Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5637 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Panasonic
• Model: RP-HC500E-S
• Released on: 2008-05-26
• Dimensions: .49 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
High-End Noise Cancelling Headphones. As surrounding noise is captured by the microphone, the electronic circuitry generates a signal of the opposite phase, that is to say, peaks and valleys are reversed. The sound with the reversed phase is emitted by the driver and cancels out the noise as it enters the ear. Noise is kept low at the ear, making it possible to enjoy music without raising the volume unnecessarily. These headphones are designed to attenuate low frequency inconsonant noise of 1,500 Hz or less. They do not have great effect on relatively high frequency components such as automobile horns, telephone rings or the human voice.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

Tune in the music, tune out the distraction
I've not owned a pair of noise cancelling earphones before, though I know how they work. The idea is that it cancels out droning background noise such as the sound of a bus, car or plane, or domestically a PC, dish washer and so on.

You need a AAA battery for the noise cancellation, which is controlled by a switch on your left ear. The noise cancelling is excellent, even when I have minimum volume on my PC here, I cannot hear the PC, and can barely hear myself type. Even on podcasts, the outside noise does not interfere.

When you switch the NC off, you suddenly realise how much of the bass you were missing, so it will influence your choice if you are a bass-heavy listener.

The presentation is great, a nice case comes with it, along with a couple of adaptors. Someone else commented on the materal being uncomfortable against the ears, maybe I have small ears, because they fit me perfectly.

All in all this is, like you'd expect from Panasonic, a solid, unspectacular, great performing product.

Good as long as the noise cancellation is switched on
These arrived in a black presentation box which looks good enough to be given as a present. Inside were the headphones themselves, a semi-solid black zip case to keep them in, a cable (1.5m long - certainly long enough for me) to attach to the headphones and your music sources, and an adapter to enable you to use them on a plane. There is also an adapter if you wish to use the headphones in a 6.3mm jack rather than the more usual 3.5mm. You will need a AAA battery (not included) which inserts easily into the side of one of the earphones for the noise-cancelling function to work, and it is claimed that it will last for 40 hours before it needs replacing, although the instructions do note that you will notice a reduction in the efficiency of the noise-cancellation as the battery power diminishes.
The headphones are comfortable to wear and have a touch of retro style about them. They are light (the specification says 170g without a battery), and the padding on the ear pads is covered with a leather-feel fabric which is very soft. The over head band can be adjusted for best fit. The noise-cancellation feature can be switched on/off using a switch on the left headphone and it is easy enough to do this while actually wearing the headphones. There is a small blue light to show when the noise cancellation is switched on. I'm not an audio expert, but I do know that I like my music to be crisp and clear, and I do expect to hear a full dynamic range. With the noise-cancellation switched on, the sound quality through these headphones was very good. However, when it was switched off, the sound quality worsened and sounded a bit too murky and hollow for my liking. There was a definite deterioration. As for the noise-cancellation, it works very well against general background droning noises such as in a train or plane. I also tried using the noise-cancellation without listening to music and it worked quite well. I often like to read while others are watching TV and although I could still faintly hear the TV, the intrusiveness of it was much reduced.
I like these headphones. The technology behind them is clever, and the fact that you can listen to music in a noisy environment without having to crank up the volume may just save your hearing. They are also more reasonably priced than other noise-cancelling headphones I have seen but should always be used with noise-cancellation switched on to get the best out of them.

Good sound, reasonable noise cancellation but poor value for money
This is my first experience of noise cancelling headphones but I have a lot of experience with headphones in general and I am an avid audiophile. If you really need noise cancellation and a good sounding set of well built closed cup headphones these may be for you. However they have some significant flaws (see below) and for £80 you can buy better sounding headphones without the flaws, albeit without noise cancellation. Not Recommended, unless you are a very frequent commuter on planes or trains.

Pros
Good package - Includes carrying case and 3mm and 6.3mm adapter.
Easy set up
Good sound straight out of the box
Well made with quality look and feel
Good sound quality - Without noise cancelling they sound recessed and 'muffled' but turning on OPR gives a very pleasing sound straight from the box that is well balanced, reasonably deep with controlled base and lots of mid-range detail. These headphones are probably equivalent in sound quality to the best ear bud or closed cup phones costing around £40. A word of warning: Do not set the listening level before turning on OPR as suggested in the instructions as the listening level can suddenly increase greatly.

Cons
Not Comfortable for extended listening - The head band applies pressure to top of head and after half and hour I found that the pressure from the head band and from the ear cups does become uncomfortable.
Reasonable sound cancellation - In a normal room with people speaking and a loud background radio playing the suggested 80% of sound cancellation seems subjectively correct. However without any music being played and cancellation turned on, higher frequencies such as voices became even more noticeable whereas the lower base notes were removed (as expected).
Very intrusive to the surrounding environment - At anything except low listening levels it is likely that anyone sitting near you would complain about the sound 'leaking' from the headphones.
Too expensive at £80 - With this number of cons and only 'good sound quality' I consider these headphones to be significantly overpriced.