Design and features:The headphones work with or without the noise canceling feature being turned on. You can use the noise-canceling feature without listening to music. These headphones can be used wirelessly with Bluetooth devices or can be cord connected. When cord connected they have medium-high sensitivity regardless of whether the noise canceling feature is turned on or off or if they are powered or not, so they can provide satisfying volume levels when used with home audio equipment and even lower-powered portable audio devices. The QuietPoint ATH-ANC 700BT has an integrated microphone and touch sensitive volume, music player function, and call connect/disconnect controls that work with paired Bluetooth devices. It also has a touch sensitive noise cancelling on/off control. This model comes with detachable 47-inch long standard audio cable, a USB charging cable, and a carrying pouch.
Sound quality: We found the QuietPoint ATH-ANC 700BT provides Very Good active noise reduction and that the sound quality was pretty much the same when the noise cancelling feature was turned on in the Bluetooth or the wire connected mode. When the noise cancelling feature is turned on it delivers sound quality that falls in the Good range - it reproduces music and voice reasonably well despite the obvious shortcomings in its sound. The overall sound can best be summarized as somewhat plasticy and a bit boomy. Bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes deep, but is a bit prominent and boomy. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) has a noticeable plastic resonance (something like what you would hear if you talked into a semi-rigid plastic cup), is somewhat nasal, and is a bit hazy. The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is somewhat sizzly (sounds that should have a delicate shimmer have a sound reminiscent of bacon frying) and the upper treble is muted. While the sound has a good sense of liveliness it is somewhat closed-in (sound-wise it is somewhat obvious that you have something covering your ears). When the noise cancelling feature is turned off in the Bluetooth or cord connected powered mode, or the headphones are used in the cord connected mode with the power turn off, the sound quality degrades to fair; the overall sound becomes more plasticy, nasal, and congested. These headphones provide Very Good noise reduction. When the noise is coming from the front the noise reduction is fairly even across most of the frequency range with low frequencies reduced the most. When the noise comes from the sides or rear the low frequencies are reduced less and the noise reduction is more even across the frequency range, but the overall noise reduction, although still in the very good range, is than when the noise is coming from the front. When the noise canceling feature is turned on there a slight "rushing" noise is audible that can be heard in quiet environments when there is no audio program material to mask it.
Comfort: We found that these headphones produce a sense of moderate pressure around the ears. As typical of over-ear models the pads might feel hot and/or sticky after prolonged use. Users with larger ears might find that the over-the-ear fit of the earpads feel cramped, or that the earpads sit on, rather than around their ears, and that the less-than-ideal fit around the ears interferes with the earpad seal and reduces the noise reduction capabilities of the headphone. Incidental contact with the touch controls on the left outer earcup can cause unintentional playing or pausing, track skipping, or volume level changes; operation of the noise cancelling function on/off touch control was erratic in its response and also subject to unintentional operation because of incidental contact. Some users, especially those with smaller heads, might find that the headphones feel unstable and shift forward a bit and may even fall off when they lean far forward. When wearing this model while walking the vibrations from each foot step can be heard faintly through the headphones.
