a good value, as it goes
Written: Jun 12 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: -Sound quality with noise-canceling feature ON
-Noise cancellation quite respectable
-Seem to last well
Cons: -Not so attractive
-Needs more durable earpads
-Sound quality with noise-canceling feature OFF
The Bottom Line: Go ahead and buy the headphones, they'll do their job and pretty comfortably and very reliably for you, at their price.
Howevever, don't expect sheer & absolute perfection, to boot.
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| kmac456's Full Review: Aiwa HP-CN5 Headphones |
When I purchased this NC headphone I was a little unimpressed by their aesthetic value...uh, ugly to wear, a bit. BUT, I bought a couple of other NC headphones at the same time (to try them), and the Aiwa's were the best hands down. (All types were about in the same price range...$30-50. I paid around $50 for my Aiwa's when I bought them.
All of the negatives mentioned by the previous reviewers so far, I would echo. With the exception of the one who said that the sound quality lessens with the NC feature turned ON. Yes, you get more background hiss (happens, it seems, on all NC headphones--the ones I've tried, anyway)--but when the outside noise goes up, that seems to disappear, as they've said--and also, the added battery power (or something) seems to significantly improve all aspects of these headphones' functioning and sound.
The bass is rootier and deeper, with genuine kick and punch, and all the sounds--midrange and everything--suddenly opens up. (With the NC ON.) Without it on, these are a pretty shabby sounding pair of 'phones, to me. Worse than some of the cheapest stock-sets that come with new players out there. So I just always turn my NC feature on when I put them on. This hasn't bothered me.
That being said, I really appreciate my Aiwa HP-CN5 Noise Canceling headphones! I commute daily by public bus, and I don't know how I ever survived the incessant roar and the crowded-bus 'din' of people-noise, before.
Don't get me wrong--what others say about higher frequency noises not getting dampened is true. Unfortunately if I have a screaming infant near to me, it still pierces my eardrum just like a screaming infant. But it's that 'din' factor that is vastly relieved...the constant, low, cacophany & buzz & roar of engine, low-to-midrange chat-ers on the bus...it just takes a good 60-70% of it away, for me. Consistently. And that alone has been worth the price I paid for them.
I have actually had mine for quite some time (almost 2 yrs, now?) and I was suspicious of the earpad foam too...and I _keep_ eyeing them; but they have yet to sport a tear or hole. Wearing slightly thinner, so I know it's going to happen eventually... But these have been a good investment.
I have used them nearly 5 days a week, probably darn near 8 hours per day (I tend to wear them all day at work; I work a desk job--computer) for nearly 2 years, and no major problems. And they perform just as well as when I bought them. The battery life IS appreciably long--but not 'forever' as some say. Longer than the batteries in my CD player by about 2-3 times, though--I can tell you that!
One thing to note is that near the end of battery life, the noise reduction will start failing (obviously)--and I have found that when that's happening I tend to get crackly noises, as the NC wants to pop in and out of commission. I don't consider this a product flaw. Things fail when their batteries do.
Another unpleasant quirk (and also not something I consider a product flaw, by any means)- just to note: Don't get caught in a light to medium wind with HP-CN5's on, with their NC feature on. Wind even mildly flowing past the outside microphones will give you a very unpleasant, rough echo of the sound inside your earphones, magnified by about 10 times! As if you were wearing a stethoscope and someone was rubbing sandpaper across the bottom for you to hear. OUCH!!!!
So...that's about it. Don't get caught in a windstorm. ;)
In sum, I love their sound quality (again, NC feature ON); they do a very good/serviceable job of what they are manufactured to do; if you treat them respectfully (I try to keep mine in their carry case when not in use), I think they will serve you for a very long time. They were worth the $50 to me, and the only thing I'd ask the company for would be more durable earphone pads so that it would _really_ make it worth the investment (I can't see or find any way of procuring replacement earpads, though I'm still looking). Because right now, the only thing that might kill these 'phones for me is when the pads DO give; then they'll be both shabby and uncomfortable and I won't keep them around for long if I can't find replacements. Which will be a waste, because these are excellent 'phones for their price range, and I've loved them.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
kmac456
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Reviews written: 1
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