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Jan 13, 2008

olered55 (KS)

I bought these as a gift, mainly for use on an overseas trip this spring. After much research I decided on these as the best alternative to another, very expensive brand. The price was good and the shipping was fast. I'll know more about the quality after our trip.

Feb 1, 2008

MidnightSergeant (New Hampshire Seacoast)

At the time of this review (4 Feb. 2008) Overstock is the cheapest place on the Internet to buy these headphones. For the price I am extremely satisfied with my purchase. Although this is a discontinued model the NC-250 can compete with the Bose QC3 on several levels. Given the NC-250 is nearly 1/3 less than the price as the Bose ($350) that says a lot. I purchased these headphones for cafe use. It does a very, very, good job at limiting low and mid-frequency ambient noise. The problem with this technology (across the industry) is it does not "drown" the mid-upper and upper-high frequencies well. So if your cafe (like mine) plays pop or alternative music, you will still hear it playing but to a lesser degree. I have a pair of high end Shure in-ear headphones which are much better at meeting this challenge but (even with all the earbud options) they constantly loosen from the ear canal need frequent adjustment. Compared to the Bose QC3 these headphones are nearly the same size and weight. The Bose finish is vastly superior. The Bose also fit more snuggly to the ear (based on my few hours of borrowing them from a friend.) I usethe headphones only with my iPod. They use a seperate battery so they do not drain your iPod's power. When you do use the noise cancelation feature it greatly drains battery life so I always carry two back up AAA batteries in the hard/soft case. The case is quite good. It is not crush proof but it will easilly withstand the weight of several text books. It is also large enough to store my iPod Nano. My one complaint is to change the battery you must remove the earpad. This is a snap off / snap on process. You really have to pry at the earpad and I am constantly afraid the tiny little plastic clips are going to break if I use too much force. That's a design flaw JVC needs to address. In summary, an excellent noise canceling set of on-ear headphones at one of the lowest prices available. Respectfully submitted, K.K.

Apr 29, 2008

Jcarlso (Atlanta, Ga)

The headphones are a great alternative to the rediculously overpriced Bose products. They do a pretty good job at quieting ambient noise. Probably nearly as good as the Bose. On the airplane, it would have been nicer if they were around the ear instead of on top of the ear. Better noise control. They are quite comfortable to wear long term. The cable supplied is too short. Works fine with an I-Pod or other "close at hand" device. But for general use, the cord is way too short. Over all though, good value.

10/10/2008 - I've used this pair for 2 months now around the office. They do a great job of canceling out the hum of printers and the heating and airconditioning. Unfortunately, it will not drown out typing or talking.

However, when the noise cancellation is turned on and used to listen to music it really isolates you from the outside noise.

The hardcase is excellent protection when storing. It actually has made me more likely to put my headphones away than leave them on my desk.

AAA battery life is excellent. And bass is pretty good.

I use with my iPhone and the plug fits! I have the second generation iphone that requires a longer plug. That was a huge plus to not have to use an adapter.

Some complain that the cord is too short. But I like having just enough to have my iPhone on the desk or in my pocket. I can see how it is not enough length if your desktop is on the floor--get an extender if you need it.

The price of an extender and these headphones cost way less than the BOSE.

I will use these headphones on an upcoming 11 hour flight. I'll update my review after that trip. I also bought another pair for my fiance.

I used these headphones on a flight to Korea recently and found them to be quite good at masking the noise produced by the 747, while listening to movies and music.

I work in a noisy lab, so I wanted noise canceling headphones that could reduce the distraction of nearby chatter as well as the usual airplane engine sounds. After a bit of searching, it seemed like these JVCs and the Panasonic RP-HC500 were the best all around choices. So I bought both pairs and borrowed a friend's Bose QC2's to do a comparison.

*Noise Cancelling:
Although I did not have as much time with the Bose, I was able to use all three pairs to listen to city street noise outside my building as well as co-worker chatter in my office.
Although all three pairs did a fantastic job of removing the low frequencies (the ventilation system hum, etc.), the Bose really excelled here. It's really true that speaking while wearing them let's you hear your voice absent its lowest octave! The JVC and Panasonic pairs could not quite compete in that sense.
But for blocking higher frequency sounds, the JVCs were the winners. With the noise cancellation turned on, but without any sound playing, the voices of my office mates were muffled to the point where I could hear that they were speaking, but often could not make out what they were saying. The others muffle the chatter as well, but to a lesser extent.
Interestingly, it was sometimes hard to compare the Panasonics, as they produced audible hiss when the noise cancelling was turned on. The hiss was low, and wasn't distracting with even soft music, but the JVC's near-complete lack of hiss sometimes made me question whether the Panasonics were blocking as much sound as I thought, or just masking it.
But overall, the Panasonics and the JVCs were very comparable. There was a noticeable difference for office chatter, running a dishwasher, and air blowing, but the difference was always subtle--even factoring in the hiss issue. I was only able to try the QC2's in a couple of situations, but on the whole, they were not sufficiently better than even the Panasonics to justify their price tag.
-The Winner for Noise Canceling: JVC.

*Comfort:
Since I only had 20 or 30 minutes with the Bose, I can't say too much about them, except that they seemed typical for circumaural headphones. But I was able to try out the Panasonic and JVC pairs for several hours each.
The JVCs are incredibly comfortable at first; they're small, light, and even look decent. But I wear glasses, and after a while the pressure they were applying to my ears against my glasses' frame started to hurt.
The Panasonics, by contrast, apply far too much pressure to my head at first, and seem big and heavy. But after gently stretching them apart, they actually feel alright. They won't win any awards, but I could wear them--with my glasses--for probably at least an hour without them hurting. Although I may still need to stretch them out again, every so often.
In terms of strange sucking feelings that some people describe with noise cancellers, I did not experience anything like that with any of these headphones. But of the three people who also tried them out, one said that the Panasonic pair made an unpleasant sensation in her ear and she did not even want to try them out again. The others did not seem to notice any problems, though.
It's also worth noting that the Panasonics and Bose are circumaural (they go around the ear, and rest against the head directly), and the JVC's are supraaural (they rest right on the ear). So after a lot of use, I imagine the JVC's would be least likely to make your ear feel hot or sweaty, since they cover the least amount of your head. But also, if you have large ears, the fairly small space that the Panasonics expect your ears to fit into may be too small and therefore uncomfortable as well.
-The Winner for Comfort: a tie between JVC and Panasonic, but it depends on your ear size and whether you wear glasses.

*Sound:
I didn't really listen to music with the Bose, so I'll keep this section only to the Panasonics and JVC's.
I listened to a handful of styles on both pairs of headphones; mostly rock, folk, and even some an capella solo. Consistently, the Panasonics sounded better. As one friend described it, the JVC's didn't have tight bass. I would add the highs weren't that great either. They're fine for occasional use on a plane, but were surprisingly poor compared to the Panasonics.
The Panasonics aren't a panacea either for sound quality. No one will confuse them with high end headphones (say, Sennheiser HD-590's); particularly, they have a fairly narrow sound stage.
-The Winner for Sound Quality: Panasonic

*Other Issues:
In spite of the poorer sound quality, I was still going to keep the JVCs, until I discovered that I could not use them with my laptop! For some reason, as soon as I plug the JVC's into my laptop (with the noise canceling on), they make a strange hiss, and I also hear a 60 Hz hum from the electrical outlet. I have a Dell Latitude D820 (not exactly known for its sound card), so I figured it was the computer. But I experienced the same problem with other people's laptops as well. And none of my other headphones (even with comparable or lower impedance) make any audible hiss or buzz at all. I exchanged the JVC's, but the replacement was the same. For what it's worth, there was no hiss or hum with my friend's mac, or with any of my portable music players.
Some reviewers also mentioned the poorly designed battery replacement scheme on the JVC's. I agree that it's an odd design, but I personally didn't find it a problem at all. But speaking of batteries...
The battery life on the JVCs was significantly worse than Panasonic. I don't recall just how long it went, but it was probably about 15 hours or less. The Panasonics, by contrast, were used many hours more, and still haven't used up a battery. Both headphones use a single AAA.
-The Winner for Other Issues: Panasonic

*Conclusion:
The JVC HANC-250 headphones are very, very nice and have really remarkable noise reduction. If the Panasonics weren't available, I'd have gladly kept the JVCs. But not being able to use them with my laptop, a well as the mediocre sound quality, pushed me to Panasonic instead.

Wortk well, comfortable and come with a protective case. They are a fraction of the cost of some others I have tried. I have been very pleased with them.

i just got these in the mail today. they work great and the noise cancelling is great. they are on the ear, not AROUND ear. keep that in mind. they are pretty small and not very bulky. the case and the extra adapters for the airplane are a great added bonus. they do cover my ears, but they dont fit around them, but no worries. overall, for the price, these are great. i first purchased the Panasonic RP-HC500 Noise-Canceling Headphones that are the around the ear headphones, but they leaked wayy too much sound. these dont leak much sound. that is a major plus when on a flight.