Audio-Technica ATH-ANC33iS Quietpoint Active Noise-Cancelling In-Ear Headphones With In-Line Microphone & Control

I had a perfect BOSE headphone but I lost them. Bought these as a replacement because I travel a lot and the airplane engine noise is irritating. These don't cancel it properly, and it seems they depend on a perfect "plug" effect to assist in the noise cancelling. Still have to try them with the "special foam" attachement, hope that works betterSound quality on the other hand is very good

I have a long carpool and also have frequent air travel. I have been using Apple earbuds for the longest time because over-the-ear headphones are too bulky for my taste, and my ears have been intolerant of in-ear earbuds. Recently I realized that I have been turning up the volume too high lately to overcome the high background noise inherent to the Apple earbuds that have no noise isolation, so I started investigating whether there might be an alternative. I was looking for a well-reviewed set of noise isolating earbuds when I discovered that active noise cancelling earbuds were available for $100 or less. I had strong doubts about their performance, but there appeared to be a large number of authentic positive reviews for several brands, so I decided to buy several sets to compare. I figured that I'd keep the best (if they were any good) and give the others to my wife and daughter. :-)I needed earbuds with an integrated mic because I frequently talk on the phone during my carpool, so I ended up purchasing the Huwaei AM185 (most expensive), the Taotronics TT-EP01 (least expensive), and the Audio Technica ATH-ANC33iS earbuds. In terms of general appearance and feel, the Huwaei won hands down. Everything about their feel and appearance is a step-up in quality compared to the other two earbuds. The cord is good quality and doesn't tangle easily, the battery is placed in a reasonably good location, the right angle plug is a nice feature, and the finish of all the parts is excellent. Next was the Taotronics. Despite being the lowest cost by a fair margin, overall build quality was quite acceptable, especially for the price. Key aspects here are that the battery is in an acceptable location, and the product generally doesn't feel cheap. The Audio Technica was definitely at the bottom of this list. They felt cheap in every regard, and the battery was in the least accommodating location.Active noise cancelling performance of the Huwaei and Taotronics was way better than I expected based on the many reviews. Some reviews indicated impressive performance while most others said good reduction but not in the same league as the Bose in-ear. I have never tried the Bose, so I can't compare to those, but the Huwaei and Taotronics do a great job of removing steady background noise, which is their intended purpose. Road noise and HVAC noise are nearly eliminated. I have yet to try in an airplane, but I believe that they'll work great in that environment as well. If these work this well, it makes me wonder how well the Bose work, but I'm not willing to pay $250 to perhaps have only slightly better noise cancellation and possibly poorer low frequency audio quality that has been mentioned in many reviews of their product. The Audio Technica that provided only partial noise cancellation were a distant 3rd place. Many people mentioned white noise when active noise cancelling was enabled, and indeed, I noticed it too. Taotronics had the least amount. Huwaei was a definite notch up in level, and Audio Technica was yet another clear step up. While the Audio Technica white noise was quite apparent, the white noise for the Huwaei was very tolerable.Audio quality was another area where Huwaei and Taotronics were close. Both provided very good sound quality with the Huwaei providing slightly fuller bass response. This is good for music, but for watching movies, the Taotronics might be slightly preferable. Audio Technica were in 3rd place again, but were not far behind.In the comfort category, the Huwaei won hands down. The silicon tips were very supple and quite tolerable to my sensitive ears. Audio Technica includes a pair of Comply tips that work pretty well, but still did not compare to the Huwaei. I really wanted to make the Taotronics work, so I tried a couple of different brands of foam tips, but as with the Audio Technica, foam tips couldn't match the supple Huwaei silicon tips.Another important factor is battery life. In my testing, the Huwaei Li-ion battery had a run time of 4-6 hours matching their advertised value. This was a bit unfortunate because this means that they won't last the duration of a long cross country flight or international flight. The Taotronics Li-ion battery had a much longer life, at least 10 hours. I didn't check to see if they would last their full advertised 14+ hours. Audio Technica uses a AAA battery that is quoted to last as long as 60 hours. Another strike against Huwaei is their charging system that provides recharge power through the audio plug. I understand that this is meant to be a feature when matched with their phones that provide recharge power through the audio jack, but for the rest of us, it’s a problem. Huwaei provides a USB-A adapter that allows the earbuds to be charged using a standard USB-A port, but the earbuds can't be used at the same time. What they should have done was provide a power injector adapter with both a USB input and audio plug that allows power to be fed into the earbuds via USB while still plugged into an audio source. I thought such a product should exist, but so far, I have not been able to find one. If anyone knows of one, I'd love to have the details. Another positive note for the Taotronics in the area of recharging is that they can be simultaneously charged and operated.One final comparison is on indications of long term durability. I think the Huwaei will do well here. Everything feels nice and durable, and the silicon tips are very firmly attached, so it’s unlikely that they will be accidentally removed. Several people mentioned defects appearing early with Taotronics, and it happened to me as well. Almost from the first use, the noise cancelling performance of the left ear was noticeably weaker than the right ear. It was somewhat intermittent with it predominantly being weaker.My overall thoughts are that the Audio Technica are totally out of contention. However, I couldn't say there was a clear winner. There are definite strengths and weaknesses for the Huwaei and Taotronics that make it impossible to consider one to be an absolute winner. I had to go with Huwaei because of my ears, but I'm not happy about the relatively short battery life combined with the inability to use and charge at the same time. If my ears could tolerate a wider range of tips, I would have tried to make the Taotronics work because they have great potential value. An important factor would be long term durability, and for Taotronics, that seems questionable.This review is posted in the review section of each of these three products.Here are my bullet notes on each product as I worked through my comparisons.Huwaei- Good noise cancellation- Minimal white noise, higher frequency- Moderate passive noise isolation- Good overall job of background noise reduction- Good quality- Most comfortable (beating silicone and Comply tips used in other earbuds)- Battery location acceptable, but does feel like it pulls a bit on the earbuds.- Cord does not tangle easily- Volume control not working on MacBook Pro but works on GN5- Possibly shortest battery life (reported to be 4-6 hours)- Stereo jack-based charging only works on a few devices- Cannot simultaneously use and charge on devices that do not support stereo jack-based charging. Bad for long flights.- Good overall sound quality with or without active noise cancellation- Best sound of the group.- Requires higher volume setting for equivalent sound level.Taotronics- Good noise cancellation- Minimal white noise, lower frequency- Substantial passive noise isolation- Most quiet environment due to greatest level of passive noise isolation- First pair had only partial noise cancellation in left ear- Quality feels reasonably good, esp for $45 earbuds- Supplied earbuds not comfortable- Grippy earhook makes insertion difficult. Much easier to insert with earhook removed.- Battery location acceptable- Cord tangles easily- Volume control works on MacBook Pro and GN5- Should have good battery life (reported to be 16 hours)- Can charge and use at the same time, but should not be necessary.- Good overall sound quality with or without active noise cancellation- Mid-low frequency response slightly lacking (slightly lacking full sound)Audio Technica- Least amount of noise cancellation- Most white noise- Minimal passive noise isolation- Least overall background noise reduction- Feels cheap- Includes Comply tips- Battery pack heavy and awkward location- Cord tangles easily- Thumbwheel volume control not easy to use- Will have best battery life (reported to be 60 hours)- Good overall sound quality with or without active noise cancellation- Mid-low frequency response slightly lacking (slightly lacking full sound)

**UPDATE Tuesday 29th of March 2015***They are starting to distort A LOT, and I mean, A LOT the sound. I haven't gone to run with them, I've cared A LOT of them because I loved the quality of sound and the superior active noise cancelling but......what's going on? Are you telling me they work perfectly for just 1 week?**************UPDATE Thursday 31th of March 2015***Sorry guys but they're not the culprit of distortion, it was my BA500 bluetooth receiver. They still sound fantastic and I'm starting to forget I wear them while I study because I love not hearing the cars outside. My home looks straight into Acton lane, just in front of Acton high School, the pleasure of not hearing any of those cars while I'm studying is worth every single penny. I have paired them now with a pair of better than comply tips, quite cheap from Amazon too, the INAIRS AIR2 tips.**************UPDATE: ONE YEAR LATER REVIEW**They are still working, so as much as I hate the build quality and considering they've gone with me to the Hackney half-marathon, is a LOT to say.**********************This is a 101 reviewing for this 1st in the list reviewers I so many times see on this products while at the same time I give my own.1.ANC: When reviewing a noise cancelling headphones people are paying a PLUS for the noise cancellation, therefore it doesn't matter if it's 20 or 300 pounds, they want to know whether it works or not.THIS PRODUCT: It works.How properly it works: Well, I went to youtube on the laptop, I found a video of the engine of a plane with high quality sound, then another random one with chatter. The engine is reduce from 100% to 5%. The chatter let's say to 30%. I didn't expect the chatter to be reduced at all. But that's the main reason I bough it. I study in my kitchen and my partner is too noisy, plus the washing machine is here too. This is London, I'm not wasting my time commuting back and forth a proper university library to have some REAL silence.2.PRICE: Inexpensive. Could you guys please stop comparing them with Bose and saying pointless stuff like "that's what you get for the price" because "that" means nothing. I want to know what I get for the price, I want to know EXACTLY what do I get for the price. This are expensive if we do not consider the ANC. It's a 54 pounds (at least right now) earplug with ANC and no bluetooth, no nothing else than ANC. What you do pay is for the active noise cancellation. I do have tested Bose and it goes in pair with them, not close, in pair. That's a lot to say.3.SOUND QUALITY: If you want to really be a good reviewer don't play Britney bloody Spears, find this in Spotify: "Antiphon" by "Hidden Orchestra" and put it loud. You want a proper mixture of volume, instruments and effects so you can hear low range, mid range and high pitch. The lows (bass) are realistic, with this I mean they sound as they're supposed to, they're not exaggeratedly amplified as if you were a 16yo with a car trying to impress your mates by creating an artificial earthquake 200 metres around you. The mid range and high pitch sounds are very accurate. If sound quality was measure from 0 to 100% let's say this ones are around 75 to 85% and I don't give a 100% to anyone.4. BUILT & DURABILITY: There's plenty of room for improvement. They could have done flat cables, the battery compartment could have been instead a USB rechargeable battery. Also the idea of having a wheel to turn up or down the volume is very 20th Century. I would possibly care this earphones much more than I do with others not because of the built but because of their price and functionality. None of my current others have ANC, nor the sound THIS good. Comfort is excellent. This is one of the reasons I went for this, I hate on-ear headphones because mines are Dumbo sized.5. CONCLUSION: You spend 54 pounds to have real ANC and excellent quality of sound. In that department the product is exactly what you pay for. If you want design you have to give up ANC, if you want bluetooth do as I did, in this same marketplace there's an excellent product called DBPOWER bluetooth receiver. Attach it to this earphones and voila! now you have bluetooth for 8 extra pounds.I don't like the built at all, as snob as I am I would have gone for flat wires and changed entirely the battery compartment but I have to compromise because this gives me proper ANC. The built is the reason for the 4 stars.RECOMMENDATION:Do not try to buy any ANC headphones that do not state 90% reduction of noise minimum and even in those cases be doubtful and ready to send them back if they're not fit for purpose.I bought first the 7dayshop bluetooth ones and I ended up VERY VERY VERY disappointed. As I just explained I explicitly wanted this product because of the ANC, if the ANC doesn't work then it doesn't matter how cheap it is it's STILL a waste of money. Those are going back to Amazon ASAP, they aren't fit for purpose. These Audio-Technica are staying with me.Conclusions: I have wasted 8 hours of my life comparing both reviews in here and out in the internet, video reviews and even one that directly put plenty of headphones on a dummy head with microphones in the ears to compare PROPERLY. You guys have to STEP up reviewing, this is shameful reviewing that most of you are doing and because of you the Amazon's reviews cannot be taken seriously.

UPDATE:After 2.5 years, my 4 out of 5 star rating stands. The headphones are starting to wear out semi-regular use. The button to start/stop music no longer works, wires connecting into battery box are a tad frayed, and I don't think the headset works anymore (or, not well). So, these are not indestructible, I would say less durable than other headphones I've had. But still works well (the parts that still work!)._______________________These are good headphones, but a number of improvements could be made to them to make them more user friendly and multi-functional. They improve my listening experience, but I'll be looking for a different model or an upgraded version of these once they wear out someday and it comes time to buy replacements.What's good?- Sound quality is good! Especially with foam tips and noise cancelling on, you get good sound out of these. I'm no audiophile but I think for the price anyone would be happy with the sound quality.- There's a microphone built in so you can use it for calls, and I've had no complaints using it with my iPhone 6- There's a button near the left earpiece (where the mic is) that you can use to answer/end calls on your phone, or can use to play/pause music and audio books. I find it very helpful!- It's great to have volume control and a switch for noise cancelling on the little control box. The volume control is built-in, so it's independent of whatever device it's plugged into.- Nice that it runs off of a single AAA battery, which means easy to pack spares and no need to plug in to recharge. The battery lasts a long time, too, and the headphones will still work even if the battery dies, just no noise cancelling then.- You can buy a variety of foam tips in various sizes and materials, so you can customize the fit and feel of the earbud tips, which is nice.What's just OK?- These do work for some noise cancelling, but they by no means block out ALL sound, not even all the droning/rumbling/repetitive sounds they are designed to block out. I do find a noticeable difference when I flip on the noise-cancelling switch. It's an experience sort of like stepping out of the room at a party and closing the door; you can still hear the party in the background, but it's quieter and muffled and you can hear yourself think a bit better. So, these headphones do help make a plan ride or train ride or just a noise area feel more quiet and peaceful. They just don't work miracles, so don't expect them to.- It's too bad there are no volume controls to adjust a device's volume, though as mentioned the built it volume control works OK for that. It's just not placed as conveniently as it could be (i.e., right next to the mic and play/pause button).- Comfort level is fine. I got some foam tips, which aren't bad. I wouldn't say the comfort level is annoying, but I can always tell I am wearing the headphones. It's possible that with different tips or a different size it would be better?What's bad?- The clip-on battery box, which also has the noise cancelling switch and volume controls, is kind of a pain. The lengths of cord on either end of it means that if my phone is in my pocket, I have to clip the control box on my belt loop or lower part of my shirt, which looks a bit dorky. Functionally it's ok, but the clip is very strong so a bump or tug can make the little box fall loose, which then jolts my ears due to the weight of the battery and control box. It doesn't sound heavy, but when connected to something stuck in your ears, it's not pleasant! I would prefer a control box that I'd leave hidden in my pocket, with volume controls located higher on the cable nearer my head. The cable between control box and ear bud isn't long enough for this, however, at least not when standing/walking.That's really my only big complaint, though of course it would be great if the noise cancelling was more effective. Better noise cancelling and better placement or design of the control/battery box would make these 5-star headphones.

Ich habe mir diesen Kopfhörer gekauft weil längere Reisen anstehen, auf denen ich nachts im Flugzeug sitzen und leise Musik hören möchte, damit ich einschlafen oder zumindest dösen kann. Weil er auf der Außenseite flacher und breiter ist als der Pioneer SE-NC31C-K ist er vermutlich angenehmer zu tragen, insbesondere wenn man mal seitlich an die Kopfstütze stößt.Er muss sich ansonsten mit dem Philips SHE9000 messen, der aus meiner Sicht völlig zurecht auf Platz 1 bei den normalen In-Ears steht; in seiner Preisklasse stellt er die Referenz dar.Haptik:Also ausgepackt - beim ersten Eindruck wirkt er hochwertiger als auf den Fotos. Da sieht's eher nach 15€ Preissegment aus als 50€.Komfort:Erste Anprobe mit den mittleren Gummis: Geht bissl schwieriger rein aber sitzt dann ganz gut. Nicht ganz so komfortabel wie der Philips aber es reicht noch für ne 7/10.Klangprobe:Musikplayer auf dem Handy gestartet, ne Weile mit dem Philips losgehört, dann Wechsel auf den Audio Technica und: OHA, erste Enttäuschung. Er spielt leiser, hat spürbar weniger Bass und -leider leider- deutlich weniger Dynamik, alles klingt "verwaschener". Während man Punkte 1 und 2 noch einigermaßen mit Lautstärke,- und Bass-Boost Regler ausgleichen kann bleibt also der erste fade Nachgeschmack in puncto Klangqualität. Möglicherweise wird's noch besser wenn er mal eingespielt ist. Also hier erstmal nur 5/10.Rauschunterdrückung:Erster Test zu Hause. YouTube am PC geöffnet, eine Videoaufnahme aus einem fliegenden Flugzeug gestartet, Boxen auf LAUT. Kopfhörer auf. Ich kann die andere Rezension bestätigen, ohne aktive Rauschunterdrückung lässt er zu viel Schall durch, mehr als der Philips. Also Rauschunterdrückung an und: WOW! Die versprochenen 90% sind's nicht ganz, aber es ist ein SEHR deutlicher Unterschied; der nächste Flug kann also kommen. :-)Zweiter Test unterwegs. Über eine stark befahrene Straße, unter einer ca. 40m breiten Brücke durch weiter zur Autobahn. Hier mal mit, mal ohne Musik, mal mit und mal ohne Rauschunterdrückung. Extremfall ist unter der Brücke, ohne NC dröhnts und brummts so laut dass man einfach durchrennen möchte. NC an und nur noch ein angenehmes, leises Zischen bleibt übrig. Bei den meisten Fahrzeugen hört man wirklich nur die Reifen, Motorgeräusche sind komplett weggefiltert! An Stellen wo man vorher ohne zu gucken "nach Gehör" die Straße überquert hat muss man jetzt schauen ob ein Auto kommt. Bose und Sennheiser legen hier wahrscheinlich noch ne Schippe drauf, kosten aber auch das fünffache, also gibt's hier ne 9/10.Alltagstauglichkeit:Leider eingeschränkt. Die "schwere" Box mit der AAA Batterie ist leider ungünstig platziert. Im Normalfall hat man die Ohrhörer im Ohr und den Player in der Hosentasche. Dann ist die Box leider auf Brust / Bauchhöhe und zerrt am Ohr. Das untere Kabel ist zu kurz als dass man die Box am Kragen befestigen könnte, das obere Kabel nicht lang genug um die Box in oder an der Hose zu befestigen. Klarer Designfehler, unverständich wie sowas quasi ungetestet in den Verkauf gelangt. Vielleicht haben die Japaner nur zu Hause getestet und nicht mit einem "Standard Westeuropäer @ 180cm".Nun denn, also Handy in den Rucksack, die Box am Schultergurt befestigt, so geht's einigermaßen.Im Sitzen ists auch OK. Die Empfindlichkeit gegenüber GSM-Strahlung kann ich bestätigen, das haben die anderen NC Kopfhörer in der Preiskategorie aber auch. Also: 3/10.Fazit:Aufgrund der Einzelnoten dürfte ich eigentlich nur 3 Sterne vergeben. Er bekommt aber trotzdem 4, weil ich ihn für das Profil "Sitzend auf langen Bus,- Bahn,- oder Flugzeugreisen" angeschafft habe und im Alltag weiterhin den Philips SHE9000 benutzen werde.Für den preisbewußten Reisenden (MP3 Player oder Handy im Flugmodus) ist der Kopfhörer also zu empfehlen, als Haupt-Kopfhörer im Alltag ist er definitiv nicht geeignet.Wenn's nach der Reise nennenswerte Änderungen gab werd ich ein Update nachreichen.

***Sound Quality***These earphones sound perfectly fine. The lows, mids and highs are all nicely reproduced. Bass-heads should be happy. I have no complaints with anything.People who are complaining about the sound quality are probably listening to low quality pirated MP3s. Remember - garbage in, garbage out. Make sure your audio source and music files are of a high quality before complaining about speakers/earphones.Also, in general, you shouldn’t expect ground-breaking performance from any earphones. They’re for listening on the go - which is hardly the ideal listening environment. The fact that you can hear your music over ambient noises (thanks to the NC) and at a decent enough quality should be enough. If your expectations are reasonable, you’ll find these earphones to be exceptional.***Noise Cancellation***The noise cancellation performance is excellent. When you factor in the price, and compare it to the competition, it is good beyond belief.I’ve read some people complaining about the noise cancellation. But that’s to be expected in India. Remember - the earphones cancel out low frequency sounds, not so much high frequency ones. This is by design, and is pretty much the norm for NC earphones. If you’re travelling by plane, this works great, coz it will filter out most of the airplane noise. But in India, where you have shrill high pitch horns blaring constantly in traffic, you will find it isn’t as effective in that context. But for traffic (except horns), trains, the metro, and other low pitch sounds, the noise cancelling works very well. When walking in the city I can actually hear my music above the traffic, and that is such a joy. Same goes for airplane noise - flying is so much more enjoyable with these earphones.***Build quality***Many people seem to be complaining about this. I’m assuming it’s because they’re tying up their livestock with these earphones, and obviously they’re not meant for that. These earphones are not bullet proof, but they’re not worse than anything else out there. If you’re just a bit careful - don’t knock them around, tug at them or swing them around - they will serve you just fine. But if you’re one of those people who keeps dropping your phone and trashing your gear, well, don’t be writing a bad review just because you’re careless.***Overall***I wanted a good sounding pair of earphones with effective noise cancellation. I didn’t want headphones as they are too bulky, I specifically wanted something small and discreet. And these earphones meet all of my requirements. For the price they’re at, they’re exceptional. They’re one of the best purchases I’ve made, and I’d highly recommend them to anyone.***Lastly: It’s far better to have decent sounding earphones with NC, than great sounding earphones without NC. That’s just my experience.Tip: The instruction manual says not to use rechargeable batteries. But they work just fine with them. I’ve been using high quality Sony and Panasonic rechargeable batteries, and they last for ages. Whatever you do, don't use cheap/low quality batteries - it will degrade the NC performance. I imagine many people complaining about these earphones are just using dodgy batteries, and then blaming the earphones!