| 09 JULY 2005 |
| AKG K 28
NC Noise Cancelling Headphones |
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Noise cancellation technology is
ideal in situations where there is a lot of ambient noise.
Ambient noise is basically the surrounding noise of the
environment. This is can be easily associated to the
situation of inside an airplane. In an airplane, you hear
the loud grumbling of the wind and possibly the engine noise as
well.
Although there are existing noise cancelling headphone products
on the market, there always comes a product that is more
innovative than the previous. AKG has released their own
set of noise cancelling headphones. These foldable
headphones are compact and don't sacrifice much in sound
quality. Although the headphones may feel somewhat brittle
in its folded position, these headphones overcome many of the
weaknesses seen in other existing noise cancelling headphone
products.
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The product is composed of the
headphones and the noise cancelling unit. As you can see,
the headphones are foldable so that they take up the least space
possible in your bag. The headphones are connected to a
small noise cancelling unit no larger than a large pack of gum.
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In it's folded position, one
earpiece faces up and the other side faces down. The edges
of the earpiece are against each other near the center of the
headband. The earpieces are bent with the small hinges at
each side of the headband. |
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Right above the hinge is a
small piece of black foam sticking out that serves more than one
purpose. One purpose is allow some cushioning against the
head. It is also used as a sort of grip to expand the
length of the headband. This is done by grabbing the foam
on both sides and pushing it upward to extend the length of the
headband. At full length, the foam pieces will meet at the
centre of the headband. The extension of the headband does
require two hands because you will need to keep hold of the
moving foam pieces.
The headband
is made of a durable and flexible metal that is able to resist a
lot of bending and twisting.
One important thing I noticed about the headphones is the
material of the pads intended to go against the ear. These
pads are comfortable, yet resistant if you have oily oil or
sweat a lot. Unlike softer materials that I have seen,
these ear cushions will not soften too much over time.
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The noise
cancelling unit is a very simple unit. It only has an
on/off switch on the side. When the switch is turned on,
an LED at the front of the unit will light up.
The back of the
unit has a nice little clip that will allow you to clip this
onto your belt, pants, or even your shirt.
Amazingly, these noise cancelling headphones only require a
single AAA battery and claim up to 40 hours of battery life.
I was able to claim close to that advertised 40 hours at around
35 hours of continuous use. When using it through a
real-world situation where the unit is turned on or off when
needed, I was able to get a little less than my initial 35
hours.
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Included with the product is a small
carrying bag that allows you to fit the headphones inside.
The bag is stretchable because the headphones will go beyond the
size of the carrying bag sometimes. The bag isn't of the
greatest quality, but I am glad that is was included with the
product.
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Because AKG expects many to use this
on an airplane, they have included an adapter that will allow
you to use it on an airplane. Another adapter is included
with will allow you to use the headphones with Hi-Fi equipment
or devices. Unlike the Bose
QuietComfort 2 noise cancelling headphones, you do not have to
enable the noise cancelling ability in order to hear sound from
the headphones. With these headphones, you can hear sound
whether the noise cancelling technology is on or off. When
trying the noise cancelling properties in a large noisy library
room filled with people, I noticed that the noise cancelling was
able to lower the overall sound of the ambient noise of people
talking, shuffling their papers, etc. The noise cancelling
does not really cancel out someone's voice at all if they are
near you and talking.
Overall, I was impressed with the
sound quality that these headphones have to offer. The
strong bass in these headphones were unexpected, yet pleasant
and enjoyable with music. Because these headphones are
light, you will be able to get used to these headphones quite
easily for long periods of time. |
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| Conclusion |
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The AKG K 28 NC noise cancelling
headphones have a lot to offer at an affordable price.
These typically retail at around $149. These headphones
are great to use whether it be in an airplane or in a large
noise room. The noise cancelling abilities will help
deaden the ambient noise and allow you to focus better on the
music, but will not suppress all ambient noise. The sound
quality of these headphones also do offer a lot to the listener
allowing you to hear even the low frequencies well. It
would have been better if AKG made the headphones fold into a
resting position.
Reviewed by
ronald@digitalreviews.net
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