Noise cancelling headphones review 2008

Results tables

Table notes

(A) Has now been discontinued, but may still be available in some shops. Try Harvey Norman, computer shops, or online retailers such as shopbot.com.au, myshopping.com.au and citysoftware.com.au.

Overall score
The overall score is made up of:

• Comfort - 30%
• Ease of use - 20%
• Noise cancellation - 50%

Noise cancellation score
The score ranks the reduction in noise achieved by the headphones when combining both active and passive elements.

Active cancellation
Indicated in decibels, this figure shows the ability of the headphones’ noise reduction circuitry to eliminate low-frequency noise, while the passive reduction figure shows the ability of the headphone earpads to keep external noise out with the active noise cancelling turned off.

Features
(B) The Bose QuietComfort 3’s Li-Ion battery is rechargeable and comes with international adapters and an additional battery.
All the AAA batteries can be rechargeable or non-rechargeable.

Prices
Recommended retail prices, as of May 2008.

How we tested

A panel of trialists wore the headphones with noise cancellation activated for 60 minutes and commented on the overall comfort. We used the results to determine the comfort score.

For the ease of use score, a CHOICE tester assessed each pair of headphones for the range of adjustability and ease of adjustment to fit different-sized heads; the ease of packing them into any supplied case; and ease of cleaning the various components.

The tester also carried out a listening evaluation on each set of headphones to determine audio quality with noise cancelling turned on and off (if possible). These scores are not included in the overall score.

The National Acoustic Laboratories determined the degree of noise cancellation, using synthesised pink noise as well as recordings of ambient sound from a city train and a domestic jet aircraft. A combination of active and passive noise reduction was measured to determine the overall noise cancellation score.

Passive reduction was measured with the headphones turned off, with a separate active cancellation figure derived through analysis of both the passive and overall noise reduction results.

For the battery test, a pink noise source was set up near the headphones and noise cancellation turned on. The tester twice measured how long the batteries lasted, repeating the test a third time if there was more than 10% difference between the two tests. The battery life shown in the table is the average of all tests; it didn’t form part of the overall score, as the batteries of all models lasted longer than a long-haul flight.