Sennheiser PXC 250 Active Noise Canceling Headphones
by Sennheiser
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Our Price: $214.46 Availability: Usually ships in 2-3 business days Buy Used: from $45.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sennheiser PXC 250 Active Noise Canceling Headphones
Customer Review: Sennheiser vs Phillips for airplane noise
Summary: 4 Stars
My interest is pretty much airplane noise reduction. Period.
I recently took my new Sennheiser PXC250 on an eight segment flight around the US. I had a set of Phillips SBC HN100 that I used for a couple of years. I kept cracking the parts on the Phillips unit and so I needed a new set of headphones to save my ears on long trips.
The Sennheiser definitely block out more noise than do the Phillips. They work well even with the fan noise from the various computers in my home office whereas the Phillips don't seem to do much. They really cut down the noise on the airplane while giving a very clear sound. It also helps in our large cubicle park at work, it is amazing what low level noise exists that you don't notice until you turn these on.
I am not an officianado of sound, so others can debate the sound quality. As I said, I am in this for noise reduction. I even use them without a sound feed just to kill the airplane noise.
I only have a single complaint about the Sennheiser, which is that it lacks a volume control on the set. This makes it less favorable than the Phillips since the controls on a plane stink. I generally prefer an analog control on the headset even when listening to something from my laptop.
The weight of the battery and control case is not insignificant. That is as long as it isn't dangling, it isn't a big problem. Otherwise, if they dangle they might pull the set of your head.
They fold up into a nice little package and I believe this will be much more break resistant than the Phillips. Time will tell.
I was able to sleep with them on. Like most headsets, my ears get sore after a while, especially if I forget to take off my glasses. You can extend the Sennheiser arms to reduce the pressure on your ears without a significant increase in noise.
I haven't done a back to back test against the Bose, but feel that these are a pretty good product for the price.
I generally find using noise cancelling headsets on a cross country flight reduces the wear and tear on my body by about an hour to hour and a half. San Francisco to Boston with noise canceling is the same as San Francisco to Chicago without the noise canceling. I will try these on a flight to the UK from SF in April and see how they work on a long haul.
Too bad about the lack of a volume control.
Customer Review: Sound is great; everything else is subpar
Summary: 2 Stars
I was comparing these headphones side-by-side with the Bose QC2 and QC3. I actually ended up deciding that none of the three was acceptable for various reasons. Here is my review of the PXC-250.
The biggest problem I had with the 250, and something that I did not read in any of the other reviews is noise caused by the earpads rubbing on my ears. I know this sounds crazy, but the earpads are made of a substance that makes a very slight noise when compressed--a very faint crackling sound. I didn't notice this sound at all when I was listening to music, but when I started watching a movie that had a lot of very quiet scenes, i noticed the SLIGHTEST MOVEMENT caused this crackling noise to reverberate in my ear. It was very distracting and ultimately intolerable. When I say "slight" movement, I mean **slight** -- yawning or chewing were really bad, but even swallowing and looking left or right caused the noise.
You really can't notice it very well listening to music, which is why other reviewers might not be noticing it, but during dead space in TV shows or movies, it is very noticeable.
Other issues covered by other reviews here:
Sound Quality. The 250s sound way better than the Bose. The Bose push the bass right into your face, and leave the mid-high frequencies muddy. The 250s are crystal clear.
Noice Reduction. I am writing this review out of the box, so I haven't taken them on an airplane trip. However, both Bose did a better job of cancelling noise than the 250s. Especially the QC3...with the QC3 you really feel like you're in another room by yourself. The tradeoff is that with the QC3 you feel the pressure on your eardrum whereas I did not feel any pressure with the 250.
Background Noise. The notorious "hissing" that is background noise produced by the noise cancelling function is far worse in the 250 than in either Bose. This hissing is noticable in the QC2 and not noticable at all in the QC3. This wouldn't be too much of a problem if you're listening to music since you are listening to constant sound. However, if you're using it to watch TV or movies, there is more dead space (places with little or no sound) where the hissing is VERY noticable. I bought these to watch movies on airplanes and this is one of the major reasons why I won't be keeping the 250s.
Customer Review: Quiet Performance
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought these headphones specifically for our recent trip to Hawaii. Because our travel involved multiple connections we would be in the air a lot, and from past experience I knew one of the causes for the fatigue associated with air travel is the constant drone of the engines. I'd considered noise canceling headphones in the past, but I am not a fan of over the ear cuffs, and most were very expensive to boot.
I purchased two (one each for my wife and I) for under $140 after reading the reviews. I was also lucky to work with a person who owns a pair of the 350, so I knew they would not be perfect, but having tested the 350, and reading the reviews between the two, I felt the 250's would suffice.
I took a star off in the comfort rating primarily because of the control unit, but really it was a minor point. One has to be careful where it is, and it's not geared toward someone who has no shirt pocket. But, as I said, for us that was a minor inconvenience. I should add I use them daily at work to drown out the hum of PCs, lights, Heater/AC, and general office drone. Even with music playing I can still hear if someone calls me, but I can shut that out as well if I crank these up a bit (well short of being uncomfortable). I can also adjust how much of the surroundings I want to hear by positioning them slightly off from complete covering of the ears.
As far as performance on the plane, my first impression was they did not do enough, but after wearing them for a while (10min), I took them off and was shocked at the difference. Both my wife and I felt they worked very well, and no, they do not get rid of all the engine noise unless you play music though them (we did not). But they do get rid of enough to make a real difference in comfort.
As far as the music, they perform rather well for my needs at the office, but people should know I have lost some hearing, so I cannot comment on the fidelity of the sounds. I can comment on the battery life. I used them at work for a full week without having to change the battery, although at the end of the week I chose to replace them because I did not want to run out the next week (no, I did not waste the batteries . . . I'm using rechargeable batteries).
I can't speak to what others expect from these headphones, but I was pleased all around.
Customer Review: Noise Reduction A+, Comfort A-
Summary: 4 Stars
I am a frequent traveler and have run through several sets of headphones trying to find some that work well to reduce noise on airplanes. I've tried the Sony MDR-EX51LP Earbud Headphones, which were worthless for DVD viewing on my laptop. I then moved to the Sony MDR-NC11 Fontopia Noise Canceling Headphones earbuds, which were better, but not great (and they died in one year). I just bought Shure E3c earbuds and these Sennheiser PXC 250 Noise Canceling Headphones.
Of all these, the Sennheiser seemed to have the best noise reduction (though the Sony MDR-EX51 and Shure E3c are not active noise canceling, just "sound isolating") of the bunch. In addition to plane rides, I have started using them in long cab rides to help catch up on some Z's - the 15db noise reduction is very effective. If they weren't highly effective, I probably would not fuss with digging them out of the briefcase when not using in conjuction with laptop or MP3 player.
The Sennheiser are the only travel headphones I own that are not buds or in-ear style, and they seem to have very good sound quality (though I am admittedly not an audiophile). They are not really "open" cups, but they do not completely cover the ears like studio quality monitors. It does seem to be enough to make an adequate seal - helping further reduce outside noise and keeping fellow travelers from hearing your tunes. Since I generally use buds, I have found the PXC 250s slightly uncomfortable, but that may just be personal preference.
The Sennheisers fold up quite well, and are good for traveling (not as small as buds, but much smaller than the giant Bose headphones you often see on planes). The included travel pouch fits well and has an outside zip pocket for the airplane connector and a spare pair of AAA batteries necessary for the active noise canceling.
My biggest complaint is the same with pretty much all active noise canceling headphones - the in-line battery pack is cumbersome. Sennheiser did a good job of making the cord long enough that the pack can be easily hooked on a belt. However, you then have the wanna-be batman utility belt look that repels normal people :(
In short, if you want some great noise canceling headphones (and do not want to splurge on the $300 Bose headphones), the Sennheiser PXC 250 is a great option!
Customer Review: Travel headphones
Summary: 5 Stars
After many hours of online researching and trips to Ultimate Electronics, Circuit City, and a few other electronic stores I decided on this pair. Online customer reviews aside, I highly recommend a visit to the music store, electronics store, wherever. If you are going to spend a hundred dollars on anything try it out first. There is a huge diversity out there in ear cup size, sound, and build quality. I personally was looking for a good set of headphones that I could use on a plane. These more than exceeded my expectations for that purpose. If you are looking for a set to use in the office at your desk, these are not for you. You can get a better set at half the price. I'd recommend something with closed cups and passive noise reduction if your office is noisy. Most active cancellers don't help with this problem. The same holds true for most other noisy environments. These actually work best with low frequency noise, i.e. the plane. I also tried them in our computer room which has blowers and stacks of servers humming along. They actually seem to reduce the noise there by approx 50-65%. I had a few coworkers try them out here to see what they felt and they agreed that they were excellent noise reducers. On the plane and with my personal dvd player I normally played the volume between 5 and 6. I watched several movies and the sound effects and speech were heard easily and clear. Before I had a 10$ set that you inserted into your ear. I had to play the same player at 10 and had a difficult time hearing some parts of the dialogue. With the Sennheisers I am able to comfortably wear them for hours at a time on the plane. The noise attenuation works so well you grow accustomed to it. After wearing these a few hours I took them off and couldn't believe the difference. Pros
Great low frequency noise reduction
Very comfortable, light on the ears and top of the head. They don't pinch like a lot of others, or get hot
Sound quality above average
Cool carrying case
Cons
Noise circuit wand can be an irritant, depends what you are doing. On the plane I didn't have any issues.
100$ or more, they are kind of expensive and lack hard bass. For a hundred bucks I'd like it to do everything, which I guess is unrealistic.
5 Stars, buy if you intend to use for travel