Panasonic RP-HC500 Noise Cancelling Headphone

nice overall product. lightweight, but really muffles all sound as it encloses your entire ear. I got it for a good deal with rebate, but it's still a good deal without.
 
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These things mask the noise from ac brilliantly, and the sound is excellent. Even the unbelievably loud jackhammer outside my office pretty much disappears. As, I believe, is true of most such devices, high pitched sounds and intermittent sounds aren't blocked as well. I can keep the volume much lower than I normally would and hear Glen Gould humming while he plays. Really a revelation. Easily worth the price, especially with the rebate.
 
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I now own three noise cancelling headphones. The Panasonic, the Skull Candy Proletariat and the in-ear Ultimate Ears super.fi 5 Pro. I bought the Panasonic on a friend's recommendation due to some dissatisfaction with the other two. First, the Skull Candy is bigger, heavier and the plastic head strap is less flexible. These three factors make the Skull Candy less comfortable. Testing the noise canceling feature by turning an air puriifer on high and then listening to both standing near it, the Panasonic cancelled out more of the noise from the air filter fan. I also detected that the higher end sounds on the Panasonic are brighter and more distinct. The Panasonic folds flat in a case that also has room for an mp3 player while the Skull Candy folds into a ball about the size of a softball or grapefruit. While the Panasonic "package" is not small its shape makes it fit a better in an attache or computer case. Lastly, while both cords unplug from the headset,the Panasonic cord is thin and less robust than the Skull Candy but more importantly, the plug receptacle on the Panasonic headphone is recessed and the diameter of the hole is small so my Skull Candy cord or a standard Radio Shack (for example)replacement cord won't fit. The Ultimate Ears sound is very bright and really excellent, no question about it. The issues are these: In order to get the noise cancelling benefit, the phones have to seal the ear canal. Try as I might (with the different size ear cups) I can't maintain a good seal unless I sit absolutely still on the plane. Hence, I am constantly readjusting and by the end of a flight of 3 hours my ears really hurt. Obviously these ear buds are the most portable and take up almost no space.
 
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The headphones are hot, pick up too much interference from cell phones, and managed to remove low level background noise so that noise (some cooling fans) that I wanted them to block out is even more pronounced. I'm returning them.
 
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In the past I've purchased several different models of Noise Cancellation headphones only to be disappointed and subsequently returning the low quality product for a refund. However these Panasonic headphones are wonderful! An employee of mine had both versions of the Bose headphones (QC2 & QC3) and Panasonic will either meet or exceed performance levels any day of the week. I live in a condo with extremely loud neighbors so I was looking for something to cancel out the loud "thump" noise cause from tweekers pacing back and forth. Well these did the trick and my life is back to normal. And let's not forget about the sound quality while listening to music or playing video games. The bass and treble qualities are amazing, especially for the price. Don't even bother with the Phillips brand from Costco, they're junk!
 
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These headphones fit comfortably. The noise cancellation is very good. Compared to the Sony NC-22, NC-11, and NC-20 that I have, it feels like I can wear these longer. I wanted to get away from earbuds because they make my ears sore after a few hours. You can definitely feel the pressure from the noise cancellation. The first time it was uncomfortable for me, but you should get used to it. One shortcoming is that when the noise cancellation is off, the sound is a bit muddy. The highs are not there. When you turn on the noise cancellation, the highs come in and you lose some of the bass. In some ways I like the sound with it turned off. You can, of course, adjust the top and bottom end on your music source to match your preferences. It works fine with both of my iPods, my desktop PC, and my PSP. Another shortcoming is that the sound bleeds from the earcups and you can hear what the person is listening to. It doesn't really matter when you are in an airplane... Given the price, it is a much better value than the Bose. I have used the Bose and I really can't tell the difference. We'll see what happens in an airplane.
 
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Computers > Accessories > Headphones