Headphones and Headsets Part 1: AblePlanet and ShareBuds
After our recent look at a top-performing piece of audio equipment, and our past reviews of some other earbuds and headsets, we thought it was time to turn again to personal and portable audio.
First, we’ve been interested in the AblePlanet Linx Audio Clear Harmony Active Noise Canceling Headphones for a while, and not just because of the intimidating name. They had received some buzz at CES, and were offered as an alternative to the BOSE Quiet Comfort series, but with some extra enhancements. We’ve always been a bit skeptical of noise cancellation technology, as it seemed a solution in search of a problem- except for frequent fliers or those who live next door to a factory. And our skepticism was mostly borne out by the NC1000CH’s- they work really well in a narrow range of environments.
If you’re in search of good regular headphones, look elsewhere- as normal with noise canceling sets, they are too heavy and bulky to be of interest. Sound quality on these is surprisingly good, deep and rich, but best if powered- unpowered, with the two AAA batteries removed, they weren’t as amazing. They are quite comfortable though, even over long flights or listening sessions, with nice padded headband and earcups. And, we confess, they were pretty good at the cancellation part of the equation… when faced with a regular, repeating sound. The technology can’t handle conversations or changing noises, but does a more than able job of dimming annoying droning sounds. In other words, they do seem an excellent competitor to Bose, can play music unpowered, and are a bit cheaper- but still have a list price of nearly $300.
If you’d rather have twice the headphones of any other set, at a fraction of the price, consider ShareBuds. These are a great idea- simply a twin set of earbuds allowing two people to listen in stereo, instead of needing to share. Really, who wants to share and miss half the audio?
Ah, but the caveats… as you might expect, you’ll need to sacrifice something in order to power twice the number of earphones. What you end up compromising most is volume or battery life of your device. Either listen at a lower volume, or turn the volume up (which does chew up battery life faster, but wouldn’t matter with a non-portable audio source). Also, these aren’t audiophile headphones- the quality is fine, but nothing special. And they don’t have any many extra features- no in-line audio or separate audio volume controls for each person, no variety of colors. They are pretty comfortable, come with a selection of earbud tips, and if you’re in the habit of listening with a friend regularly, worth considering.
The other twist is that they make two versions, and you get to choose. There is the nifty retractable version, which dangles a bit heavier and thus requires some fidgeting and care to not retract at the wrong moment, and costs $10 more. Or select the normal version, with cords that threaten to tangle themselves into a rat’s nest in four parts, but are $40. That price seemed a bit steep, but definitely is cheaper than some earbuds and headphone splitting adapters would be.
