Showing posts with label AKG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AKG. Show all posts

Friday, 28 June 2019

Review AKG N700NC wireless headphones | Mobile Accessories

ake a closer look at one of AKG’s latest wireless noise-cancelling headphones for music lovers on the go…
 
AKG is a company with a long and illustrious past, building some of the world’s best sounding equipment. The company made their roots in 1947 and released their first headphones in 1949. From there, the company went from strength to strength producing some legendary recording equipment and with a history spanning over 70 years, it’s not surprise that AKG have produced another pair of headphones that are sure to please.


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We are of course talking of the brand new AKG N700NC headphones. The headphones themselves come in high-quality, tactile packaging that hints at what lies beneath and sure enough, when you open the box for the first time you are greeted with a seriously premium looking set of headphones. Full aluminium headband sliders, smart aluminium details and extra comfy memory foam ear pads with leatherette coverings. There is a fair amount of plastic that finishes off the build. 

AKG have given the N700NC’s some pretty handy features when it comes to making them stand out in a very crowded market. The most notable is a “pass-through” feature for the noise cancellation which comes in very handy if you need to hear the outside world, such as hearing announcements or wanting to have a quick conversation with someone. Two further very useful additions called ‘Perfect calls feature’ and ‘TalkThru’ enable you to hear yourself much more clearly during phone calls, as well as your surroundings. This is done by providing an optimal balance between noise-cancelling and ambient awareness. Another nifty feature is the dedicated AKG headphones app, giving you total control over the headphones.

 Now onto the real reason you are reading this review… “How do they sound?!”, I hear you cry. The good news is they will satisfy your craving for extremely effective noise cancelling, blocking out a very large amount of the world around to you nicely isolate you in your own little bubble of music. Virtually spinning some tunes via Tidal first up is Ariana Grande’s smash hit “God is a woman”; this is a very demanding track and the N700NC’s on the whole handle the track well.

Most notable about the AKG’s sound is how tightly controlled the bass is, with the leading edges being well-timed and controlled. The only thing you are left wanting is the depth to really suck you into the track. The mid-range is prominent to say the least, coming across harshly at times during this track which is odd given AKG’s usual habit of having a refined balanced sound. The top end is a bit lacking, with the overriding feeling that there simply just isn’t enough of it! It’s almost as if it’s been rolled off purposefully as today’s music can often be overly bright and harsh to make up for the often poor listening devices used. However, this is easily remedied with some gentle EQ work.

All of this shouldn’t put you off however, as switching to a track that is completely pared down in the form of Demi Lovato’s “Sober” and suddenly some of the N700NC’s talents shine through. That boosted mid-range brings Demi’s voice front and centre in what is a very emotional track, you really feel and hear every word.

To summarise, N700NC have lots of likeable traits and their slick design, solid performance and portability certainly will please a lot of listeners so you should pop by your local Richer Sounds for a listen and find out for yourself!

Sunday, 23 June 2019

review The Best AKG N60NC Bluetooth Noise Canceling headphones

Having not too long ago reviewed the $1499 AKG N90Q and finding it an astonishingly cool and effective noise canceler, I thought it would be interesting to look at what AKG was doing way down the food chain at a more affordable price. Thing is $300 is still $300, and in my book a pretty serious purchase. A $300 headphone needs to be good and competitive. Let's see if AKG managed to pull it off.

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AKG N60NC ($299)
The AKG N60NC is an on-ear, Bluetooth wireless, noise canceling headphone. Styling is elegantly simple: upside-down puft gray lollypops on each ear. Materials and build quality look just about right at this price. It's a nicely built headphone.

The pleather over foam headband is fully covered and has a good feel, but tends to touch in one spot at the top of the head. Fortunately, the headphone is light and has good caliper pressure on the ears, which tends to stabilize these headphones and remain comfortable. Ear pads covers are good quality pleather over 1/2" memory foam; pads are 2 3/4" in diameter with a one inch center hole. I found the N60NC comfort above average for an on-ear. The earpads are particularly nice.

Headband adjustment end-caps pull out to reveal metal detented sliders. On-line customer reviews indicate this is a significant improvement from the plastic sliders of earlier models. Sliders are marked and adjustments a tad stiff but nicely secure.

Ear capsule yokes swing fore and aft on on a headband end-cap swivel; the single sided yoke attaches and swivels at the rear of the ear capsule. Ear capsules can rotate flat and swing inward to nestle in the arch of the headband for compact storage and transport. This hinge mechanism can be made to make a few klunk noises when manipulated, but I wouldn't call it rattly at all. Seemed up to snuff to me.

A tidy neoprene soft case is included. I like this case quite a bit for it's compact utility and the cushioning of the neoprene. Also included is: a USB charging cable; a 4 foot flexible, cloth covered cable with one-button remote; and airline adapter.

Inserting the 2.5mm TRRS plug of the wired cable into the bottom to the left ear capsule will automatically turn the Bluetooth portion of the electronics off, but noise canceling can still be turned on and off the the power switch.

Electronics
The N60NC has three modes of operation: Passive on the wire, NC active on the wire; and Bluetooth wireless with NC on. Noise canceling cannot be deactivated in Bluetooth mode.

The headphone uses Bluetooth 4.0 and supports: A2DP V1.2, AVRCP V1.4, HFP V1.6, HSP V1.2. Battery will last about 15 hours wirelessly, and about 30 hours when wired with NC active. It takes about 2 hours to charge from a mostly depleted battery.

I did have a few problems pairing up the N60NC. On both my iPhone and iPad I would sometimes have to "forget this device" and restart Bluetooth on both the headphone and player in order to get the devices to pair. Not sure what was going on there. I had no problems with my Android phone.

Noise canceling is effective, but doesn't seem to isolate as much as the better noise cancelers like the Bose QC35.

Alrightythen, let's have a listen.