Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7B QuietPoint Active Noise-Cancelling Closed-Back Headphones

***Note: Update given at bottom of review***
The details of the review are given below, but I decided to write a short summary for people just interested in the overall message from this review.

Summary:
The Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7b Active Noise Canceling Headphones are well made and come with nice accessories. The noise canceling feature works very well, however the significant sound leakage of these headphones makes them unusable in an office/coffee shop setting. The headphones also have much poorer sound quality than I was expecting for headphones in this price range. I would strongly encourage potential buyers to really consider whether or not they can tolerate very significant sound leakage (i.e. do you care if everyone around you at work is listening to what you are listening to?). More details and explanations below.

More Detailed Review:

After a few weeks of research about Noise Cancelling headphones on the internet I finally decided to purchase the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7b Active Noise Cancelling Headphones. These are the new version of the ATH-ANC7 series of headphones which generally got pretty favorable reviews. As “A Texan” mentioned in their review above, the general comments about these headphones from most reviewers are:
1)Much better price than Bose Quiet Comfort
2)Noise cancelling is just as good as Bose Quiet Comfort
3)Sound is good – maybe slightly worse than Bose Quiet Comfort, but not $100 worse
4) Some reviewers complained about sound leakage or bleed through when listening to music.

I bought these headphone aware of point 4 above and hoping that the sound leakage wasn’t nearly as bad as some made it out to be. In fact, the review by “A Texan” on this page help put my fears about sound leakage to rest.

Once I received the headphones, I unpacked them and gave them a whirl. Read the sections below for my impressions.

Packaging/Accessories: 10/10
The headphones come packaged nicely in the hard carrying case. This case is very nice and about as sleek as you could hope for with large over the ear headphones like these. You get some nice headphone cables and adapters that all appear to be gold plated and all fit nicely in a small zipper pouch on the inside of the carrying case. You also get a AAA battery which is very easy to install in the right ear of the headphones.

Headphone Construction: 10/10
The headphones themselves seem very well made. The ear cups are made of very nice foam with a soft leather like material covering them. There is a padded area when the headphones rest on top of your head which is made of the same material. The design looks very nice and the overall look of these headphones makes you feel justified in buying them. It is also very nice that the headphone cable is detachable on both sides (headphone side and player side) so that it can be easily replaced if it is damaged or has exposed wires. The ear cups swivel flat so they can be placed in the case and this is done very well. The headphones feel are very comfortable to wear and your ears should fit easily in the ear cups and be completely covered. Also the soft mesh inside of the ear cups covering the speakers is very nice and better than many over the ear headphones I have owned.

Noise Cancellation (w/ no music playing): 10/10
This feature works great. You flip a switch located on the outside of the left ear and a blue LED light comes on to tell you that Noise Cancellation is activated. These do a very nice job canceling out ambient noise and while all sound is not gone, everything is much quieter and muffled. If you were only going to use these with no music to help you work or concentrate I would definitely recommend them. I gave it a 10/10 because while they aren’t perfect, they were what I expected to get with 85% noise canceling.

Sound Quality (w/ noise canceling off): 2/10
When you listen to music through these headphone with noise canceling off, they are extremely muddled. It almost sounds as if you were listening to music playing from under water. The lows are very muddled together and it would be pretty unenjoyable to listen to these headphones like this. I think the reason this is done is because most of the low end disappears when noise canceling is activated (see below). It is almost as if they had to compensate for this. While it is nice that you can listen to these without a battery (unlike the Bose), the sound quality is very poor like this and there is no clarity in the music. I am not an audiophile snob who wouldn’t be happy without thousands of dollars worth of equipment either. These had poor sound quality with noise canceling off and anyone would recognize it in my opinion.

Sound Quality (w/ noise canceling on): 5/10
When noise canceling is activated the muddled music is lifted and the music becomes much clearer. While it does sound much better than listening without noise canceling, to me it is definitely lacking in the low end of the music. It almost seems as if the noise canceling feature eliminates all low end from the music. The bass has no punch at all and overall the music has too much treble and no real impact. Also, I am not trying to listen to music where I wouldn’t be happy unless the headphones were rattling with bass. Just for reference, I did all of my listening tests with The Beatles Abbey Road album. Also, it appears that activating noise canceling boosts the volume as well. At first I wasn’t sure if this was just the effect of other ambient noise being cut out or not, but I went to the most quiet place I could find in my house to do a test. Without music, noise canceling made very little difference because the room was so quiet already. However with music, the volume definitely was pumped louder when noise cancellation was active. This may explain something with sound leakage too (see below). Overall, my $50 in-ear Sony headphones that I was planning on replacing with these have much better sound quality than these. I was very disappointed in the sound, because in my opinion for this much money you should get decent sound quality. I wasn’t expecting to be blown out of the water, but this was very weak.

Sound Leakage: 0/10
This is a huge, huge problem. These headphone have very significant sound leakage at moderate volumes. I am not sure if there is anything different about the headphones that “A Texan” got for his review and the ones I got, but the sound leakage is very bad with these. Again, listening to Abbey Road at just a moderate volume I am totally unable to use these headphones at my office. I work in a cubicle space and even at low volumes I was told that the music is clearly audible for the people around me. Basically I would not feel at all comfortable using these headphones to listen to music in my office, in a coffee shop, or anywhere remotely quiet. It sounds like the speakers are on for my laptop and I am playing at a moderately quiet volume for the whole office to hear. I work as a scientist and also listen to my headphones in the lab. At my office the lab is quite noisy with lots of equipment running full time and in this environment the sound leakage was barely audible to people working near me. So if you were only going to use these in a loud environment, they may work for you. Also, the noise leakage is much worse when noise canceling is active. I don’t know if this is simply because of the volume boost that exists when noise canceling is active, but there is obviously more sound leakage when noise canceling is turned on. In the end, this noise leakage is a really significant problem and is definitely a deal breaker for me. I chose to disregard some of the reviews saying that the sound leakage was bad and it was my mistake. It really is a big problem and you should be aware of it. You won’t be able to listen to these in an open office area without everyone hearing your music. I am not exaggerating.

Conclusion:
I was really excited about these headphones and they seemed like the best alternative out there to the ultra expensive Bose noise canceling headphones. I haven’t used the Bose so I won’t try to compare (they may have the same problems for all I know), I will say that these headphones have left me very disappointed. The sound quality is pretty poor in my opinion, but I could live with that if it weren’t for the sound leakage. I can’t use these at work or to study with at a coffee shop, so basically I can’t use them for my purposes. I will have to return these and try something else. If you are planning on using these in a noisy environment than they may be the right choice for you, but otherwise I would recommend you think long and hard about if noise leakage is a problem for you.

****UPDATE: 10/2/2009****
As I mentioned in the comments section of this review, I tried out the Bose QC 15 headphones at a local Bose store shortly after writing this review. In my personal opinion, the Bose headphones were better overall than these headphones (but they should be for $100 more right!). They didn’t appear to have the sound leakage issues I had with these ATH-ANC7b’s and overall I thought they had better audio quality. However, they are more expensive and don’t play music with noise canceling turned off (a problem for some).

Anyway, my slight frustration with the overall audio quality of these headphones led me to look into comparably priced non-noise canceling headphones. I just wanted to see how the audio quality of these compared to their noise canceling counterparts. I am very glad I took the time to do this. It turns out that for my needs, a nice set of closed full-sized headphones (closed = headphones that don’t leak sound and block some noise from entering; full-sized = over the ear) were the best solution for me. The audio quality improvement of a $150 or $200 headphone without noise canceling over these was very pronounced for me. The details and real beauty of the music really jumped out to me, and the overall audio quality was much improved over the ATH-ANC7b for me. I researched many brands/models from $100-$250 and in the end decided on a pair of Audio Technica ATH-M50s headphones. These are $150, have great sound quality, and isolate plenty of noise for what I wanted to use them for. There are many favorable reviews on Amazon that you can read.

Now this may not be the best solution for everyone. You may really, really need noise canceling headphones, and if that is the case then ignore this suggestion. However, if you are like me and aren’t 100% sure if you need noise canceling or not, take the time to try out some closed full-sized non-noise canceling headphones to compare. For my use (studying, blocking noise at work) these were the perfect solution. I was never really planning on using these without listening to music and I wanted good audio quality as well as isolation if I was going to spend so much on headphones. This conclusion obviously makes sense in the end. You are paying for the noise canceling technology, so comparably priced non-noise canceling headphones should have higher quality audio (I know this is a duh…but I didn’t fully appreciate it until I tried them side by side). Anyway, I just wanted to update on the path I decided to go down. Do yourself a favor and try out a pair (you can do this at Guitar Center, other music stores)of nice non-noise canceling headphones and see how you like them compared to noise canceling. In the end, all that matters is what you like and what you think. Audio products like headphones are so subjective, so take reviews with a grain of salt and remember that if you have the opportunity you should always try them out yourself and decide what you think. Good luck with your headphone search and I hope my whole experience finding the right pair of headphones for me helps some find a pair they love.

Best noise cancelling headphone at best price..

Like the other reviews said, the sound quality on this is excellent.
The NC is very good. Not as good as Bose (but then, the sound on those aren’t that great for the price).

But the important thing to consider: These might be too loud for Indian public transport. Being headphones, sound will leak inside. They’re perfect for quieter spaces like planes / AC bus, but if you’re looking to use these while in a local train or auto, consider the in-ear headphones, the ATH ANC23. The in-canal seal adds another layer of noise isolation.

Incluyó todos los accesorios indicados, son cómodos, muy útiles para viajes largos (por el sistema de cancelación de ruido) y hasta ahora no presenta ninguna falla.