It Sounds Great: Able Planet NC200 Noise-Cancelling Headphones

The first dance I ever went to: the DJ was spinning, the strobes were flashing (dear God, my eyes!), and the bass was bumping.  Ever since then, I’d been searching for a set of headphones that sounded great (I like punchy bass, reminiscent of dances), cost less than an arm and a leg, isolated sound, and would last me more than a couple of months.  I didn’t want any in-ear buds — I guess I’m a bit paranoid of the effects they have (plus my ears aren’t exactly the cleanest in the world, har har).  I guess I’m also a bit old-fashioned — my idea was that nothing could beat around the ear headphones.

So Able Planet took a chance on me and sent me a set of NC200 noise-cancelling headphones. I’d never reviewed headphones before for two reasons:

1. Couldn’t get my hands on a pair, and I didn’t have time to shop around.
2. Alright, I had some doubt — reviewing headphones seemed difficult.

Design/Build Quality

First off, I’m a huge fan of the leather padding Able Planet decided to dress this baby with.  I’ve used crappy airplane around the ear headphones before, and they’ve always clipped my hair (ouch — no lie).  The padding gives my short hair a comfortable feel, and they also rest well on the back of my neck whenever I’m taking a break.  The leather padding around the speakers also leave my ears alone — unlike other reviews I’ve read with around the ear headphones and questionable comfort, my ears were left un-irritated.  I’m a happy camper in terms of comfortability.

The main issue I had with around the ear headphones was their size — how can anyone fit ‘em in their bag (let alone their pocket) without looking like an idiot?  Able Planet also took this in mind with the NC200′s, making them foldable.  I mean seriously, foldable.  Not only can you fold the headphones in half, you can also bend the speakers into the groove of the headband, making them a quarter of their size and manageable to fit into your bag (I took ‘em a bunch of places already).  The only problem I have is the time it takes to fold up — then again, I had a slight annoyance with how long it took me to unlock my locker’s lock before, and now I can go to the gym and unlock it in an easy three seconds.

My only beef is with the cord.  It looks a bit disturbing to the design when it protrudes straight out of the left speaker of the NC200′s like that.  Also, the cord is too normal — it’s not retractable, doesn’t have a specific place to wind/wrap up, I have to wrap it around like a normal set of headphones.  Yeah, I know that the NC200′s aren’t waaay high-class headphones — but I feel that there should’ve been something done with the cord.  Even just a simple magnetized design would’ve been great, just so that they aren’t a mess when I pull ‘em back out of the included slingbag (in retrospect, a good addition).

Oh yeah, and the Able Planet text on the side got mixed reactions when I brought it to now-famous Tech Design class — some thought the text was too “ordinary” (I personally found it pretty classy, but I guess it could be more unique).  But we all agreed the logo was beautiful (especially cause of its shininess).

Lastly, the battery compartment is excellently hidden.  I mean, excellently.  I didn’t even know that there was a battery compartment — it was an embarrassing mistake, actually:  I brought it into class, and my friends asked me why it kept dying when I tried turning it on.  Turns out the included battery died (probably drained in the cold when shipping, it’s understandable), and I didn’t activate LINX audio this whole time.  Holy crap.

Sound Quality

Test Playlist:

• Back in Black by AC/DC (for the guitar intro)
• Devil’s got a New Disguise by Aerosmith (electric guitar performance)
• Good Life by Kanye West featuring T-Pain (bass)
• Janie’s got a Gun by Aerosmith (vocals)
• Live & Let Die by Guns N’ Roses (instruments)
• Live Your Life by T.I. featuring Rihanna (bass)
• Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns N’ Roses (guitar solo)
• This Love by Maroon 5 (vocals and instruments)
• Whatever You Like by T.I. (synthesizer and bass)

All files were ripped from CD’s by Exact Audio Copy to try to get as close to lossless quality as possible (yet I wanted compressed MP3 formats for a more “realistic” size — not everyone in this world is an audiophile, I do realize).  The majority of the files were encoded at 320kbps with the exception of Live & Let Die at 224kbps, and Janie’s Got a Gun at 256 kbps.  To be perfectly honest, it was my first time fooling around with LAME — and although tiresome (I hadn’t an idea what I was doing before this review), it was rewarding.

I found it difficult to judge sound quality — because of its subjectiveness.  I employed the help of my second cousin (I’ve actually only got three), and borrowed a set of AKG Studio-Monitor k240′s.  “Typical” studio headphones.  Which I assumed were at least of “standard” quality.

The AKG Studio k240 trumped the Able Planet NC200 in terms of treble and midrange — the instruments and vocals seemed much more free on the Studio k240, whereas the NC200 seemed a bit “muffled”.  The NC200 did perform well when challenged with songs with bass, as it sounded “punchier” (as my cousin says, there’s always a difference between “punchy” and “volume”).  But I still felt a bit let down by the NC200 set of headphones — it had at least two or three years ahead of the Studio k240, so I couldn’t see why it didn’t outperform it.

And then I figured out how to turn LINX on.  Yeah, I’m a dumbass.

Wow, such a clean carpet!

But damn, I couldn’t have imagined such a difference — again, using the LAME-encoded MP3 files:

• All of a sudden, bass was more than acceptable — it was suddenly much more “punchy”, as my cousin from APHNetworks.com would describe it in his subjective sound tests (I know, I’m still a trainee).  Good Life, Live your Life (coincidence, I swear), and Whatever you Like all of a sudden sounded much more powerful.
• I think the greatest improvement is the sudden “openness” in treble and midrange — vocals all of a sudden went from backseat to driver.  Maroon 5 and Aerosmith sounded beautiful (as they should, of course).
• Volume-wise, it actually sounded “louder” than before — literally.  I could hardly stand listening at half-manual volume (100% on Windows though, to keep the setting as tested before).
• The only down-side? Well, when volume is low, you can hear a slight “hiss” of LINX working.  It can be annoying at low volumes.

Sound Isolation

Couldn’t hear a bloody thing until my cousin started clapping to get my attention (he asked whether I wanted to stay at his place for lunch).  That’s just the beginning — with LINX audio on, I couldn’t hear a person enter my house, even when the security system alerted me a door opened.  I know this sounds really stupid and cheezy, but they’re both true events that I thought illustrated my point very well: the Able Planet NC200 set of headphones makes your music stand out that much more.

But the “hiss” does get annoying.  Because sound gets filtered so well, I usually don’t listen to music that loudly (I’m a firm believer that loud music will permanently damage your ears — call me conservative).  But the “hiss” with LINX audio kind of forces me to bump the music up to the level where I can’t hear it anymore.  But again — to re-iterate, the “hiss” gets drowned out when volume is turned up to probably a 30% line-in level, plus LINX audio enhances the music so much that I would rather hear a bit of hissing with the music recreated well, than without.

To turn on LINX Audio, just shift the switch on the “On” switch.  And if nothing happens, then change the battery — lift the hatch on the right headphone, and switch in a AAA battery (kind of a drag, but it hasn’t died since).

Is that it?

Pretty much.

Can I say it all in one sentence?  The Able Planet NC200 set of headphones does its job well — it cancels sound (when LINX audio is on), produces some mean sound quality (I mean that in a good way), while retaining great looks (with leather and all), and excellent portability (kudos on the folding design); I think that LINX audio produces a bit too much hiss when it’s on — but overall, the Able Planet NC200 set of headphones are a great pair and offer much value for sub-$100.  And they don’t hurt your ears.

Darn, looks like it took me two sentences, har har.  But seriously, if you’re looking for a set of headphones and have $100 to spend, I would pay some serious attention to the Able Planet NC200s. And of course, if you felt that I wrote something wrong, or you thought it was an absolutely horrible review, I would suggest saying so in the comments (I accept compliments too, *blushes*).  It’s my first review on headphones, and I would greatly appreciate some constructive criticism (in all seriousness, now).