Product Description

Your Personal Sound Chamber! Award Winning Patented Technology designed to provide superior sound with no distractions. With fifteen International CES Awards, Able Planet is a company founded on the principles of hearing preservation, enhancement and superior sound performance. The secret behind the advanced sound quality is a patented technology called LINX AUDIO.¿ Originally developed for a new generation top-of-the-line hearing aids the LINX AUDIO technology alters the audio signal to increase the intensity of higher frequency harmonics. This makes it easier to hear words, music and sounds. The enhanced audio signal also increases the perception of loudness without increasing volume, providing full rich sound at lower volumes. Imagine being able to listen longer, fuller at lower volumes. Over 10 Million Americans have hearing loss because of excess noise exposure¿now you can do something about it!

Product Details

• Color: Silver
• Brand: AblePlanet
• Model: Sound Clarity
• Dimensions: 8.00" h x 2.00" w x 6.50" l, 12.00 pounds

Features

• Patented LINX AUDIOTM technology provides award winning sound quality
• State-of-the-art active noise cancellation (ANC), to reduce undesirable sounds and background noise Operates as normal headphones when ANC function is turned off, or if batteries run out
• Ideal for creating your own personal space filled with full rich sound or nothing at all
• Lightweight adjustable headband provides superior fit Full-size ear cups with soft cushions swivel for maximum comfort
• In-line volume control enables easy adjustment to safe listening levels for hearing preservation

Amazon.com Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description Able Planet made its mark in the portable audio field at the 2007 International CES trade show, where its Clear Harmony active noise-canceling headphones won an Innovations Design and Engineering award for high-performance audio. Since then, the entire line of Able Planet noise-canceling headphones has won wide acclaim from consumers and experts alike, who rave about the phones' ability to eliminate almost all background noise while offering superior sound quality. These Sound Clarity headphones--which were released in tandem with the Clear Harmony headphones and a third sibling called True Fidelity--are ideal for everything from iPods to home stereos to portable DVD players, with full, rich sound that shuts out such extraneous sounds as airplane engines, bus motors, and background conversations.

The Sound Clarity headphones come with a hard-shell case and several audio adapters

As the mid-level model in Able Planet's noise-canceling line, the speaker components in the Sound Clarity headphones are slightly less sophisticated than those in the Clear Harmony model but slightly more advanced than in the True Fidelity phones. As a result, they're a good choice for consumers who don't want to spend a ton of money on headphones but still want rich clarity and elite noise-reducing performance. The Clear Harmony phones, by contrast, reproduce the most bass of the three, making them ideal for audiophiles who value a robust low-frequency performance and aren't intimidated by the higher price tag. Price-sensitive listeners or people with hearing aids, meanwhile, will likely find the True Fidelity headphones more to their liking. Not only does the True Fidelity model cost less, but it also emphasizes the upper and mid-range frequencies more than the other two, helping hard-of-hearing listeners better enjoy the full audio spectrum while they listen to music or news radio.

Linx Audio Technology
Although the speaker components differ, all three headphones share Able Planet's patented Linx Audio technology. Originally developed for a new generation of top-of-the-line hearing aids, Linx Audio technology alters the audio signal to increase the intensity of higher-frequency harmonics. This makes it easier to hear words, music, and sounds in the higher frequencies where clarity is often lost, while also ensuring that speech and other high-frequency sounds are not smothered by bass tracks. Able Planet compares the results to the difference between hearing a "C" note on a piano as opposed to a "C" chord. The "C" chord, which sounds richer and more complex, demonstrates the impact of adding harmonics to the audio signal.

Listen to the difference between Able Planet's Linx Audio technology and standard audio sources

Linx Audio technology also fits into Able Planet's mission of creating audio solutions for people with hearing disabilities. By filtering undesirable sounds and noise via the state-of-the-art active noise cancellation (ANC) technology, Able Planet headphones encourage users to listen to music at lower volumes to reduce long-term hearing loss. The phones also provide crisp sound for people already suffering from moderate hearing problems, and even accommodate hearing aids thanks to a new technology that restricts electromagnetic interference.

Special Features
Sound Clarity headphones also reduce distortion at higher volumes by soft-clipping the sound wave rather than squaring it off, delivering a full-bodied frequency range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz and an industry-leading 18 dB of active noise cancellation. And as a bonus, the phones offer an inline volume control that makes it easy to turn the volume up or down without reaching for your portable audio device. Other features include a 5-foot removable cord with 1/8-inch, 1/4-inch, and two-prong airline adapters; a lightweight adjustable headband that provides a superior fit; full-size swiveling ear cups with soft cushions; and a hard-shell protective carrying case with a storage area for iPods and other MP3 players.

The headphones--which can be used at home as well as on the road with TVs, computers, portable DVD players, CD players, MP3 players, and assisted listening devices--fold flat for easy storage.

Note: The noise cancellation feature requires two AAA batteries (not included), but can also be turned off should the batteries run down. As a result, users can still listen to music without power, unlike many competing noise-canceling headphones.

What's in the Box
Sound Clarity headphones, removable cord, 1/8- and 1/4-inch stereo adapters, two-prong airline adapter, hard-shell carrying case, user's manual.

Customer Reviews

Very good performance for the $
A colleague let me borrow these for a trip to China -- I already own a pair of Bose QuietComfort 2 headphones, but my wife was using those on the trip. Being able to compare these side by side, I have to say the Bose still win in terms of total noise cancellation. However, for the money, these have very good noise cancellation, plus a couple of features that the Bose do not. These will still operate when the power/noise cancelling is turned off (the Bose don't), and the inline volume control is really helpful so you don't have to fumble for your MP3 player or the airplane seat controls to adjust the volume (again, the Bose don't have this).

For the money, these are a great alternative to the Bose if you're looking for over the ear noise cancelling headphones.

EXCELLENT
I searched for the perfect pair of headphones - I want noise cancelling for use on planes, also want comfort, low price and good sounding. I got what I was looking for with these. This weekend I used them on a plane - noise cancelling off - they worked good - some plane noise but could still clearly hear my dvd. Other headphones I tried including ear buds and Sony and I couldn't hear the dvd over the plane.

Noise cancelling on - I heard no plane noise. i could still hear slightly if they made an announcement but for the most part I just heard the dvd I was listening to.
Batteries (2) go in the earpeice and out of the way. Comfortable on my head. The volume control is also an added plus. A great product.

My sanity is safe, for now...
Ok, first of all I want to point out the price increase on these headphones. I bought them through amazon from the seller atonline_com for $65.60. Now the price is $105.93. Do your research on the price before buying these headphones.

Background information:
I live in a college dorm and my neighbors have a surround sound system so when they play movies I can hear the base thumping every time a car crashes or every boom. I can also hear them talking when they have friends over past midnight. The walls of the dorm are extremely thin and at night sound is magnified as it is. My roommate likes to go to sleep with the tv on low volume at about 11:30pm. I unfortunately have to be up by 6:45am. In an effort to protect my neighbors from myself, my solution was to find a good priced noise canceling headphones that a grad student can afford.

Rating the noise canceling:
When going to sleep with the headphones on I found that I need to either put my hands behind my head or arm over one end of the pillow to keep my pillow from squishing the headphones. (Which, is pretty easy to do and still be comfortable). So last night my neighbors decided to have their friends over and watch movies again. I figured it would be a perfect chance to test the headphones. Without the music but with the noise canceling feature on it took away about 50% of the noise. With the music on it was about 85-90% quieter. Trust me it's a lot easier for me to ignore my neighbors when I only hear about 15% of what I used to hear. For the tv being on, if it is low it completely cancels out the noise with the music on so experiment with the volume when you buy them before deciding if they don't work.

Rating on the music quality:
With the noise canceling feature on these are the highest sound quality headphones I've ever listened to music with. You can hear parts of the song you didn't know were there. I had to go back and listen to my favorite songs to see how they were original supposed to sound with the headphones.