Design and features:0
Sound quality: We found the BT-500ANC delivers sound quality that falls in the fair range - meaning that it has sonic shortcomings that leave a lot to be desired when listening to music but don't rule it out for dialog and communication and excellent active noise reduction. With the noise cancelling mode engaged bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes fairly deep, but is a bit boomy and subdued. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is telephone-like, somewhat hazy and congested, a bit grainy, soft, echoey, and harsh, and has a noticeable plastic resonance (something like what you would hear if you talked into a semi-rigid plastic cup). The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is extended but is somewhat subdued, and a bit smeared and sizzly. The sound has a weak sense of liveliness, it is somewhat closed (sound-wise it's fairly obvious you have something plugging your ears), and the echoey character of the midrange obscures any naturally occurring room ambience from the recording that this model may be recovering. Warmish character. The overall sound can be summarized as telephone-like and plasticy. When cord connected to AC powered devices may produce a noticeable humming and/or buzzing noise when the noise canceling feature is engaged (no hum when NC is off or with portable devices that are not connected to a charger. Noise Canceling: Excellent noise reduction across the entire frequency range with the low frequencies reduced the most. Although there is a bit of a "venetian blind" effect as the sound comes from different directions, the orientation does not significantly change the noise reduction characteristic. A moderately faint rushing sound can be heard in quiet environments when there is no audio program to drown it out.
Comfort: We found that these headphones produce a sense of moderate pressure around the ears. As typical of over-ear models the ear pads might feel hot and/or sticky after prolonged use. Users with larger heads might find that the headband does not have enough adjustment range to allow the earcups rest properly over the ears and/or that the headband presses uncomfortably on the top of the head. Users with larger ears might find that the over-the-ear fit of the ear pads feel cramped, or that the ear pads sit on, rather than around their ears; in that case the less-than-ideal fit around the ears might interfere with the earpad seal and reduce the noise reduction capabilities of the headphone. When wearing this model while walking the muffled vibrations from each foot step can be heard slightly through the headphones regardless of whether the headphones are in noise cancelling mode. When the audio cord is used the sound of it rubbing on clothing may be faintly heard through the earphones.
