I recently purchased Plane Quiet Platinum active noise canceling headphones to replace my old headphones which I’d accidentally broken.
Summary of my Review: They have noticeably better audio quality and much less noise canceling “hiss” than my old headphones, are strong and better built, more comfortable to wear for long periods and have good but not great canceling noise ability.
Plane Quiet Platinum Features & Specifications
- Noise cancellation on/off switch – You may not think this is a feature, but many expensive headphones don’t allow you to turn the noise canceling off eg: which you’d want to do if you’re in a quiet environment or if you want to save battery life
- Upto 18 decibels active noise reduction
Between 150-400Hz Impedance:32 0HMS +/- 10%, Frequency Range: 20-20000Hz, Sensitivity – 111 dB +/- 3dB/mW at 1KHz, Speaker Element – 40 mm, Magnet: Neodymium, Rated Power – 40mW, Max Power – 100mW - Still work as Passive-Noise Cancelling Headphones without batteries or with flat batteries – many expensive noise canceling headphones stop working altogether as soon as their batteries go flat.
- Noticeably good audio quality and very low noise canceling “hiss” compared to most of the other active noise canceling headphones I’ve tested
- Comfortable to wear for several hours they’re relatively light weight, don’t squeeze your head and the headband doesn’t feel tight.
- Compatible with all audio devices with standard headphone jack: iPod ®/ MP3, CD, DVD players/laptop computers/ desktop computers
- Flat-folding design & Protective Storage/travel pouch
- Leatherette wrapped ear cups & headband
- Uses 2xAAA batteries for noise cancelling (these are included)
- Gold plated 1/4th inch stereo pin at end of headphone cord, also included are: Gold plated 1/8th inch to 1/4th inch adapter and Gold plated dual-pin adapter
- Limited one-year warranty
- Weight (without cord) – 145g or 5.12oz
Why Your Ears Need Noise Cancelling Headphones
Every time you hear a really loud sound, your hearing acuity decreases. Thankfully, the effect usually isn’t permanent – audiologists refer to it as temporary threshold shift – but repeated exposure to high volumes will likely reduce your hearing ability. If you occasionally experience ringing in your ears after listening to loud music or other sounds, take heed. Nature’s telling you to turn it down. If you don’t, you will suffer some hearing loss – and you’ll never get it back.
That’s why it’s a bad idea to block out external noise by cranking your portable audio device’s volume up to 11. Noise cancelling headphones alleviate this widely ignored problem. Noise cancelling headphones enable you to hear your music without blowing out your eardrums.
3 Kinds of Noise Cancelling Headphones
Plane Quiet Platinum’s are around your ear (circumaural) headphones, these are the 3 different kinds you can use with your portable media/MP3 player:
- Around your ear (circumaural) headphones – Surround your whole ear with padding.
Pros: Excellent noise cancelling abilities.
Cons: Expensive, large and heavy. - On your ear headphones
Pros:Very Good noise cancelling abilities. Generally smaller and lighter than Around ear.
Cons:Don’t offer quite as good a seal against noise as Around ear. - Ear buds (in your ear canal) – Like other earbuds that come included with MP3 players etc they fit right into your ear.
Pros:Excellent noise cancelling abilities, don’t need batteries because they’re passive and often cheaper,
Cons: Some people like me find them uncomfortable & you can’t share them with others like you can with headphones.
In spite of the trade-offs, many people would never go back to normal audio headphones. That’s because noise cancelling headphones do more than reduce noise. They also help alleviate fatigue when travelling, which can result from exposure to low-frequency noise for an extended period of time. You can even use noise cancelling headphones if you don’t want to listen to another audio source but do want to cancel out background noise. And a little bit of quiet can be music to anyone’s ears.
The Plane Quiet Platinum Noise Canceling Headphones can be purchased directly from Protravelgear for US $99+shipping. Once you buy something from them you’ll be signed up to their email mailing list and get regular discount offers eg: I used an email coupon code to buy these headphones for US$70 with free shipping 🙂
Shipping is via FedEx International Priority shipping and usually takes an impressive mere 3 days to travel from North Carolina, USA to Sydney, Australia
Nice review you have here. I have never been much for big headphones as the can be burdensome to carry around. But I am also getting tired of little ear buds that don’t quite stay in my ears or begin to hurt after a while. Maybe I can try these and see if I can move into the big headphone world. Thanks!
What was the coupon code?
I’v always been a fan of big earphones. They are easier and more comfortable to use. This model appears to pretty good, I’v been thinking about investing in these for my next pair. Thanks for the review.
Noise Canceling Headphones are definitely the way to go. I really love mine as they cancel out nearly all the background noise and they are an extremely comfortable pair of headphones. They are like my best friend when i got travelling as they provide me with all the comfort that i need on an airplane – QUIET 🙂
Very interesting headphones review.
Whether headphones are closed, semi-open or canal type doesn’t really bother me…but you’re quite right about the pros and cons of the different types. Also depends on how you’re planning to use them and listen to music. i.e. for sport or at the gym, canal earphones might be best.
I do agree that our ears need noise cancelling devices to protect us from “noise pollution”. thanks for the info here.