Audio-Technica ANC7 Headphones

(Review) - Audio-Technica generally caters to professionals with its products, but it's opening up towards mainstream consumers as well. And interestingly enough, Audio-Technica is ready to take on the heavyweights with its new pair of headphones, the ATH-ANC7 QuietPoint Active Noise-Canceling headphones. ANC7 is ready to attack and takeover Bose and its QuietComfort series, which is the de facto standard in noise canceling headphones. The product is designed to fit over the ears to comfortably snuggle them, an important format for noise canceling headphones with built-in technology. Unlike deep eared earphones that naturally cancel noise, ANC7 and Bose QuietComfort series actively remove extraneous noise for a wholesome, rich experience.

The headband and the earcups were comfortable in our testing, though we feel the size of the earcups to be slightly smaller than average headphones. If you have large ears, you will probably notice that. It's also fascinating to point out that it's possible to disconnect the main cable from the headphones. This makes traveling a bit easier without worrying about tangled cables. Also, the noise canceling feature will still work even after you detach the cable. The idea is to make it easy for you to concentrate on your work with the headphones on without the cable distracting you. Since it takes 1x AAA battery for the noise cancellation technology to work, lack of a power cable is a great benefit. Other companies should be looking into this. It's a simple but effective way of dealing with cables.

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According to Audio-Technica, the battery will last approximately 40 hours of continuous use, and reduce 85 percent of ambient noise. Sure, we would've preferred 100 percent noise cancellation, but it's not realistic, considering how sound waves will still creep in, since the earcups aren't airtight. Besides, 85 percent is more than enough to block out most of the annoying rattles, while still being alert and active around the surrounding environment.

In our audio performance tests, we found the ANC7 to be an exceptional pair. In fact, after testing it side-by-side with Bose's QuietComfort 2, we have no problem recommending the ANC7 for those of you who want comparative audio quality, but aren't willing to pay a premium. The audio quality as a whole was great with little to no background static disturbance, a solid base support and crystal clear, crisp and vibrant lows, mids and highs. The audio reproduction is topnotch. Our battery life lasted much longer than 40 hours, and we used it for music and cutting down on the background noise to get work done. You can also preserve the battery life and make it last even longer by turning off noise canceling if you are already in a quiet environment.

The price difference between ANC7 and Bose QuietComfort 2 is rather substantial. We found ANC7 to be available for as little as $124.99 with Bose's QuietComfort 2 at $299. That's 139 percent price difference between the two pairs with very little noticeable performance difference. Few things are clear with Audio-Technica's latest headphones pair: ANC7 is the QuietComfort 2 killer; Bose needs to watch its back with Audio-Technica slowly creeping up behind it; and QuietComfort series is overrated. If you haven't gotten the hint by now, yes, we are telling you to drop everything and go get a pair for yourself. Your ears will thank you.

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