Headfile

The ATH-ANC7 is Audio-Technica’s premier noise-cancelling headphone. Noise-cancelling headphones (active) are now starting to penetrate the mainstream headphone We are seeing the likes of Sennheiser’s PXC series and Bose’s QueitComfort® series being sold in major retailers and the products get regular updates and upgrades.

Active noise-cancelling headphones need an external power source, batteries, and they work fine even without them. How it actually works is that it picks up external noises in the background and negates them with the appropriate frequencies - kind of like the exact opposite of microphones.

Audio-Technica’s ATH-ANC7 is one of the leading players in the active, noise-cancelling category. They are also one of the prettiest I’ve ever seen. I had the chance to try them in my local audio store, and boy, do they sound nice. Especially when you turn on the noise-cancelling switch. If there’s no music playing (just noise-cancelling), it’s like folding your ears forward and enclosing them completely with your palms. You’ll see people moving their lips without hearing anything.

I’ve embedded below a short video review of the ATH-ANC7 made by bluetin.com, a popular Audio-Technica dealer who is based in Singapore.