Sennheiser PXC 450
As promised before I left for vacation in France, here is my review of the Sennheiser PXC 450 Noise Canceling headphones, based on roughly 20 hours of use.
At $399 (street price $300 – $350), the PXC 450 Noise Canceling headphones have a lot of expectations to live up to. Headphones of this sort are usually measured in four categories: comfort, sound, noise canceling ability, and overall value. I’ll try to summarize my thoughts in each of these categories.
Comfort
Sennheiser headphones are well-known in the broadcasting industry for providing excellent sound from a lightweight and comfortable product. Back when I was in radio, I wore headphones eight straight hours a day (plus any extra production that needed to be done). After going through several pairs of Sony’s, I made the switch to Sennheiser at the recommendation of a friend and mentor of mine. I never looked back.
The PXC 450’s aren’t exactly lightweight, but they are lighter than their size would suggest. They are heavily padded both along the earpads and the top of the headband. They don’t exert a lot of pressure on the head, but just enough to say where they are placed. After six hours of use, I did get a bit tired of having them on, but I suspect that would be true of any headphone of this type.
One feature that I really appreciated was the ability to detach the cable and only use the noise canceling feature of the headphones.
On a scale of one (least comfortable) to ten (most comfortable), my rating is: 8.5/10
Sound
It doesn’t matter how comfortable the headphones are if you don’t enjoy listening to them. I was pleased to note that the lack of bass I had read about wasn’t an issue in my set. The trick, as others have noted in their reviews, is to turn the headphone volume control all the way up and then adjust the volume control of the device to which they are connected as needed.
These headphones don’t put out a massive amount of sound — it takes a good amount of input volume to drive them. I’m not saying that a person with normal hearing would find them lacking in output, but just that they don’t provide a lot of headroom that you wouldn’t need anyway. If you bypass the noise-canceling features, they do get a bit louder.
The sound quality of the PXC 450’s was easily as good as the better (not best) headphones I’ve heard. If all you’re used to is the standard iPod earbuds or a $30 set from Wal-Mart, you will be more than thrilled with the sound from the Sennheisers.
My sound quality rating for the Sennheiser PXC 450’s: 9/10
Noise Canceling Ability
This is the part of the review that, in my opinion, separates the men from the boys. I’ll discuss both passive and active noise canceling features independently.
Passive noise canceling refers to the simple dampening of outside noise by putting something into, on, or around your ears. Listen to your environment for a moment, and then put your fingers into your ears. Notice the difference? That’s passive noise canceling.
I thought the Sennheisers did a good, but not great, job at this. It almost seemed at times like the ambient noise was somehow accentuated by putting them on. But that may have been because I was paying more attention.
One critical factor in noise canceling is the quality of seal around the ears. I quickly noticed that more ambient noise would creep in as I turned my head. I found out this was due to a small depression between my neck and my jawline. A re-adjustment of the headphones corrected it, but I thought it worth mentioning.
Active noise canceling is why you’re spending the money: it’s achieved by the use of “anti-noise” being pumped into your ears that is opposite in waveform from the ambient noise picked up by a small microphone built into the headphones. Although it seems somewhat counter-intuitive that more noise actually decreases the overall volume, the principle actually works in practice.
For the most part.
People talking and other environmental noises are not affected by the active noise canceling. Just the constant ambient noises.
I was actually impressed with the noise canceling abilities of the Sennheisers. It reduced the roar of the airplane jet engines and the wind noise to a faint “sssshhhh.” The music or other audio I listened to seemed to push it even further into the background.
After spending around 20 hours in planes going back and forth to France, I was grateful for the noise canceling abilities of the headphones. I think it helped reduce the fatigue of travel, and allowed me to listen to my iPod and the in-flight entertainment system without having to turn them up so loud as to overcome the engines and wind noise.
My rating for the noise canceling abilities: 9/10
Overall Value
I’m glad I purchased the Sennheiser PXC 450 Noise Canceling Headphones. Although they sit unused in my home office most of the time, they will definitely be along with me the next time I travel.
The build quality, accessories (a nice, if a bit large, carrying case, two batteries, audio connector adapters) all add up to a premium experience. I haven’t used competitive products, so I can’t tell you if the same effect — or most of it — can be achieved with less expensive headphones.
One quick note regarding all noise canceling headphones: not everyone’s ears agree with the active noise canceling technology. Some people report feeling a “pressure” or some other discomfort resulting from the anti-noise. While riding the TGV high-speed train in France, I handed the Sennheisers to a friend who described them as “horrible” and did not enjoy the experience at all.
So be sure you can try a pair out before you invest this kind of money, or at least make sure to buy from a store with a favorable return policy.
My rating for the overall value: 9/10
Thank you for reading my review, and I hope it has helped! If you have any questions or feel I left something out of this review, please post a comment below and I will be happy to address it.
