Labs

Maxell's lightweight folding HP/NC-III headphones have a noise-cancelling unit attached halfway along their cable. It's a bulky device that takes two AAA batteries. The headphones are light and comfortable to wear, if a bit flimsy. The only extras are an aeroplane adaptor and drawstring travel pouch.

Noise cancellation blocked out low consistent hums such as that of our air conditioner, but the lightweight earpieces did nothing to prevent us hearing other background noises. The faint hiss produced by the noise-cancelling circuitry gave us a slight headache. Bass tones sounded more powerful when it was switched on, but there was a harsh edge to mid-range tones, plus an increase in volume and a serious problem with sound leakage.

These headphones are inexpensive for active noise-cancelling headphones and sound reasonable with noise cancelling switched off, but the noise-cancelling circuitry spoilt the audio quality. We suggest spending more on Maxell's HP-NC18 noise-cancelling earphones.