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MadMcCrow
3
May 5, 2019
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I know not everyone will agree on this, but noise cancelling is IMHO a nice touch to have. Also a detachable cable is a must have.
May 5, 2019
Evshrug
3770
Community
Jun 8, 2019
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MadMcCrowFor me, ANC is a trade off between a bit of isolation versus how long you can listen and detail. As long as you aren't blindly following marketing and you’ve done your research, I won't disagree with you. ANC is most practical on airplanes and public transit, two things that don't make up a significant % of my listening time (your mileage may vary... Literally!), although good passive isolation has also served me well in those situations. For example, my Etymotic IEMs actually outperform Bose and Sony ANC to block the most dB of environmental noise (this is backed up by objective graphs and science), and my old Oppo PM3s (while not as isolating as a Bose or Sony) did well enough on the few travels I took them on. If you live the jetset life and mostly just use headphones to make commuting more bearable, then ANC makes a lot of sense, because it works best on constant droning and continuous sounds of lower frequencies. However, there is no substitute for good passive isolation if your goal is isolation from talking and other non-uniform sounds (home and office), because ANC isn't perfect. Another advantage of passive isolation is that it doesn't take extra battery power over what is needed for Bluetooth and the amplifier. I also find that ANC adds a ”pressure” on your eardrums, shortening the amount of time you can listen before needing a break. They have improved the balance of ANC strength/effectiveness vs ”the ANC pressure” in recent years, but Sony and Sennheiser do the least pressure while still being effective. Finally, I find that the stronger the noise cancelling, there is also a correlation to masking the details in music. This is due to the fact that analog to digital converters (ADC) and digital to analog converters (DAC) even costing multiple times the proposed $300 cost of this headphone are not perfect, so some of the canceling sound waves are going to bleed over the sound waves of your music. If you commute often (especially in airplanes where the pressure changes can make IEMs uncomfortable) and you want ANC, just buy a Sony WH1000XM3 for the best cancellation, or a Sennheiser PXC550 for a little bit better sound quality. That's as appropriate as someone who lives on a farm/ranch buying a truck or Land Rover. I doubt Drop would be able to source ANC as well tuned as those two examples. If versatility is the most important factor, a full sized closed headphone (with passive isolation) is at least quite good in any situation.
Jun 8, 2019
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