Noise Reduction Headphones and "In Ear" Canal Earphones

by Bill Keyser

November 2004 Update: The Noisebuster is back!  This reveiw will soon to include information. But for the meantime, Listening Station is stocking them and you can find a description and details in their store section.

Listening Station

Sometime about a decade or longer ago, ANR headphones began to be marketed primarily to airplane travelers. ANR refers to “Active Noise Reduction,” (as opposed to Passive Noise Reduction which is just blocking sound with a bulky, closed headphone, or use of earplugs in the ear canal). If you’re in an environment with a steady, low droning sound, (like an airplane engine), ANR headphones can be helpful because they produce an opposite sound wave to the ear which in effect, lessens the loudness of the offending droning noise. The result, the offending noise is reduced and you now have the means to listen to music or movies through headphones at a normal volume, (FYI, turning up volume in headphones to drown outside sounds is not good for the ears).

For years Listening Station Headphones stocked and sold the affordable “Noisebuster” headphones from NCT, (Do you remember the ads in the catalogs from the seat pockets in front of you on Airplanes?). They originally sold for $70 then over the course of a few years the price whittled down to under $50. The Noisebusters didn’t have all that great of sound quality. But given noise reduction headphones were meant for use primarily in noisy airplanes, our philosophy was just to protect our hearing, and play music and movies at a safe volume when traveling. The Noisebusters had as good or better attenuation than most ANR, (Active Noise Reduction), headphones at any price so we were happy with them especially given their low price. We had even compared them with the Sony NC20, which at the time went for about $180. Noise reduction wise, the Noisebuster was as good or better and sound quality wise, the Sony was barely better? But, for some reason or another, the Noisebuster was discontinued, and we had to look elsewhere.

EarHugger EH1420NC - After trying some under $50 ANR headphones from Panasonic and Jensen and not being all that impressed as their attenuation wasn’t as good and sound quality lacked as well, we found the EH1420NC from EarHugger. It offered the same attenuation as the Noisebuster, (15 dB), and goes for under $50. Sound quality is still nothing to write home about, (quite muffled). But for the price, we found an ANR headphone that was pretty much the equivalent to the good old Noisebuster. And as a bonus, the electronics are built in to the headphone making it a bit less cumbersome to deal with, (the Noisebuster had a separate little box with the electronics and batteries.. not a bad thing, just more wire to deal with when packing away).

But more and more of you kept writing asking for a better sounding ANR headphone even if it meant a higher price. So we’ve done some looking and here are some notes on our observations:

JVC NC100 - This seemingly well built ANR headphone has impressed us thus far.  Attenuation specs read a bit less than the EarHugger, 12 dB, but the fit of the somewhat full sized earpieces seems to block out miscellaneous sounds a bit better than the EarHugger, (and Noisebuster for that matter), making up for the slightly lesser spec, (ANR technology only works on one steady droning sound like an airplane engine so miscellaneous sounds still need to be blocked somehow). The electronics, like the EarHugger, are in the headphone including one AAA battery. And as a bonus, the cord automatically winds up into one of the earpieces. If you want to use them for just the ANR feature and not play music through them, the disappearing cord is quite a nice feature, (not to mention better for ease of stowage). Sound quality wise, the JVC is easily better than the EarHugger as well. More detail from the mid and high ranges. And FYI, sound quality is also easily better than the under $50 Panasonic and Jensen models we tested against the EarHugger. At about $90, the JVC is probably going to suit many of you. Well built. Disappearing cord. Real decent sound! And under $100!

Sennheiser PX250 - We hesitated auditioning this somewhat more spendy ANR headphone because it is a throwback to the Noisebuster style where the electronics and batteries are housed in a separate unit from the headphones. Plus, the headphones, though closed, are somewhat small and not necessarily big enough to passively block a lot of miscellaneous sounds. But we’re glad we finally gave the PX250 a try. First off, the sound quality of the headphones is pretty good. More detail in the mids and highs than even the JVC model. And the headphone itself is very light in weight and comfortable.  Plus it folds down nicely for storing. But the kicker with this ANR headphone is the bonus of a power boost. The cigar shaped unit that houses the electronics and two AAA batteries, also has some amplification as well. Not that you want to blow out your ears with more volume. But, many of you know that many portable players these days are under powered and can barely power decent headphones. More amplification not only produces more volume, but it usually helps with sound quality as well. With extra power, you don’t have to turn the volume of your portable unit to the max which can result in clipping, (distorted sound which results from the amplifier trying to put out too much sound). We’re happy with the build quality of the PX250 and are recommending it to those of you who do a lot of traveling and want good sound quality in your ANR headphone.

“In Ear” Earphones... A passive alternative to noise reduction:

A few years back, some “In Ear” earphones began to get popular with some travelers.  Obviously, they’re super portable which is great for traveling. If inserted properly in the ears, they can do a good job of blocking out all types of sounds. And sound quality has generally improved well beyond that of the standard ear buds you often see given away with portable players. You might even notice that most musicians these days use “In Ears” when they’re performing. While they are usually using very expensive ear phones which are molded specifically for their ears, there are some affordable alternatives for the rest of us. One note of caution though. Sticking these things properly deep into the ear canals takes practice. If done right, outside sound is very much blocked. And good sound quality depends on a good, tight fit. And as a further word of caution, not everyone can get used to sticking things in their ears. It just doesn’t agree with some.

Two major producers of In Ears are Etymotic and Shure. We auditioned several models and have come up with some thoughts. We discovered this years ago with ear buds, but find it’s true with In Ears as well. Good fit in the ear is very important and everybody’s ears are different! Most In Ears come with various different sizes of earpieces made of various materials. But design also has some influence as well.

We have compared the Shure E2c, the Ety ER6, and the Shure E3c. The E2c didn’t impress us much. Sound quality just seemed too muffled given the $100 cost. We’ve heard better earbuds! The Ety ER6 is quite popular and we agree that it’s much, much better than the average earbud. Mids are quite detailed and the highs are almost too detailed. Bass is decent depending on how well you can get it to fit in your ear. But no matter which size and style of earpieces we tried, we found we constantly had to be adjusting and playing with the things to get them to stay in the ears properly. The ER6 just didn’t impress us a whole lot given the mid $100’s price tag?

Shure E3c - Then, after reading a very positive review in Stereophile magazine, we decided to give the spendy Shure E3c a try, (Price, a bit under $200). We do like this In-Ear model for both the way it fits and it’s sound quality! With the Shures, the wire is wrapped around the back of the ear and comes down from the top and the fit just seems more natural. We had little problem finding a proper fitting earpiece for the ears, (there are three different types of earpiece materials and three sizes each), and they seem to stay in place for us much better than the Ety’s. And sound quality.... pretty darn good. In fact this reviewer prefers their sound over the Senn PX250! Bass may be somewhat lacking to some of you bass loving listeners. But to this detail loving listener, the bass is very adequate. And as far as sound blockage goes... For this review, I was in my garage by a loud air-conditioning unit testing for sound blockage. Frankly, the Shure did a better job at blocking out sound than any of the ANR headphones.

 If you think you can put up with things stuck in your ear canals, and like the idea of super portability.... you may want to consider “In Ears” for traveling? If the price tag of the Shure E3c model scares you a bit because your concerned about being comfortable with the whole “In Ear” thing, you might want to experiment some with a cheap “In Ear.”  We’ve been liking the Sony EX51LP. For around $30, it has surprisingly good sound and sound blockage. The first time we tried this earphone, (about two years before this review), we never figured out how to properly insert the thing into the ear properly and we were thus unimpressed with the Sound. Sony fails to give any instructions for proper insertion into the ears. So you may want to check out the Shure or Etymotic web sites for instructions. Once we were inserting the EX51LP properly into the ear canal, this has became our favorite alternative to the standard earbuds which we have rarely been impressed with. The EX51LP comes with three sizes of silicon earpieces, not quite as varied as the more spendy In-Ears. But chances are, one of the sizes will work out for you and you’ll be able to experience first hand what an In Ear is all about.

A Note About In-Ear Sound: The sound of In Ears is very much an“In the head” thing.  The transducers are literally right next to your ear drums. Many people find they like the “In your head” sound that results, but some of you may not. Just depends! Some of you may prefer the standard headphone sound which comes at your ears from a little bit further away.

There you have it. Active Noise Reduction and Passive Noise Reduction. If you travel, and like to listen to music or movies, you owe it to yourself to check out these alternatives!

Noise Reduction vs. Standard Headphones: One last note because we often get asked this question. Here at GoodCans.com we review and compare good headphones. Many of you often ask how the sound quality of the above ANR headphones and In-Ear Earphones compare with a standard, “Open,” headphone such as the Grado’s. Quick answer... The sound of the higher quality “Open” headphone is easily better from this audio lover’s point of view. That’s why I personally don’t wish to spend a lot of money on noise reduction because when I don’t have offending noise issues, I’d prefer to be listening to a good, natural sounding, “Open” headphone. To get to the point, a $95 Grado SR80, sounds much better than even a famous brand, overly marketed, “Closed” ANR headphone that commonly sells for $300!

Copyright © 2004 Bill Keyser and Listening Station, All Rights Reserved