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Aiwa HP-CN5 Noise Canceling Headphone

Aiwa HP-CN5 Noise Canceling Headphone

List Price: $49.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Spookily effective
Review: I got these to cut noise from adjacent cubicles at work. The noise reduction is amazing. Even without a music source, voices are cut to a tolerable, though tinny, level. The air-conditioning rumble vanishes.
With music, the voices are totally masked.
The headphones add a bit of hiss and the earpads get sweaty, so they are not ideal. They also cut the bass of the music, but they are a sanity saver. Battery (single AA) lasts a long time, too. At least 100 hours. Even with the red LED growing dim, they remain effective.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: DO NOT BUY THESE!
Review: I bought these Aiwa headphones because my standard Aiwa headphones, with the padded leather earcups and the comfortable headstrap had broken. Since I'm constantly listening to music through my headphones, I figured that I could use an upgrade, and these noise-canceling headphones seemed like a great buy. However, I was EXTREMELY disappointed with the product I got. Unlike the cushy leather earcups I was expecting, I got foam- FOAM, like what you get when you buy headphones ...at Radio Shack. You can imagine what the comfort is like- your ear is basically pushed up against the plastic of the headphone.. it's NOT good. What you can't tell from the picture is that these headphones are not round- they're square. That means that if you have a small head, like I do, these will not fit you. There are no adjustable straps, so the tip of the square headphones just barely rests on my head, while the two corners stick out. I had people with bigger heads try them on (just in case it was me, and not the headphones), and they all agreed that the headphones are really ill-fiting. Furthermore, in order to make the headphones noise cancelling, they require a battery, which fits nicely into one side of the headphones. HOWEVER, because of the weight of the battery, my head constantly tips towards the weight of the headphone. The sound IS good from the headphones, and that is important, but is it worth it to sacrifice all comfort for quality? I think not. I honestly could not be more disappointed with my purchase. Please do not buy there- buy a pair that you will like.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: That stuff quite beat my expectation
Review: I have read all kinds of reviews of this one on amazon before I placed the order. After I got the product, I'm so pleased that it depressed most of the ambient noise. I'm so happy that I don't even hear the buzz made by my desktop computer fan. It's just great for such price. And the sound is just ok for me -- I'm not an audiophile, I just use it to listen to MP3s. The only reason I didn't give it a full score is it is not so comfortable to wear it for a long time.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Got what I paid for.
Review: I bought these and thought it would be great, however when I got them I found out otherwise.
I have used these for about a week now, and also let others try them. They work great as normal headphones but the noise canceling effect has left me feeling kick afterwords, 4 others have tried my pair and felt the same.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: They seem comfortable to me
Review: Many other reviewers say that these headphones are terribly uncomfortable. I can only say that they feel fine to me. I suppose that if your head is rather big (or at least wide), they might be too tight, because the width of the headphones cannot be adjusted. (The height is adjustable.) So if your hat size is very large, you might want to steer clear of these. Otherwise, they're a good value for the money, and they cut down significantly on low-level background noise. They also fold flat and come with a carrying case, as well as an adaptor for airline audio consoles.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Decent performance, great price
Review: I bought these largely on the price. $... is less than half what the Sonys were and a sixth of the Bose. At the time it was a very small market. The performance was good, I used the phone daily in the New York City Subway and on many flights and they worked well. They do not isolate your ears (they sit on the ear rather than surrounding them) and this is a fundamental flaw as they essentially don't dampen sound that is directly in front or behind, but they did a decent job. After about a year of daily use they did finally die, but I think I got my money's worth.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A little uncomfortable, but that can be fixed
Review: These headphones have good noise cancelation and sound, but the thin padding on the actual earphones makes my ears hurt after an hour or so. I don't have any problems with the folding design and weight of the headphones, like many other reviewers appear to have.
If you want good noise cancelation for an affordable price, get these! To make them more comfortable, simply cut out two earphone-shaped pieces of foam or other soft material, take off the muffs, put the foam in them, and put the muffs back on. After this modification, the headphones didn't hurt my ears.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Can't beat the price
Review: I'm on planes a LOT and bought these specifically to use to watch DVDs when flying. I love 'em. They are snug but not in the least uncomfortable and easily wipe out 50% of engine noise and amplify the sound well. They do create a hiss when the noise reduction switch is on, but I think that's the point- it cancels out some of the planes ambient noise and after a couple of minutes I'm used to it and don't notice it at all. I also thought they were fine regular headphones with the noise reduction feature off. Keep in mind that I'm not a big audio buff, but I shopped around and thought that these were a good deal and still do.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Read the reviews here before buyings
Review: I should have read some of these reviews because most of them are right. The good and bad. First the bad:

1. They hurt after a while. I've gotten used to wearing them but they still make my ears sore after a while. The folding design and the thin padding are the problem.

2. Another person mentioned a buzzing sound when turning on the noise cancelling switch. Mine started to do that after a while and now I can't use the noise cancelling option. It's feedback from microphone and maybe the mic got dirt or some water in it. Who knows?

3. I think the sound is poor and could be a little better. I've used other headphones that sound better.

4. They seem as though they could break pretty easily. You have to be careful folding/unfolding them because they feel as if you tug too hard they could snap.

5. They don't sit all that well and sometimes fall off when looking down. Plus they look sort of silly on your head because of the folding design.

The good:

1. They did help reduce the noise when they didn't start buzzing after a while.

2. They fold up which is great for the traveler.

3. The price is right.

So you have to ask yourself - are these right for me? I'm going to try another pair like the Jensen's that also fold and have the ND feature. I know I could spend a lot more and get a better headphone (the Bose are awesome if you are willing to pay that much. For frequent travlers - spend the extra money because they are worth it). Maybe I will have to fork out the extra $ if I can't find one at around the same price as the Jensen/Aiwa.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Close But Not Quite
Review: The sound quality is good but not fabulous.
The biggest problem is the hissing sound.
But they do reduce noise. It's not just covering up the noise with the hiss. If you wear them with the power turned on, and no music playing, you can definitely hear outside noises get much quieter. They completely block out sounds of things like cars and buses and air conditioners. And I would estimate that they cancel half of the noise on a jetliner.
But for listening to music in a quiet environment they are not so great, because of the hiss.
Despite the flaws, they are the lowest priced noise canceling phones I could find, and they do cancel noise very well, so I gave them a 4.


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