Product DescriptionBlock out irritating background noise and enjoy your music in peace - with these premium range SHN9500 headphones that actively cancel background noise by as much as 85%. Ideal for use in airplanes and trains.
Reliable, good performer (Rating: 5 out of 5) I have been using my Philips SHN9500 headphones almost every day, seven days a week during my 1/2 hour work outs in a busy work out room since April 2008. The noise canceling is effective, especially while also listening to music. I don't expect miracles, but the closed, over-the-ear design also helps me to be in my own world while I'm on the stair machine. Battery life is very good, but there is virtually no way to predict when one will give out. Not a big issue, since battery life is several months. I am quite satisfied with the sound fidelity, and I haven't noticed substantial hiss or any static, unless the cord is heavily jarred.With prior headsets, I have noticed wear earlier and needed to keep adjusting the fit and placement; not with these, at least for me. An uncommon plus with this and most noise canceling headphones is the removable cord; just think how much most of us have spent replacing headsets due to torn or internally frayed cords.
Cheap, Good, and Confortable (Rating: 4 out of 5) I've been an owner of the Philips SHN950 Noise-Canceling Headphone for two weeks now. So far, I must say, I am very impressed. I live in a loud college dorm and for a math major that I am and with the nearest library almost half-mile away, my dorm room has been the only reasonable place to study. So far, I noticed that this headphone is able to drown out a lot of low-frequency noises. And I no longer had to deal with a loud neighbor that plays loud bass-based music all night. The music quality is acceptable. But for a 50 dollar headphone that's initial purpose is for noise-canceling, the sound quality is pretty good.
The only con is that I can't really sleep with it on. I'm a side sleeper and there's just no way I can sleep with this headphone on.
I would suggest this to a plane-traveler, mainly because of all the low-frequency sound on planes that drive people nuts.
Great headphone though. Worth my money.
Noise canceling = sound canceling (Rating: 3 out of 5) I bought these at Ollies for 80% off, so not too expensive.
What I wanted was relief from my Koss Titanium's -- great sound, so heavy they start to cause neck strain and very "hot" to wear -- and they are okay for that.
The sound is decent, but not amazing. Mostly it's a bit thin sounding. The worse though, is if you turn ON the noise canceling. If you play no music and just flick the button on it causes a low, quiet, slow rumble, like a heartbeat recorded and played back at 1/4 speed. Seems to me that rather than noise canceling it creates white noise that you supposedly can't hear under the music.
The noise canceling also cuts all the bass and seems to provide a mid-range boost. I can't stand it. Everything sounds like it's in a big, empty room with no acoustic quality.
If you can get a cheap pair they are good-enough for everyday use. First, they are very, very light. The ear-piece is angled so it fits comfortably and doesn't smash your ear and the cord plugs in so you can remove / replace it.
The other issue though is the "mute" button. It's a flimsy spring button on the back of the left side and every time I touch the headphones I bum it. I'm just waiting for it to go bad and the sound start cutting out at random.
Poor quality of construction (Rating: 2 out of 5) Do not buy these headphones if you have a larger sized head. The way the arms are constructed naturally leads to them breaking if you need to extend the phones and then significantly widen them for them to fit over your head.
The steel band that goes over your head basically levers out the plastic casing that is supposed to hold it in and act as a brake on the phone extension.
This is very disappointing since these phones are very comfortable and perform very well for the environment I want to use them in.
In an airplane (Rating: 3 out of 5) This works great in an office where the noise level is not too high, in an airplane the noise is not totally canceled.