Maxell HP-NC1 Consumer Headphones

Pros: Cheap, long battery life, decent audio quality, cancels a decent amount of noise.
Cons: Artificial bass level, minor complaints with N.C. quality.

---- Why do I need ‘Noise Canceling’? ----- During my last cross-country plane flight I was seated next to a young man wearing what appeared to be large silver earmuffs. At second glance I realized they were actually headphones, as if ...

Pros: Cheap, reduces noise, great battery life.
Cons: Surprisingly bulky, not comfortable in long-term.

What? This nut uses noise-canceling headphones when he mows his lawn?

They aren't perfect. Obviously, the lawnmower wins the battle for my hearing, but they do cut down on a little bit of the mower noise, and they make the audio coming from...

Pros: Collapsible. Physical design of ear-cups blocks more ambient noise than normal over-the-ear style headphones.
Cons: "NOISE CANCELING" DOES NOTHING. Sound quality is MUCH worse than cheaper headphones.

This is my first pair of noise canceling headphones. I was looking for something to help block out some of the ambient office noise while at work (other people's phone calls, conversations, etc.). I purchased them after reading consistently decent ...

Pros: Maxell's unit costs less and still are effective for those on a lower budget.
Cons: Lower quality noise reduction may not be as attractive to those seeking high end headphones.

ears. They look and feel solid too. These headphones easily fold for storage. Using a pouch supplied with the headset helps making cord and N.C. on/off slider safer when carrying it around. Noise canceling is good for low pitch noise. I haven’t flown in ...

Pros: Lightweight, relatively inexpensive, removes background noise.
Cons: Headphone does not completely cover the ear, headphone seems to tight, device has a tail.

I work in a lab with lots of computers. It's extremely noisy. When I wear ear plugs I cannot hear other people when the talk to me. Which is why I bought the Maxell Noise buster (HP-NC-1).

The headphones work very well in my environment....

Pros: Cheap and they seem to work.
Cons: Bulky to travel with.

I purchased one of these at a Futureshop while traveling in Canada. At $30 CDN it sounded like a good deal. The noise canceling properties are noticeable. It managed to make the loud roar of the aircraft I was flying into a low roar that was bearable....

Pros: Long Battery Life, Comfortable Earcups, Nice Carry Bag
Cons: Cord is very long with in-line battery compartment.

We just returned from California on a Red-Eye flight to Ft. Lauderdale. The plane was just about full and included lots of children and two dogs in carry-on cages. One of the little yappers was right in front of me and one of the dogs was in my row. We ...

Pros: Comfortable (like a dream). Excellent sound. Noise cancelling is superb for price range.
Cons: NC unit is too large and cumbersome. Cord is too long for portable use.

Ever since I tried on a pair of my friend's noise-cancelling headphones attached to his iPod I was in love with the idea of cancelling annoying, ambient noise. I purchased a pair of Maxell's HP-NC-II headphones at Best Buy for about $60CDN. I was ...

Pros: Lightweight, open, good battery life, and very quiet when on
Cons: Hard to sleep in, external control box, hard to stow

I bought a pair of these phones after comparison shopping for a while. Since it's hard to do a real comparison in the store, I bought the pair that advertised the best noise cancellation performance (15dB at 300Hz) for the money. These won easily on...

Pros: Cheap and functional
Cons: Uncomfortable on long flights

I bought these in Canada for $20 on sale. I travel cross-country regularly (4-5 hour flights) and these worked just fine (especially for $20), but the big downside is comfort. They became very uncomfortable after 1.5-2 hours on my ears. I've tried...

Pros: light, folding headset, removes most background droning on planes. Inexpensive with plane adapter
Cons: headphone does not engulf ear. Ear pad comes off headset every so often.

I bought this set of sound reduction headphones and have used extensively. On the last flight I left them in the seat pocket...my loss. These work great and impressed the many neighbors that I showed and demonstrated them to. I found them to be very...

Pros: Inexpensive for what you get, good sound quality, very long battery life.
Cons: Adds background hiss, poor durability.

I used these noise cancellation headphones on my PC and my CD Walkman usually. These headphones do neutralize most background noise. However, it adds some hiss to the background. The sound quality was good with noise cancellation on or off.

However, I just had to buy replacement headphones because the wire broke. I did not abuse these, but I do air travel, which is rough on any carry-on items. The wire noise cancellation switch and battery compartment are in the middle of the long wire. In short range use, the compartment drags on the floor or hangs, pulling on the wire. Over time, the wire separated from the compartment.

So, I recommend these for situations where they can be treated gently - not for frequent flying. Besides, they're pretty big for headphones.

Pros: Comfortable, full ear cups. Decent bass response for cheap headphones. Sturdy cable. Good battery life.
Cons: Noise cancellation could be a bit better.

For $34 at Walmart, these are a decent deal. The active noise canceling isn't quite as strong as a pair of $58 Sonys (maybe by a couple decibels only), but the passive noise suppression that comes from simply the full ear cups more than makes up for it. And the bass response is much better than the Sony's. Obviously, the Maxell's are not the Bose QC2s, but considering that Bose's are 9 times more expensive, I'm not surprised. I also find the Maxell to be much more comfortable than headphones that sit on the ear rather than around the ear...the others can quickly cause your ears to ache. The 50 hour battery life is a plus, and the thick cable is a lot sturdier than the cheap zipwire-type cables that many cheaper headphones have. Comes with a microfiber drawstring carrying bad and an airplane jack adapter. Even folds up reasonably well.