JVC HANC250 Noise Cancelling Headphones - Black by JVC
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Digital camera reviews of JVC HANC250 Noise Cancelling Headphones - Black
Digital camera Review: Adequate - but definitely not Bose
Summary: 3 Stars
Got these because my Bose noise cancelling headphones were stolen and I had a long plane ride coming up. They are OK. I didn't want to spend as much as I had for the Bose just in case the person taking my Bose had an attack of good conscience and I needed something quickly so I ordered these. The price was OK. If money wasn't an issue - I would recommend just going ahead and getting Bose noise cancelling headphones. I intend to when I'm more flush. These will do fine until then. On the plus side - price. On the negative side - short battery life, mediocre noise cancelling ability.Digital camera Review: After 2 sets of Bose I am very impressed.
Summary: 5 Stars
I had 2 pairs of bose. The QC1 and 2. The headband broke on both. For the money you spend on bose that should not happen-twice. So I decided to give these a try. I was extremely impressed! Did they sound better than the bose?-No. Did they cancel noise better than the bose?-No. but these are less than 100 and the bose are over 250. All I needed them to do was block out the children and engine noise on the plane and it did both. The sound is great! Quite happy!Digital camera Review: Almost unbearable comfort related problems
Summary: 4 Stars
I waited for a long time to make the decision on getting this (just to give it a try and just to have another alternative in my collection) and I hoped that I would get something like Denon's on the ear noise canceling headphone (which is great one), considering all the good reviews about this headphone.
First the basics...Audio quality is good and its noise canceling performance is acceptable even though it is not extremely satisfying (recently tried it on a flight, it didn't perform well, and if the noise has some normally negligible repetitive structure, that structure might get enhanced a lot with this headphone).
But the good parts do not compensate for the misses in its build. This is pretty much the only noise canceling headphone that I found to be sensitive to my heartbeats...I find it very difficult to find a right fit for the headphone, oftentimes, I can feel the vibrations through my ears, and it is extremely annoying. And if I try to play it so much to find the right fit anytime I would like to use it, then that means it is going to crack at some point, sooner than most other headphones. The way the cups turn (opposite of what you would expect) gave me such feeling, as I may try the normal rotation and the force might do some damage...
Anyways...Definitely this is not a noise canceling headphone you would consider as the first choice. I gave it 4, but my actual grade would be 3.5, because the price does not reflect the problems in build.
Digital camera Review: Amazing headphones for the price!
Summary: 5 Stars
This was the first set of noise cancelling headphones. As an Engineering Junior in college a spend a lot of time in school working on projects and homework and I need to be able to focus and drown at background noise. This headphones fit the bill perfectly. I couldn't believe how well they worked when I got them - I let some of my friends use them and they where equally impressed - some of whom have the Bose noise canceling headphones. After using them for several months I purchased a set for my brother.
Two side notes: The carry case is very nice: sturdy, and a hardened finish.
If you start to hear clicking or the sound quality is degraded - your batteries are dying and need to be replaced. Your headphones are not broken.
Digital camera Review: Amazing noise blocking, but lots of small problems
Summary: 4 Stars
I work in a noisy lab, so I wanted noise canceling headphones that could reduce the distraction of nearby chatter as well as the usual airplane engine sounds. After a bit of searching, it seemed like these JVCs and the Panasonic RP-HC500 were the best all around choices. So I bought both pairs and borrowed a friend's Bose QC2's to do a comparison.
*Noise Cancelling:
Although I did not have as much time with the Bose, I was able to use all three pairs to listen to city street noise outside my building as well as co-worker chatter in my office.
Although all three pairs did a fantastic job of removing the low frequencies (the ventilation system hum, etc.), the Bose really excelled here. It's really true that speaking while wearing them let's you hear your voice absent its lowest octave! The JVC and Panasonic pairs could not quite compete in that sense.
But for blocking higher frequency sounds, the JVCs were the winners. With the noise cancellation turned on, but without any sound playing, the voices of my office mates were muffled to the point where I could hear that they were speaking, but often could not make out what they were saying. The others muffle the chatter as well, but to a lesser extent.
Interestingly, it was sometimes hard to compare the Panasonics, as they produced audible hiss when the noise cancelling was turned on. The hiss was low, and wasn't distracting with even soft music, but the JVC's near-complete lack of hiss sometimes made me question whether the Panasonics were blocking as much sound as I thought, or just masking it.
But overall, the Panasonics and the JVCs were very comparable. There was a noticeable difference for office chatter, running a dishwasher, and air blowing, but the difference was always subtle--even factoring in the hiss issue. I was only able to try the QC2's in a couple of situations, but on the whole, they were not sufficiently better than even the Panasonics to justify their price tag.
-The Winner for Noise Canceling: JVC.
*Comfort:
Since I only had 20 or 30 minutes with the Bose, I can't say too much about them, except that they seemed typical for circumaural headphones. But I was able to try out the Panasonic and JVC pairs for several hours each.
The JVCs are incredibly comfortable at first; they're small, light, and even look decent. But I wear glasses, and after a while the pressure they were applying to my ears against my glasses' frame started to hurt.
The Panasonics, by contrast, apply far too much pressure to my head at first, and seem big and heavy. But after gently stretching them apart, they actually feel alright. They won't win any awards, but I could wear them--with my glasses--for probably at least an hour without them hurting. Although I may still need to stretch them out again, every so often.
In terms of strange sucking feelings that some people describe with noise cancellers, I did not experience anything like that with any of these headphones. But of the three people who also tried them out, one said that the Panasonic pair made an unpleasant sensation in her ear and she did not even want to try them out again. The others did not seem to notice any problems, though.
It's also worth noting that the Panasonics and Bose are circumaural (they go around the ear, and rest against the head directly), and the JVC's are supraaural (they rest right on the ear). So after a lot of use, I imagine the JVC's would be least likely to make your ear feel hot or sweaty, since they cover the least amount of your head. But also, if you have large ears, the fairly small space that the Panasonics expect your ears to fit into may be too small and therefore uncomfortable as well.
-The Winner for Comfort: a tie between JVC and Panasonic, but it depends on your ear size and whether you wear glasses.
*Sound:
I didn't really listen to music with the Bose, so I'll keep this section only to the Panasonics and JVC's.
I listened to a handful of styles on both pairs of headphones; mostly rock, folk, and even some an capella solo. Consistently, the Panasonics sounded better. As one friend described it, the JVC's didn't have tight bass. I would add the highs weren't that great either. They're fine for occasional use on a plane, but were surprisingly poor compared to the Panasonics.
The Panasonics aren't a panacea either for sound quality. No one will confuse them with high end headphones (say, Sennheiser HD-590's); particularly, they have a fairly narrow sound stage.
-The Winner for Sound Quality: Panasonic
*Other Issues:
In spite of the poorer sound quality, I was still going to keep the JVCs, until I discovered that I could not use them with my laptop! For some reason, as soon as I plug the JVC's into my laptop (with the noise canceling on), they make a strange hiss, and I also hear a 60 Hz hum from the electrical outlet. I have a Dell Latitude D820 (not exactly known for its sound card), so I figured it was the computer. But I experienced the same problem with other people's laptops as well. And none of my other headphones (even with comparable or lower impedance) make any audible hiss or buzz at all. I exchanged the JVC's, but the replacement was the same. For what it's worth, there was no hiss or hum with my friend's mac, or with any of my portable music players.
Some reviewers also mentioned the poorly designed battery replacement scheme on the JVC's. I agree that it's an odd design, but I personally didn't find it a problem at all. But speaking of batteries...
The battery life on the JVCs was significantly worse than Panasonic. I don't recall just how long it went, but it was probably about 15 hours or less. The Panasonics, by contrast, were used many hours more, and still haven't used up a battery. Both headphones use a single AAA.
-The Winner for Other Issues: Panasonic
*Conclusion:
The JVC HANC-250 headphones are very, very nice and have really remarkable noise reduction. If the Panasonics weren't available, I'd have gladly kept the JVCs. But not being able to use them with my laptop, a well as the mediocre sound quality, pushed me to Panasonic instead.