Philips Deluxe Noise Cancelling Headphones Review

Once again ThinkGeek have very generously provided another awesome product for me to review. Today, I’ll be looking at some Noise Cancelling Headphones (SHN9500) by Philips. I love audio/video equipment so let’s get started!

Contents
Headphones
Hard headphones case, which contains
Accessories case containing:
1.2m 3.5mm audio cable
dual 3.5mm socket adaptor
1/4″ adaptor
one AAA battery

The idea of noise cancelling is simply that a microphone built into the outside of the earpiece picks up ambient sound which is then added, in inverse phase, into the signal applied to the driver of each channel so that the result is a reduced level of outside noise.

It’s a fantastic idea but in practise it’s restricted to low-frequency sounds such as those produced by engines of planes, trains and buses. An AAA battery is required to use the noise cancelling feature (supplied) and there’s a switch to turn it on and off on the back of the right can.

If the battery is dead or you don’t need the noise cancelling, the SHN9500 works as normal headphones and the sound quality is incredible. It’s also very comfortable to wear even for long time periods. The soft earpads mould around your ears ensuring a seal which itself cancles unwanted noise.

The noise cancelling works very well! I was lucky enough to test these out on a 2 hour flight and I must say the noise cancelling did a great job. I even used the headphones without any music just for some peace and quiet and it was great…until the baby twins in front of me went hysterical for no apparent reason.

The build quality of the cans is excellent, and as mentioned above, the cushioned earpieces make them very comfortable indeed. You’ll also notice that the headphones actually look pretty stylish with the chrome trim on the cans. When in public, you won’t feel odd wearing these. The headband is adjustable and should pretty much every person’s head. There’s also a mute button on the back of the left can so you can temporarily mute the audio if say you had to have a quick conversation with someone who walked in your room, or the air hostess.

I tested these headphones on a few devices; a small, cheap 128MB mp3 player, an iPod Touch 8GB and a PC with a Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 soundcard. The sound quality was exceptional on all devices. Bass and treble is perfectly balanced and you suddenly wonder how you coped with your old set of head/earphones. Remember that these draw more power than your average earphones so expect shorter battery life if used with a portable device that runs off batteries.

Conclusion
These headphones are simply amazing. If you’re looking for some high quality headphones for Christmas which you can travel easily with on the plane, train or bus then these are definitely for you! Definitely recommended.

At ~$79.99/£39.99 these headphones are very well priced. Get yourself some now from ThinkGeek – click here.