Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jun 4, 2016 20:46:36 GMT
I got my hands on a 100abn and you know, I got a very pleasant surprise.
The little paper handbook states moonshine ..... 5hz - 40,000 but when I first saw it, I looked inside the cups and saw the same driver as my mdr-1a which I like a lot. They're angled and there are pleather pads which just about surround my ears. A bit tight for space, but the ears are in!! Clamping is pretty strong but it cuts out quite a bit of noise. Impedance is 32 ohms and 16 ohms with unit turned off via wire. Sensitivity is 103 db/mW with cable and 98db/mW with the unit turned off. With an IPod, it is very loud.
It's not cheap and is a direct contender with the qc25. I compared directly. I prefer the Sony with NC on.
It's more versatile. With wire you can turn the headphone off so it's just a standard closed headphone. Then you can switch NC in with wire. It can be used with Bluetooth 4 as a closed headphone or Bluetooth with NC switch on and there's less mid bass bloom.
So there are quite a few choices as to how you listen with regard to wire and NC. You don't get this with the Bose. The Sony is slightly better with wired connection but very close to Bluetooth. Sound is better with the NC switched on though. The treble is a bit sharper with the circuit switched in. With the circuit off, treble is curtailed and bass becomes a bit muddy.
I am so used to making compromises for Bluetooth and NC and forgive headphones if they don't sound quite as good as a standard headphone so that really, I'm kind of geared up for a drop in sound quality. These sound quite good. In fact, when I first heard them, I couldn't believe that I was listening to them via Bluetooth with NC on. The sound is better than I'm used to on these kind of headphones.
Treble doesn't dominate but neither does the bass. It's pretty balanced with a slight bass lift. Voices sound fine and don't boom. I'd say that the sound is relaxing for long term listening. The drivers on the 1a and this one are the same I think and the 100abn seems pretty good to me. A little bit of congestion with NC off but perfectly listenable.
With NC, I instantly listen out for noise. Hiss is absolutely minimal. As low as the QC25 and the clincher for me......The NC takes out just as much noise as the Bose. IMO, the Sony is built better and quite honestly, this headphone is going to get a lot of everyday, wandering around the house use. It's coming with me to America on the plane.
The mdr-100abn has a good enough sound to listen to long term. It's pretty balanced. The Bluetooth is rock solid and I'm able to walk upstairs and they continue to work flawlessly. Tomorrow, I'll try a walk down the garden. The NC is impressive. Low noise and really effective at pushing out low frequency noises. (Not high pitched noises) with them on, I can barely hear the tv and the noise of the kettle is virtually gone.
On first use, I sat in the Bluewater eating area which can be like a mad house with noise. Put on the headphone and listened to my iPod at just under third volume using NC and Bluetooth. If anyone has an IPod Touch, you'll know just how low this is!! I could listen easily right in the middle of that eating area and also in the car while my wife drove. They really work and I'm very impressed.
Just the hardware .......
It comes with a nice hard case. USB charging cable and an audio cable for normal listening without electronics. You can control volume and pause on the right earcup. You can switch Bluetooth and/or NC on or off on the left earcup.
A really useful piece of kit. IMO, preferable to the Bose qc25 as well. This kind of technology is really beginning to develop into something that's actually useful.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jun 5, 2016 8:11:10 GMT
Woke up this morning and used the headphone to watch something on the IPad. Switched to music and wandered off downstairs with it playing and charging in the bedroom. Bluetooth worked without a murmur and no cutting off or weak spots. Went down to the kitchen, still fine. Into the downstairs shower/loo, still fine. The wife had a shower downstairs and we have a 'power' shower which makes a noise so I switched NC and the sound of the motor was gone and I could still listen at low volume.
Later, I'll try a wander out into the garden, but so far, these Sonys are impressive. Sound is pretty good and the Bluetooth locks in solid.
This one is going to get a lot of use just because it's so convenient.
I can even stop, skip tracks or adjust the volume remotely as well.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jun 5, 2016 10:07:25 GMT
Coverage in the garden was good. Used the lawn mower blissfully unaware of the motor. Sat on the decking and can't hear cars or airplanes. Could be a killer when crossing the road.
The NC is excellent.
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jello
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Post by jello on Jun 5, 2016 10:12:02 GMT
They sound pretty good.
I looked at their wired counterparts before the MDR-1A. From what I could gather they were essentially a more balanced (less bass) version of the 1A and it sounds like they've retained that tuning with the 100ABN.
Quite a price difference between the 2 models of course but from your impressions it seems they don't come with as many compromises as the average BT / NC phones. Might set up an alert on camelcamelcamel and see if prices move some as I think they're not long on the market.
I take it you could use these with a PC too via some kind of USB dongle?
I got some cheap NC earbuds bundled with the Z2. I used to use them in the garden and they did a similar job of blanking out the lawnmower noise even at low volumes. It's funny because it didn't always seem like they were doing much but when the NC stopped the benefits were quite obvious. Almost like pulling your fingers out of your ears.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jun 5, 2016 11:09:34 GMT
My computer has Bluetooth as well as the IPad and IPod, Mark. If not, then a wired connection with NC on or off is fine. We're not talking proper hifi here. Not with the Bose qc25 either, but IMO, this is a better buy and when I compared how effective the NC was, it was just as good as the Bose. It seriously takes noise out to the point where I can't hear cars or planes in the garden. I have a driveway up the side of the house and when the wife drove in earlier, I heard nothing from a distance of 10 feet. They really do the job. Differences between wired and Bluetooth aren't that big either. Pretty impressive really. You just press a button and a voice even tells you the state of the battery. I have to say, I'm absolutely delighted with them. Been listening now for three hours and I'm just oblivious to the outside world. The funny thing was that Helena saw me discussing these with a shop assistant and comparing. I told him that I felt they were a much better buy in terms of usability and absolutely comparable in sound. She must have heard me. When I got home with her and Lucy, it was in the boot of the car. She'd bought it for me!! I'm very lucky in that respect. She has no qualms about headphones, speakers or anything like that. She'd rather I bought hifi than fags or beer. I don't smoke and don't actually drink a lot. If I drink, I have to use one eye after the second drink!!! Never been drunk either!!!! So I'm very lucky with the missus!!! These are proper travelling headphones with no real compromises TBH so they will be coming with me to USA in the Summer.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jun 5, 2016 11:21:48 GMT
Here he is ...... Sitting on the decking using them wired to save power!!! Took this 5 minutes ago. Glorious weather today.
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jello
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Post by jello on Jun 5, 2016 11:39:15 GMT
You're a lucky man Ian. Best I can hope for is that my wife turns a blind eye to anything headphone related I am pleased to see that you didn't go for the horrid yellow. Although come to think about it they might be a lifesaver for those who regularly cross the road with NC on.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jun 5, 2016 12:50:15 GMT
Helena was thinking about colours because she did ask me what I would get before she bought them. I had no idea what she was doing.
I stayed with black because I don't want to be noticed!!
You really don't hear a lot through them and that could be dangerous. I just cut the grass with them going and I didn't really notice the lawnmower that much either. Just a slight whirring in the background.
Quality of sound seems fine for what they're designed to do as well. I quite like them and I trust the build more than the Bose.
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Crispy
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Madrigal music is playing - Voices can faintly be heard, "Please leave this patient undisturbed."
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Post by Crispy on Jun 5, 2016 19:40:08 GMT
Here he is ...... Sitting on the decking using them wired to save power!!! Took this 5 minutes ago. Glorious weather today. You won't believe it Ian but you are the spitting image of my ex neighbour Kevin, who only moved house a couple of months ago (spooky) Yeh glorious weather here too
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jun 5, 2016 20:07:18 GMT
Ooh blimey.... I'd better make sure ...... That is definitely my face!! I'm a bit chilled out in the garden here so I might actually look happy!! Don't want another identity crisis..... It's me for sure!!!! Starting to look a bit older but definitely me.. Frans can confirm this!!!! Actually, so can Aakshey!!! Really enjoying the Sonys which is quite funny. Never really liked any Sony until I met the mdr-1a and now this one. Battery life is terrific.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jun 6, 2016 8:02:19 GMT
Used them all day yesterday on and off for breaks and the battery has stayed really high. I really like the versatility that these give, let alone the sound which really isn't bad. Bluetoothed to iPod and iPad. With and without NC as needed. Bluetoothed to Kindle Fire to watch a film while the wife watched to. Bluotoothed to my dab radio via a sender from the headphone out this morning. Bluetoothed to my phone to continue listening to the radio and phoned the wife at work. Wired to my Fiios and then connected a Bluetooth sender. This is going to get a lot of use just because it leaves you more mobile and the sound isolation is frighteningly good. Sitting here in the kitchen, listening to the radio with the dish washer going and can't hear a thing!! (Except the radio) With the Fiio, there is a line out but I think that the output is a fraction too high for my audio sender. I become aware of compression and a bit of pumping, but from headphone out, everything is fine. It's an aptx sender so quality is pretty good as well. That's kind of halfway between ordinary Bluetooth and Sony's own system which is very high res. If you have a Sony player, you can take advantage of the really high resolution that their own system offers. I wish I could find an equivalent sender but there aren't any!! www.trustedreviews.com/sony-mdr-100abn-h-ear-on-wireless-reviewI agree with quite a lot of what the reviewer says. To me, the NC was virtually equal to the Bose but he felt that the Sony lets in more mid and treble sound. In use, I'm totally oblivious to the outside and even use them with it switched off quite happily. Been using them pretty heavily now for two days and battery is now at medium!! I turn NC on and off as needed while listening. What I also find surprising is the bass, which can be quite potent given that it's a Bluetooth headphone, although I am using aptx. Interestingly, they sound better wireless than wired. Via a direct wired connection, they become a little more thick sounding and really, I think that wired is only therefor when you're out of power. Bose are bringing out an equivalent - QC35 at £289.95 with no aptx facility which is a pity.
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jun 21, 2016 8:27:19 GMT
Lachlan rates the qc35 as a better headphone in everything except sound. I don't agree with everything that he says TBH; especially with what he calls 'chirruping' sounds from the circuit. I don't get this on mine and I wonder whether it was something to do with his computer. I get a slight hiss but nothing stronger.
Still use this one a lot. The NC and wireless aspect is SO useful in all kinds of places.
The Sony is a bit cheaper in the UK. Another worry that I had about the Bose was the connections to the earcups. In the shop, the headphone that I tried had one cup that was dead. I spoke to a tech guy and he said that they had loads returned with the same fault. That kind of put me right off.
He thinks that it might be to do with the bending of the cups inwards when you stack them away affecting a wire in there. Apparently, loads of Bose QC's have shown the same fault which isn't funny at £260 or more for the QC35.
As far as noise goes, I thought that the Sony and Bose were similar but that might be my 62 year old ears......
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jello
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Post by jello on Jul 23, 2016 10:23:30 GMT
The Amazon price dropped so I decided to give these a try Ian.
Initially impressions of how they sounded were a bit disappointing but that was sat in front of my PC last night. Where of course I'd be reaching towards some wired cans.
Using them around the house and garden today though and things make much more sense. For more casual listening they actually sound really quite good and I'm enjoying the freedom of not being tethered to a phone or computer. As you say they're not hi-fi but quite pleasant to listen to and better than I expected (although you had warned me to keep my expectations in check).
Not bothered to try them in wired mode yet but notice very little difference in sound quality over bluetooth when NC is switched on or off. The NC seems very effective and with the oven going and the washing machine doing a spin cycle I could hear very little aside from a gentle swoosh and didn't need to turn up the volume to compensate. Hiss between tracks is also negligible to my middle aged ears.
Wireless range also seems excellent so long as there are no brick walls in the way. If I stick my phone on the kitchen window sill I can go to the foot of the garden 20m or so away and there are zero hiccups. But if there is a brick wall in the way things start to break up approx. 10m from the house if I turn my head left or right. If I keep my back to the house though there are no skips.
I've also noticed that wind can play havoc with the NC. I get a whooshing wind tunnel effect if the breeze blows over the NC mics. Not an issue when the wind isn't blowing or when used wireless with the NC off.
Minor niggles though and I'm really just testing the boundaries.
Comfort seems really good although I think the pads may be a bit smaller than the MDR 1A so a bit less room for ears inside.
Overall pretty pleased and I can see me using these a lot. It's amazing just how liberating it is not being encumbered by a physical connection to my phone!
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Jul 23, 2016 11:10:03 GMT
Yes, they're a convenience headphone rather than Hifi Mark. Nice deal too.£50 cheaper than Helena paid!! I won't say too much though.
Wired, with the electronics off, they're sh1t. Just a standby if you run out of power. I think with these kinds of headphones, the company tunes them with the circuit on rather than off. With it switched in, they work really well I think.
Definitely coming with me to America. They'll zap the engine out.
By the way, I always find Amazon customer support brilliant. Just received a faulty case for a GoPro type camera. Got a really poor response from the seller who weren't Amazon so Amazon intervened and told me to buy another one. They'd send it out so that I could swap the broken bits and send them back to the company and they'd reimburse me for the first one.
Very good when things go wrong.
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jello
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Post by jello on Jul 23, 2016 11:34:33 GMT
Apologies for all the typos - corrected now. Was typing this up when my Mum popped in for a visit so pressed send and figured I'd sort out the mess after Yeah, when they fell £50 I decided it was time to give them a go. Going on my brief time with them I think they'll be great for flying. Whilst I'm not so keen on some aspects of Amazon's business practices you can't fault their customer support. Called on their help a few times over the years and they've always been great and seem to take a common sense approach to resolving issues.
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