ANC under $200

[tknx]

I read through a bunch of threads, looks like this is an area where there aren't a ton of objective reviews.

<$200; Bluetooth, Wireless Over the Ears.

Right now based on somewhat vague reviews, the Accentum Plus looks strong. Headphone Show was pushing the Hyperx Cloud IIIs as being really good for the money but no ANC there (it does have mic cancelling but not full on ANC). Rtings seems to push the Anker offerings.... Seen some mentions here of the Nothing Headphone 1s also but again, lack of critical reviews.

Do I just go by graphs alone and hope for the best or can someone point me to actual technical, objective reviews of these?

 

[kemmler3D]

In general the options aren't super great, I have Soundcore Space Q45 and my wife has the Sony WH -1000XM4... the sonys are definitely better but the Soundcore cans are not so bad that I feel like I should fight her over them.

Right now the Anker stuff is all heavily discounted for Black Friday so it's a pretty good time to get a pair.

I don't think you will find a lot of objective reviews of these headphones outside of here and RTINGs.

In general most low-to-mid-tier ANC headphones have questionable tuning, you're really mostly buying them so you get acceptable sound and usable ANC for travel-oriented use cases. If you want actually good sound out of ANC BT headphones I think the only serious option is the recently released Sennheiser HBD 630, mostly because it has a reasonable tuning out of the box as well as PEQ on board, although that's more than double your budget.

 

[IngMishael]

get an LG X Boom ANC Earbud pair - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DZXZTF4Y

I read through a bunch of threads, looks like this is an area where there aren't a ton of objective reviews.

<$200; Bluetooth, Wireless Over the Ears.

Right now based on somewhat vague reviews, the Accentum Plus looks strong. Headphone Show was pushing the Hyperx Cloud IIIs as being really good for the money but no ANC there (it does have mic cancelling but not full on ANC). Rtings seems to push the Anker offerings.... Seen some mentions here of the Nothing Headphone 1s also but again, lack of critical reviews.

Do I just go by graphs alone and hope for the best or can someone point me to actual technical, objective reviews of these?

 

[kyuu]

I'm quite happy with my Edifier W830NB. Implement a single band of EQ via the app (in the bass as detailed by Amir) and they sound great to my ears.

 

[tknx]

@IngMishael i don’t want earbuds. And TWS buds are the worst for travel since they fall out and end up on airplane floors which are disgusting!

The Edifier is on my radar for sure. And maybe that is where I will end up.

I looked at the charts Headphone Show posted for the HyperX headphones and they look surprisingly decent.

 

[IngMishael]

@IngMishael i don’t want earbuds. And TWS buds are the worst for travel since they fall out and end up on airplane floors which are disgusting!

understandable. Get the Cloud III S

 

[Misguided]

CMF Headphone has been getting some good reviews.

I have the UGreen Max 5C which is good with some Eq and very very cheap in the UK, approx £23.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Cleer Enduro ANC with inbuilt EQ works for me.

 

[Shazb0t]

The Sennheiser Momentum 4 is on sale right now. Are these considered a good option?

 

[Shazb0t]

I ended up getting the Momentum 4's for their Black Friday price with Paypal pay later discount. They sound pretty good and have the newer wireless features that make them versatile. I recommend a pair if you're in the market.

 

[Limopard]

If there still are Black Friday/Black Week offers, the Nothing Headphone 1 could be an option. The inclusion of a PEQ is a big asset here. However, fit and look may not be for everyone.

 

[yo!]

If you are not afraid of spending under 50 bucks, take a look at the Tozo HT3. ANC is decent, built OK, voice mic is clear, it is good sized even for big heads and ears and still compact. No case.
They are badly tuned out of the box, really bad. Corrected via the app's own (maxed out) EQ they become pretty good and the DSP settings are getting saved fix to the headphone. The tune is still slightly tilted and thrusty. I guess many would prefer this over the superflat parametric version I like to have.
It sounds a bit like my old Sony W1000 (Gen 2) now, but overall better. Not hard to achieve though, but still remarkable.

I did a even more sophisticated correction with a external parametric EQ, just a tiny bit more precise, mainly at both ends of the spectrum. Linearity within +/- 1.5 dB.
I was blown away by the results, the 40 mm driver has some nice sparkle in the highs, reminded me instantly of my favorite golden Sennheiser HD540 back in time. This thingy has no right to sound this good. No fancy resonances, no big problem zones. Just a capable driver in a closed volume where it not seems to belong in first place.

The app on iPhone is very good, in the end I ordered a X1 additional as they are on sale now and they seem at least as promising. Still 50 bucks left

Some 'hot needle' measurements (flat plate, no pinna gain visible)

Red graph frequency response out of the box
Cyan graph best possible correction with app EQ
Green graph third party parametric EQ

 

[tknx]

Thanks everyone. I ended up going with the Ugreens for much cheaper than my budget.

Now if I could find a diffuse field EQ for them instead of Harman.

 

[IngMishael]

Thanks everyone. I ended up going with the Ugreens for much cheaper than my budget.

Now if I could find a diffuse field EQ for them instead of Harman.

test this:

Preamp: -2.9 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 200 Hz Gain -3.9 dB Q 1.200
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 200 Hz Gain 0.9 dB Q 2.800
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 570 Hz Gain 1.1 dB Q 2.800
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 1000 Hz Gain -3.4 dB Q 2.200
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 1700 Hz Gain 3.2 dB Q 1.600
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 2900 Hz Gain 1.0 dB Q 2.000

with the Jazz Preset with ANC set to general

 

[tknx]

Thanks for the settings. I looked in the ugreen app and didn’t see any indication where to manually adjust EQ (this is on iOS). I put it in jazz for now but would love to try these changes.

 

[IngMishael]

Thanks for the settings. I looked in the ugreen app and didn’t see any indication where to manually adjust EQ (this is on iOS). I put it in jazz for now but would love to try these changes.

oh iOS means you're fucked. you do not get to use headphones with parametric EQ on iOS. I assumed you used either an AndroidOS or PC device. my bad

 

[yo!]

On iPhone he can use player EQs (KaiserTone got the best EQs) or try the Tozo headphones with matching app.

 

[tknx]

Yeah, this is for my daughter using spotify on her phone. I was hoping the EQ settings would be onboard the headphones instead of requiring the device... oh well, they still sound pretty decent for $40 and I will just soldier on.

I hate that iOS doesn't just have inbuilt parametric EQ.

 

[yo!]

We all do, btw. for Mac OS there is SoundDesk that functions as system wide EQ, truly recommended add on.
It's a shame that there's no systemwide app for iOS and I doubt it will ever come. Thankfully hardware dsp function is dirt cheap to get nowadays.