Denon AH-NC800 Advanced Noise Canceling Headphones (Black)

I recently decided to replace my aging earbuds with some quality sounding travel friendly headphones. My father wouldn't let me be cheap and take his QC15, so I simply decided on getting my own pair. Since I'm a college student I wanted something I could carry around and wear on the flights. I ran across these off a recommendation from HeadRoom and decided that they seemed to fit the bill. After a few weeks here's my opinion.> Sound Quality (Great):This is one of the big selling points of these headphones. To those who haven't owned high end (~$200+) headphones before, this will definitely be a step up. The sound is fairly spacious and detailed. While several travel headphones usually offer a more colored sound, these stick to the reference style of giving even balance to all types of input. Denon is widely lauded as the kings of closed back sound, and it really shows here. At this price range however, you'll definitely find better sounding headphones, such as the D2000 or AKG Q701. However, I haven't seen a travel friendly model sounding better than this one, and very very few closed back versions. Definitely a richer sound than the QC15 and a more balanced sound that Beats which is more colored to favor certain music. I'd wager it is even with the cheaper Audio Technica ATH-M50.To people who buy these, I'd recommend some burn in time first. For my pair they started off sounding somewhat muffled and quiet unless I really turned up the volume. After some hours of listening they seemed to, for lack of a better term, loosen up and sounded much better, and didn't need quite as much power. I know the concept of burn in is a somewhat controversial one, but I felt that it was somewhat true in this case, though not in my other headphones.> Noise Cancellation (Poor):This is certainly not the highlight of these headphones. The noise cancellation is very good at getting rid of certain very specific sounds (like a refrigerator or an air conditioner), but seems to be engineered to be less intrusive than on other noise cancelling headphones. Some might not even be able to discern that it cancels anything. It also produces an audible hiss, which is present in nearly all noise cancelling devices, but especially true in this one. You do get very good battery life, and I estimated mine at going around 38 hours on one battery. The slight advantage here is that you don't feel the pressure on your ear as much as if you were wearing the Bose QC 15 (which definitely feels heavy after a few hours to me), but whereas the Bose do a fantastic job in cancelling airplane/keyboards/footsteps/low frequency noise, the NC800 are simply not a worthy set in this area alone.> Audio Restorer (?)- In addition to the noise cancellation, there is another feature called audio restorer. In theory it is supposed to improve the sound of low quality sources. I don't know about quality, but it does use battery power to give you some extra volume, which is useful if your portable music player doesn't have a very strong output. By and large I myself never touch this feature, since the volume boost also happens with noise cancelling turned on.> Features (Good):These were the real reason why I purchased these instead of the Denon D2000. Noise cancelling headphones by definition come with some attractive features. First, the most delicate and likely to break part of any headphone is the cable. Here, we have 2 detachable/replaceable cables of varying lengths that ensure you won't accidentally bend the jack or tear the cable and have to send it back. Second, the fold-able design allows for great portability. It fits into a very compact case, and since it folds both sideways and inward, it has a smaller profile than the Bose QC15. Lastly it comes with a very solid hardback case which is convenient and fairly compact.The big advantage to these over some other competing noise cancellation models is the ability to play music without noise cancellation. Your battery can be dead and the headphones will them simply be headphones, unlike Bose where a dead battery is a dead headphones.> Comfort (Great):Another big selling point here is the comfort of these headphones. Definitely a lighter and softer fit than the Bose in my opinion. The pads are a memory foam type of material and are immensely soft when they arrive and even softer a week later. To me personally they don't feel heavy, though it should be noted that any noise cancelling headphone will be heavier than most normal ones. It is somewhat uncomfortable when wearing glasses, but I have yet to find a set of headphones that don't have this problem.Do note that just like most headphones with leather pads, they may feel hot and sweaty after a while depending on your skin and your environment. This was a minor issue when I was sitting outside on a sunny day and once sitting in an car, but otherwise I haven't noticed any regular issues.> Conclusion:So why did I buy these? Incredible sound in a travel friendly package. I also really wanted the detachable cable as two of my headphones have suffered a broken cable at the hands of some careless roommates. Treat it as if the noise cancellation feature were absent as I really don't know that anyone will find it satisfactory or even on par with competing models.I also purchased these used from Electronics Expo, but they arrived look brand new in original packaging with not as much a scratch or dent anywhere to be seen. The 170$ price at the time was fantastic putting these in the same range as the Audio Technica M50. Otherwise I might have gone with those instead. All in all I've had a good experience and I feel these would be good for traveling listener who wants a near-audiophile experience.

When I bought these headphones I spent time researching as much as I could. I reviewed the Denon AH-NC800 Advanced Noise Canceling Headphones (Black) against the Bose comparable and Beats and others but those two were the two everyone called out. After an online review of everyone's commentaries I decided the Denon's were the pair for me. My overall view of them is they come out of the packaging as a very nice set of headphones I was very happy to be using. First, what I really liked was the cord is removable and not ridiculously long, they play even if the battery is dead, they fold up very compactly, very comfortable for long periods and they do work really well and the noise cancelling is excellent. The price is a little less than the comparables like Bose and Beats. Now the bad is they are plastic and WILL fall apart and not from abuse, simple wear and tear. The batteries die very fast but I really don't know how long the others last so maybe not a fair comparison.I am a moderate user, ie. once a week at best but also for long periods playing poker, and I will tell you they might be nice to look at and some upsides, but they do not withstand very much wear. The majority of the structure is plastic and its breaking literally all over the structure. I really need to see if I can add pictures to this review as The inside of the slides literally broke apart, I thought it was me at first and maybe I did something but after I Gorilla Glued the piece of plastic back, the opposite side shattered and Glue wasn't enough. I was left with no alternative but to Electrical tape the frame of the headphones. Then I noticed the rest of the plastic frames have cracks all over so every time I electrical tape a part I notice new cracks so I guess I will be able to hold it together with tape for a little while and buy a new set. Ironically, this was the main complaint of the Bose except I don't remember anyone saying they actually broke apart, just seemed cheap plastic.Now 9 months after my purchase I am left with no alternative but to buy a new pair and will now have to re-review what was out there with durability and stronger made parts.