone amplifier if you plan to use these with portable audio devices.
All in all, I am very satisfied with my Sennheiser PXC250's.
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