Altec Lansing AHP712i Headphones - AHP-712I

I purchased these phones to use at my PC and in an RV environment. They are comfortable to wear and the sound is OK to good. The noise canceling control is on a cable which is just a bit too short and I have often run out of room to move around. There is a bit of hiss in the background but this fades away when listening. Having a volume control is a nice convenience. The phones come in a nice quality storage bag and have two cable lengths. One about 2 feet for use with an mp3, iPod, etc. The other is about 6 feet and this makes connection to a PC much easier. Audiophile sound quality? No. But they sound better than most PC speakers, can be played louder when gaming, and are a VAST improvement over laptop/notebook/netbook speakers. I am happy with them.
 
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Bought this when it was on sell 2 years ago for sub $50 and still using this regularly. Performance of this headphones is superb when Noise Cancellation is turned on. Sound like a stereo system on the go for normal user like me. Little annoyances like the low frequency hisses when noise cancellation is turned on and sometime bother some external noise cancellation unit. Wish the controller could have been integrated into the headphones itself. Other than that I'm still using it for music/movies and playing games with it often. It's still $100 as of today so I don't see this unit depreciate anytime soon.
 
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I have the second one already. Same problem the ear piece swivel breaks with just a little pressure on it. Don't by this head phone if you want to take it with you on travel. It's way to fragile! Other then that, great performance for the money.
 
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The sound quality is tremendous! But I wouldn't recommend them, as there is a fatal design flaw with the connection between ear piece and head piece. Single, small, hallow plastic connection between ear and head piece has broken twice on me, and I have been extremely careful not to bump, drop, or otherwise abuse them. After one year of use they look new, but the ear piece has broken again. Look for headphones with two connections for ear piece and better connection to head piece.
 
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I've had these headphones for quite some time now. However, I'm on my second pair. My first pair broke at the swivel - I had to mail it back in to Altec, who did replace it. Now my second pair has broken - at the swivel again. These are great headphones... while they last.
 
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I bought these because the price was good. I have had them for over 1 year. I travel regularly and they work well, but my third pair just broke. The plastic piece which allows the ear piece to swivel breaks easily. I even bought a case to put them in to no avail. Altec-Lansing did exchange them under warranty the first 2 times, but now they are broken again with no warranty. My advice - don't buy them. The price was great with decent sound, but they aren't worth the inconvenience.
 
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I bought these 14 months ago for a trip to Europe. My wife borrowed them before we left and immediately ordered a set too. They functioned great--I even wore them while sleeping and no audio--I'm the guy with the eye mask, neck pillow and bulky headphones ready to go after the red-eye! Yes there is hiss with no music playing, but also, there is little outside noise! After 14 months of satisfactory air and car travel and use in the house when the TV is blaring in the other room, my only regret now is that I packed them at the bottom of my bag and the right ear piece broke off on my last trip to Boston. Have written AL to see about repair; my attempt with crazy glue and gaffer's tape was unsuccessful.
 
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The sound quality is decent on these headphones, however the build quality is pretty poor. After less than 5 uses the connection in one ear phone started to go so it would crackle in and out. Then recently one earpiece broke off completely from the over the head bracket. I've had these about 18 months and only used them a dozen times. If you can get them for very cheap then they are not too bad, but don't expect a top quality product.
 
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I bought these because the price ($27.99)at the time, I could not go wrong. Excellent NR. Took them on flights to Florida and Hawaii and they worked great!
 
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I have used these for more than 4 months now and love to use these in my office. It helps when there is some office gossip or chitchat, you don’t want to get a part of, is ongoing. The good part is that they still deliver a good sound with the Active Noise Reduction feature switched off. But as mentioned it is ANR (Reduction) and doesn’t seem like Noise Cancellation. Noise reduction is at the expense of a boost in volume and a slight humming sound in the background when you are listening to a soft song. Yet these make a good piece of headphones as I bought them for almost 1/3 the price mentioned now. Another problem is that even after 3 months they hold a tight grip over the ears making them uncomfortable for long run. Overall I like them for the price I paid!
 
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Have good experience with Altec (speakers) and decided to try the AH712i when they went on sale for under $30. Excellent product for the price. I'm not an audiophile, but can recognize and appreciate decent performance, build quality, weight, portability, ergonomics, all of which are the AH712i properties. At the time of this writing, have been using them for 8 months and once my daughter was able to pull the ear pad off. Like the other reviewer noted, the pads do come off sometimes under exceptional circumstances (easily fixed). Used them home, office, and moderately airplanes. I purchased 3 more as gifts to friends and family. All seem to be happy so far.
 
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Excellent audio quality with these headphones. Used on my trip to Europe. Blocks out the hum and drone noises on the plane as well as the trains. Doesn't block out people talking or random noises, but with music on, you don't really notice it. Sound was very clear and the bass was outstanding.<br><br> I give overall satisfaction a 3 because one of the ear pads came off in the plane on the trip home, luckily I noticed it when I pulled the headphones back out. Ear pad slipped back on pretty easily, but it came off way too easily and too quickly. Bag and accessories are a great bonus.
 
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I like the soft large "over the ear" headpiece that this product has. Only one problem, I use them for travel weekly. Within a month, the left side swivel tube to the earpiece was broken. It is a cheep plastic part unlike the higher price compitition. This rendered the headphone usless. One day I will learn to keep warrenty papers. I now own Sony's version of noise reduction with earbuds.
 
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These were the best noise cancelling cans you could get for $30 when I purchased them. I just returned from a trip and the last segment of the trip I was sitting in the last row of a DC-9. It would not have been bearable without these. Unfortunately they cannot really be used without the NC on (when it is off the sound is really dulled and muted) and I found that my ears got hot after about 20 minutes. But they work really well. Obviously they don't cancel all the engine noises, but they reduce it to the point where you can hear the music, and even the announcements over the PA, much more clearly.
 
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I never had noice-canceling headphones before so I can judge based on being the best. That said, I think the headphones work well. The headphones work when the noice-cancelling feature is on or off. When it is on, the sound becomes more lively. However, the noice-cancelling feature seems to add buzzing or hissing sound. Kind of annoying when no music is playing. The headphones work well and very cheap as oppose to the Sony and Bose counterparts.
 
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These headphones really removed the tinny sound I normally got when using earbuds with an MP3 player. I have no complaints, except for the fact that the product came with NO documentation whatsoever. It's generally not too hard to figure out how to use headphones, but I would have appreciated some written documentation telling the user how to best use the product, giving estimated battery life under normal usage, etc.
 
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I recently bought these headphones for around $27 compared to $34 for a Sony - that I had an eye on earlier. The headphones looked great and had a nice bag too. The aaa battery goes into the small compartment that dangles from your left(not close to the ears though but approximately 15 inches from the left ear piece). The headphones are just okay -- infact they do block out the surrounding noise but the audio quality is not that great. The high frequency sounds little harsh at times (termed as shrill) and may cause some discomfort, while the lower base seems to be a little boomy and not soft. The headphone would press on a little bit initially on your ears but then later on you may get used to it. I am not sure how long the aaa battery lasts with the ANR turned on. I tried to look around to see how long the battery lasts, but I could not find any number. My idea of a perfect headphone is that, which if you'd wear it you would not feel the difference if it was through the headphone or the actual person singing in front of you. I know that I need to shell in more money to buy this kind of a superior product, but the bottomline is that you get what you pay for. I would rate this headphone as 3.5 stars out of 5. If you get this product for under $35 then go for it.
 
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The good, Valuewise, nothing can compare to this. (It was only $30 after tax) I cannot comment on the sound quality since I'm not an audiophile, but these sound much better than the earphones that came with my mp3 player. But magic happens when you turn on the ANR, and do things you'd noramly do in a NOISY environment, such as vacuuming. Also, if you're using these phones without music, you can hear people talk, it's only the low-pitched sound that is likely to tire you out over time that is blocked by these phones. So, I'm not complaining here. There seems to be white noise (hissing sound) when completely quiet, but then you wouldn't use these headphones in such environments. The not so good, these phones completely cover your ears, so your ears may get a little sweaty after a few hours of use. There is also no solid carrying case for these phones. So you might want to be careful carrying these when you travel. The wierd, music sounds different when the ANR is on. I'm not sure which one I like better, with or without ANR. Also, the loudness seems different with ANR on; it seems more loud with ANR on than without. To sum it up, I'd buy these again in a hearbeat.
 
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These headphones are not only the bargain of the century, but they are the best noise canceling headphones out there. I have a pair of Sony noise canceling headphones, and these are vastly superior. If you just want quiet, use the phones without any input, and all the ambient noise is eliminated.
 
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Have you noticed you can't try headphones out in the stores any more? I wouldn't have bought these at the normal list price but for $28 I thought, why not try them? I was impressed. They aren't perfect but pretty good. The headband is comfortable and provides enought pressure so they don't fall off your head and provide a decent ear seal. The sound quality is good but with NR turned off they require more volume output from your player, about 30% more. The midrange is very slightly depressed from my reference standard but the bass is well balanced. The high end is extended so that hiss is more apparent on these than on most headphones. With NR on the volume gets louder but that's because the frequency spectrum is getting tailored for noises in a noisy environment that will be masked. People say that they sound better with NR on but that's not true. They don't know what accurate playback is. The bass is way over emphasized with NR on and the top high notes are also amplified along with the overall volume. In a no noise environment it will sound like a lound car stereo 'bumping' but isn't natural. In a noisy environment it sounds natural as high frequencies get masked and very low frequency noise sounds are very dificult to block out so the bass is emphasized to make it sound more natural 'in a noisy environment'. I was impressed with the noise reduction range, 40-12000 whick is very wide, especially on the low end. These come with a short and a long connecting cord, a 1/4" adapter for stereos, and a plug for airplanes along with a carrying bag. The warranty is also doubled to 2 years if you return the warranty registration card. I highly recommend these and have several friends who are buying them after listening to them.
 
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I read the reviews and decided to try them. They are comfortable enough, but the noise canceling feature just adds white noise. You can still hear talking, music from other sources--quite clearly. You do get great audio with the noise cancel on--however, I experienced a hum (maybe my media) that was so distracting I just used them as regular headphones. I bought them to drown out the Nordic Track ski machine and hope to drown out some of the noise from economy class flight. Nice set of accessories: assorted plugs and two lengths of cable.
 
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It dampens a lot but not all external noise. Does not eleminate. Also, the earpice hurts my ears a bit. I hav ebeen using it for a month. Maybe, either it or I will get used to each other. A good buy for $28
 
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$150 for 28 bucks?! amazing price, amazing headphones...heck the bass is deeper and the sound fuller than my 4.1 Creative pc speakers...get em, you wont regret it
 
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I use headphones at the gym, and given the rough use and how wet they get, I don't like paying $80/100 for headphones that will last no more than six months because of the hard use. At ~$28, these seemed like a steal, but when I got them I could see why they were discounted so much: they feel like $15 headphones.
 
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I didn't buy these to listen to music, but to block the noise and hear sounds from my PC. I work in a noisy server room all day and needed additional isolation from noise. I use ear plugs AND these, and it gets the sound down fairly well, but by no means blocks it all. I need the ear plugs to block the hiss when ANR is on. I'm assuming the hiss is a normal result of the ANR. Does everyone notice a hiss with ANR on, even when the volume is as low as possible? I wish I knew. I wear them all day and they do become extremely uncomfortable. My ears do not fit completely inside the pads. I never considered myself to have large ears before, but maybe I do. The Bose Quite Comforts fit completely over my ears and are extreamly comfortable. Wish I could afford them, but, for the price these will have to do.
 
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For what I paid, these headphones are a great bargain. They are very comfortable, feel well-built, and sound great. I noticed many reviewers said that the headphones sounded better with the noise cancellation on. I disagree. With it turned on, the music gets much louder (in addition to cancellout out noise it amplifies/equalizes the music), but bass is exaggerated and midrange vocals sound somewhat like they're coming through an AM radio. It also makes a very noticeable hiss. While it's not as bad as hearing a droning air conditioner or traffic driving by, it is annoying in a quiet environment. The sound quality with NC turned off is excellent- everything from bass drums to acoustic guitars sounds very detailed and natural. However without the amplification it provides, these headphones require a LOT of power. I listen to music on my computer, and my last set of headphones would be painfully loud with the volume slider at 10%. While these are similar with NC on, when it's turned off, I need to adjust the volume to about 70% to get the same loudness. My portable MP3 player can't push them to a very high volume unless I turn NC on. However since I'm typically outdoors in noisy environments when I'm using it, this isn't a problem. Overall these headphones are a great value, they sound excellent, and the noise reduction is quite effective. However, in quiet areas make sure your music source is capable of providing the power that these headphones need to sound good with noise cancellation turned off, because in those cases it's just an annoyance.
 
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I travel frequently and have been looking for a decent pair of noise cancelling headphones for the el and the plane. This pair of headphones is great for those noisy places without breaking the bank. The only downside is that the sound quality diminishes greatly when the noise cancelling feature is off. But, for the price, it is worth the extra batteries.
 
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If there is no music playing and you engage the Noise Reduction feature there is a slight white noise you hear. ___ But it does cancel out the hum the AC duct system creates and probably does great job on an airplane. ___ The on/off button does lower the volume in off-position , kind sort of a soft mute good so you do not have to remove headset if someone is talking to you.
 
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Bought these for the office and while flying. All and all, its a great value! Around the office, it cuts the noise dramatically (particularly a loud cube-mate next door), and on long flights, its especially nice, reducing plane noise to almost nothing. Battery life is great too! For the price, it can't be beat.
 
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Received the headphones ten days ago and I'm happy with them. Noice cancellation is great and proved to be a very desirable feature when using them on a flight to Europe this week. Haven't tried a Bose QC2 in comparison, but I would not spend ten times as much for a few dB more attenuation. Battery lifetime seems to be as advertised and sound quality is good with the N/C switched on. I am actually impressed with the bass reproduction of the device. On the downside, the closed headphones became uncomfortable to wear after straight five hours and the sound quality is poor with N/C turned off. I wish the earcups could be turned inwards for a smaller form factor when carrying them in a bag. Overall, I am very satisfied with the product, as they really help to feel more comfortable in a noisy environment, such as a plane, at a very affordable price.
 
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I've been thinking for a while of getting a noise cancelling headphone for use on my flights and saw this deal. I tested it this weekend and initially thought it wasn't doing that great a job but when I took off the headset about an hour into the flight, I realized just how much noise it was actually blocking out. Just to verify, I then tried the earbud headphone with my MP3 player and quickly switched back to the Altec Lansing 712i. And at this price you can't go wrong!
 
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I got a pair of these, and for under $30, the performance is unbelievable. Wear these in a data center and you will be blown away by the quiet, which is very helpful finding that alarm blaring away but drowned out by the fan noise. Also, wearing them in a noisy office / building is great. You can nicely carry around just the phones and noise canceller unit (battery pack) without having excess unused cords dangling from your pockets. Nice design touch. They come with a nice case too. As mentioned in another review, these don't sound so good without the active noise control on, so keep a pair of rechargable AAA batteries handy so you can easily swap them out. Overall, can't be beat and am very happy.
 
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Not used on a plane yet for noise cancelling but just received and impressed as nicely put together, nice ear cup fits around the ear not just on top and comes in a nice pull string bag not mentioned. Ear cups turn sideways for storage space and nice racheting for size adjustment for Potato heads or the Barney Fifes of the world. Nice pocket clip on the noise canceller plus a volume control. Sound quality acceptable but don't remember quality being as good as on some kosses I had when growing up. Different plugs and cord lengths encl. Give folks more than they expect and will please.
 
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I wanted noise cancelling headphones to wear while mowing the lawn and these really do the job. Some reviews have complained about the hiss when headphone cancellation is operating and they do hiss a little. However, for my application they are absolutely an EXCELLENT VALUE. The hiss isn't noticable at all when playing music, they do block the external sounds and that includes the 16 horsepower motor and grass cutting deck with collection system. Usually, that is loud enough so you have to almost scream to talk to someone standing next to you. That noise is almost completely blocked, the headphones volume control works really well. This review is based on 2-3 hours of use so I can't comment yet on long-term durability.
 
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Bought these for about $40 and they are fantastic value at this price. Headphones fit well, and help keep out peripheral noise. Sound quality seems very good too. All in all, very happy with this purchase.
 
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I purchased Sony's MDR-NC11A couple months ago for $68. After a round trip across the country on a 757, I decided that this Sony's comfortable ear bud noise cancelling type headphone is not doing its job. Before another trip this time, I bit the bullet and try this Altec Lansing AHP712i for $38. This is my findings: Noise cancelling function: more like a noise reduction headphone, but is a very good one. It filters out most of continuous type of noises such as engine noise in an airplane, or window air conditioning unit noise in a hotel room. It dramatically reduces other type of noises such as TV or people talking at the airport. However, it allows you to hear annoucements from speakers on an airplane or at an airport gate, unless your music is too loud. In which case, you woudn't need a noise cancelling headphone. Comfortable: My ears are 2.75" long and they fit perfectly inside the headphone cups. The clamp force exerted on my head is just right. I wear this for the whole 4.5 hours on a plane trip and felt no heavy pressure or stress. I ended up wearing it while waiting at an airport gate, or working in an hotel room. Sound quality: Could be a bit better but acceptable. After all, this is a noise reduction head phone, which is supposed to be used in a noisy environment, where one cannot expect to hear a perfect sound reproduction, even from a perfect regular headphone. The clarity of the music is fair. The bass is a bit heavy, but clear and low distorsion. It sounds better than the Sony MDR-E828LP ear buds, but not as good as the Sony MDR-EX51LP Fontopia Headphones. Portability: It's a bit bulky, but fits fine in my computer briefcase. It's also big for the airplane seat pocket. Conclusion: I'm happy with the purchase.
 
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I'm very impressed with these headphones. They have excellent sound quality, and outside noise is greatly reduced. I'm very excited to try them out on a plane.
 
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I picked up the AHP712 from Buy.com a few weeks before they started selling the updated AHP712i’s and I am very pleased with it. When you first turn it on in a perfectly quiet room, you do hear a little hiss. Of course you don’t get noise canceling headphones for a quiet room. However, when I took the headphones to the indoor gym where my kid plays sports, the headphones worked great and I did not hear the hiss. The overall noise level in the gym was also greatly reduced. As a matter of fact, after wearing the headphones for about an hour, I took them off and couldn’t believe how noisy the gym really was so I put the headphones right back on. Obviously it doesn’t block all the noise but it sure did a good job and my music sounded good. I now use them every time I go to watch the kids play in the gym which is much more than I fly on airplanes.
 
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The audio quality is not good. Without noise reduction turned on, there's a high pitched background hiss, and the sound is dull. My earbuds are about as good. It does a decent job for noise reduction, I just want something that has at least ordinary sound quality when ANR is bypassed. I was really disappointed with these.
 
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You got to try to believe....excellent value! excellent sound. What more can I say?
 
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I don't know what was wrong with the previous reviewer, but these headphones are great! And who could beat the price? So good, I had to order a second pair! Awesome noise cancelling and sound...great bass.
 
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I was very excited to receive these headphones and ordered them on the basis of a review I read recently on PCmag.com. They were pleased with the headphones and thought I would be, too. I was completely disappointed the moment I ripped them from the blisterpack. The battery compartment was a bit awkward being rather large and along the audio line. Even the input for your source isn't particularly well-placed, on the top of the compartment next to the output cable. After turning on the active noise reduction (ANR), there was certainly plenty of noise heard through the headphones, albeit much lower than without the ANR. I plugged in an MP3 player and I will admit that the sound was pretty good and the volume was at a comfortable level and blocking out just about all ambient noise. Much to my dismay, there was bass distortion from the headset, particularly during hip-hop tracks. Now, the volume level was NOT at maximum on either the player or the headset. I even reduced the bass to zero on the player's EQ and there was still crackling. I also made sure the cable connections were secure and not causing any problems. They were comfortable and certainly have promise. Perhaps I received a bad headset. In the end, I just returned them very disappointed as I was hoping these would be the pair for me!
 
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I'd say these headphones are a screaming deal if only they didn't produce so much static with the ANR engaged and the source audio at low volume. They're quite comfortable and secure on the head. Their sound quality is quite good with the richest bass of any headphone I've ever worn.
 
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