19 out of 19 people found this review helpful.
Best bang for the buck
Date of Review: Jul 13, 2004
The Bottom Line: Extremely impressive for the money and very comfortable for most people. I would definitely buy again, but would appreciate a nice full enclosed ear design for long term comfort.
Summary:
I travel a lot domestically in the US, with most flights under 3 hours. So I did not think I really needed some noise cancelling headphones. But when I found out I would be travelling internationally for about a month continously, I decided I better invest in some form of noise cancelling headphones. I invested in the Sennheiser PXC250 based upon the E-pinions reviews, and Im a happy camper. But I also tried a few different models in the store Sony's ($59-$159), the Bose (too expensive to print) and the Sennheiser. The main purpose of trying them on was to feel how comfortable they were. And I will admit, the Bose are the most comfortable of the three. But when a company offers financing for a set of headphones, I think it is fair to say that most cannot afford them.
If you consider the fact that Bose neither gives you or publishes in print specifications on their product, then you know that they are not totally upfront about the information. As an engineer, without these specifications, I could not easily make a fair comparison. The price was the only specification I could use to compare the two, and in that department the Sennheiser was already winning. The Sennheiser claim that they reduce noise under 1000 Khz (most of the noise on a plane is under that) by 15 dB and from 1000Khz to 5000Khz they do selective noise cancelling. The 15db figure beat out the Sony by 5 dB meaning it cancelled out more than twice the noise of the Sony's. I can't say how much better that makes it than the Sony, but I compared the Sennehiser with a fellow passenger using a Sony ($100 model he claimed) and the sennheiser was quieter on the plane
Description:
The headphones are quite small and fold up to be even smaller to fit into a nice pouch to be used to carry the headphones and some extra batteries. The unit also comes with a bunch of adapters to fit into your home stereo and/or any type of plane fittings.
Although the sensor for the noise cancellation is on the ear pieces, visible by the tiny hole, there is also a separate 4" plastic cylindrical electronic gizmo that holds the electronics and houses the on/off switch. The extra cylindrical piece can be a bit annoying, but it has a flexible clip and I just stick it in to my pocket and/or clip it to my pants. The clip is made of metal so it is not easily broken and can help prevent you from forgetting it on a plane, not that I've ever done that.
The headphones themselves are quite small and one wonders how it covers your whole ear. In fact, it does not cover the whole ear, just the exposed hole. It is spring loaded, so it fits tightly, and relatively comfortably which is why it can block out the noise so well. It does block the noise coming into your ear nicely, but you can still have a conversation, but I would not recommend a long one as it seems rude. However, not too far behind the cushion is a small plastic extrusion, presumably where the speaker is. It is not noticeable, unless you fall asleep directly on top of one of your ears. No damage will be done, but you may feel a sharp poke. The only time I've experienced discomfort with these headphones is during long flights. My ears begin to hurt after wearing them for 10 hours. I would take them off periodically on the plane so your ears can spring back to their normal shape (as opposed to being squeezed by the headphones).
Technical specifications:
Turn the switch on when you are on a plane and enjoy the silence. You can still hear and speak with the cabin crew, but you may have to speak loud for them to hear you over the plane noise. Your music, on the other hand is absolutely crystal clear on a very low volume setting. No blasting of the volume as you had to do in the past just to hear your music. It is extremely relaxing even in the office sometimes, as my office sometimes gets an annoying hum from the a/c system. Even for the short flights, this is a life saver. These headphones help you think clearly if you are working on a plane, help you enjoy your music or helps you relax enough to fall asleep in a quiet environment. The manual claims that the batteries last about 10 hours, but mine lasted over 20 hours using Duracell alkaline. A life saver on 16 hour flights.
Bottom line:
If you travel more than once a year, buy one of these. You will be happy you did.
