Design and features:The closed design and electronic noise-canceling feature of this Bluetooth wireless home/studio-style over-ear model reduce both outside noise and sound leaking out into your environment. The headphones work with or without the noise-canceling feature being turned on. You can use the noise-canceling feature without listening to music, and the audio cable can be detached to get it out of the way when the headphones are being used for noise reduction only. The headphones have very high sensitivity when the noise-cancellation feature is turned on so they can provide satisfying volume levels when used with home audio equipment and even lower-powered portable audio devices. When the noise-cancellation feature is turned off they have medium sensitivity; so they can provide satisfying volume levels when used with home audio equipment and all but the lowest-powered portable audio devices. The Aurvana Platinum has a built-in microphone and volume, music player function, and call connect/disconnect controls that work with paired Bluetooth devices. Additional features include three manually selectable levels of active noise cancellation, spoken noise cancellation and battery level status announcements, NFC Bluetooth pairing, voice activated dialing, the ability to simultaneously connect two Bluetooth source devices, the Creative ShareMe feature which allows two Creative wireless headset with the ShareMe feature to be connected to the same Bluetooth source device, and earcups swivel to flat for ease of storage/transport. This model comes with a detachable 49-inch long audio cable for wired use, a USB charging cable, a mini-plug-to-airplane-jack adapter, and a carrying pouch.
Sound quality: We found the Aurvana Platinum delivers good overall sound with a warm character and excellent active noise reduction. In Bluetooth mode with the noise-canceling feature turned on the bass has good impact and goes somewhat deep, but is murky. Midrange is muffled and dark. Treble is recessed and upper treble is rolled off. The sound is closed-in with so-so dynamics. When the noise-canceling feature is turned off the sound quality is similar except the midrange is less muffled. When wire connected with the noise-canceling feature turned on the sound is very similar to wireless operation with noise-canceling turned on, and when the noise-canceling feature is turned off the sound quality is similar to wireless operation with the noise-canceling feature turned off. These headphones provide excellent noise reduction on a wide range noise; there is a very faint hiss 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. The ear pads might feel hot and/or sticky after prolonged use.
