About active noise cancelling measurements.

[LEIYINAUDIO]

I noticed that Amirm doesn't provide a well measured ANC quality graphic or any data, maybe he is not very interested with this feature. But I really need a headphone with really good noice cancellation without considering sound quality (I work in a very noisy office environment).

So I wanted to ask, is there any other sites or bloggers who can provide a good ANC measurement data?

Or you guys can just recommend me a good headphone with:
1. No sound quality demanded
2. The most efficient noise cancelling
3. Without considering the price and any other features

Thanks a lot!

 

[GaryH]

AKG N90Q

https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/comments/eeic0s

 

[LEIYINAUDIO]

AKG N90Q

https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/comments/eeic0s

I see this is a post from two years ago, does it still apply to now?

 

[GaryH]

I see this is a post from two years ago, does it still apply to now?

Yes, the only significant additions since then really are the Sony WH-1000XM4 and the Apple Airpods Max, neither of which have as good noise isolation as Sony's previous model, the WH-1000XM3 (and so neither are as good as the AKG N90Q according to headphone engineer Oratory who rates them over the XM3).

 

[JJB70]

I owned an N90Q for a while and it was a weird design. Usually ANC is aimed at use cases where noise is an issue, such as commuting, flying and noisy office environments. Meaning people generally want reasonable portability and light weight, but the N90Q was a huge bulky thing and very heavy. The hard case was ridiculously large and heavy and not suitable for any mobile use, although the leather sandwich bag was nice. For such an expensive headphone the jack connection was a 2.5mm with no support, and I thought it very odd that if the design could only operate on battery power and had an onboard amplifier and DAC then why not also include BT too? Tactile feel was gorgeous but mine very quickly developed a fault and were returned. Sound quality was excellent but that should be a given at the price. They had some impressive tech though and the concept of a"system headphone" with DSP remains valid. For home use I really didn't think ANC was necessary and they were far too bulky and heavy for mobile use.

If you just want a good pair of ANC headphones for commuting and flying then try TaoTronics soundsurge 55.

A model which is very under rated (probably because it comes from a gaming headset manufacturer) is the Razer Opus, ANC is up with Sony and Bose.

 

[GaryH]

The OP specifically asked for the best ANC for use when working in an office 'without considering any other features', so I doubt portability is a concern to them.

A model which is very under rated (probably because it comes from a gaming headset manufacturer) is the Razer Opus, ANC is up with Sony and Bose.

Generally better then Bose, but worse than the Sony XM3 (especially in the treble).

 

[amirm]

I noticed that Amirm doesn't provide a well measured ANC quality graphic or any data, maybe he is not very interested with this feature.

I am interested but logistics of it are a pain. You need to have a test chamber with a speaker in there to generate the test signals. Otherwise you are fighting with random environmental noise. Done right, this thing is the size of a double stacked coffin so requires massive space and is ugly to boot. Prefer to not go there if I don't have to. Given how few NC headphone there are, I am not seeing the benefit to drawback ratio to be good enough to do it.

 

[JJB70]

The N90Q is still very heavy and bulky. Even in an office I would prefer something portable to carry to and fro or something compact to slip in a drawe at night without filling it. And any you will find now will be a few years old. I actually found the Sony 1000XM had better ANC (though not better sound).

If people want quietness to be isolated from ambient noise, try Etymotic IEMs. Superb sound quality and incredible passive noise isolation. I switched from 1000XM headphones to ER4SR for flying and they are more effective than ANC. Especially in office environments I find they reduce voices much more effectively than ANC. Now they are my favourite headphone/IEMs, extremely neutral and accurate.

 

[GaryH]

Better yet for passive noise isolation are custom-molded IEMs, nothing beats them in that regard.

 

[JJB70]

Custom IEMs are excellent. I find IEMs in general better than ANC if you want to shut out people talking.