ATH-ANC3 QuietPoint® Active Noise-Canceling In-Ear Headphones
Writing
not from my usual desk, but one provided by American Airlines at 32,000 feet.
En route to New Mexico, I am usually accompanied by an iPod mini (now deceased)
and Bose headset. This flight is a bit different, I tried to take as little
gear as possible while still achieving the same goals. This was a great
opportunity to test out some gear I have been saving for a special occasion to
use. This included a pair of noise canceling headphones by Audio-Technica and
the Windy 31 three in one USB adapter.
Some of the devices performed great (as noted in other posts) and others, well,
did not. This is their story.
Post #2
The Bose
headset is awkwardly large to stuff into a carry on, and the iPod has died. I
cannot fly with the humming of the engines, babbling of the people behind me
and the clicking of blackberries around me (I wonder who is receiving an e-mail
this high up, unless you are like Jon Spira of BasexBlog.com). Scouring the
web, I came across the ATH-ANC3BK, a pair of noise canceling earphones by
Audio-Technica.
Their sleek design, and intuitive
feature left little to be desired. Currently, “Boulevard of Broken
Dreams” by Green Day is playing.
Whenever the captain or stewardess come by, rather than having to pause
the music, and take out the ear phones, along the cord is a “monitor”
button. Simply press the button, the audio is lowered, noise cancellation
turned off and I can hear every word being spoken to me, once the stewardess is
done I let go of the button and resume play back.
If it
wasn’t for the cord in front of me, I could forget I am wearing the earphones.
They are super light and do not look like noise canceling headphones, I do not
get any “what is on your ear?!” look that often came along with the Bose
headphones. Plus, with the included
case, Audio-Technica has included an airline adapter and extension cable inside
a very sturdy nylon like case. The case is a fifth the size of the Bose head
set.
The in-ear
design of the head phones, made them
very easy to wear for the flight in its entirety, even when they were being
used just to muffle out the sound of the people behind me talking. The head
phones can be used with or without noise cancellation. Meaning, if for some
reason the battery dies or you just do not want noise cancellation, you can
still listen to your music, simply switch noise cancellation to
“off.” Certainly the ATH-ANC3BK pack a lot of punch in a very small
package.
And for
those behind me having an hour conversation about the 12v jack, yes, it is the
same as the cigarette one from your car.
To pick up a pair of your own visit: MacMall.com ($81.99)
or Amazon.com