I have been using my old Creative noise cancellation head phone for a few years. It is starting to falling apart after all this years of good service and my abuses from 5 Indian trips. The wire connection is getting lose and sometimes the left side has no sound. It is time to get a new noise cancellation head phone for my yet another India trip.

I have been looking into buying a noise cancellation head phone for quite some time. The offering at Future Shop or Best Buy are limited. They are only selling Sony, Philips, JVC even Maxwell noise cancellation head phones. None of those brands are particularly great and they almost double the price I paid for my old Creative head phone. One day I was having lunch at Broadway and I came across into Headphone Bar, a small shop focus in selling high end head phones. It only sells brands well known among Hi-Fi fans but normally don’t available in chain electronic stores.

Headphone Bar has two new noise cancellation headphones from Audio Technica, which is a well known Japanese band, ATH-ANC27, a bigger cover the ear model and ATH-ANC25, a smaller model. The ATH-ANC27 is pretty expensive but the ATN-ANC25 is only $99, so I decide to give it a try. The moment I put it on, I already like the head phone. The ear mug is very comfortable and cancellation is good. One feature I like is the wire is detachable, so I can just wear the head phone in flight without the wire dangling over me. Since I am flying out in a few days, I don’t have time to order the head phone online or double check its review. I took my chances and bought it right on the spot.

When I got home I checked the internet to confirm my buying decision. It turns out the price I paid is the exactly list price on the web. I can find it less than $10 cheaper on eBay, so the shop does not mark up the price. Then I look at the online reviews, it turns out the ATN-ANC27 is the next generation of ATH-ANC7b and its quality almost on par with the Bose Quietcomfort 3, which is absolutely the best noise cancellation headphone. The ATN-ANC25 is the little brother of ATN-ANC27, the only difference is the padding size and the power of the sound driver. It also has very good review, it is the best noise cancellation in the sub $100 category.

I tried my new headphone on my flight from Vancouver to India. The noise cancellation is better than my old creative headphone. In the old headphone, the static pink noise was very obvious and the new headphone is much quieter. One feature I like is the wire has a volume control, so I can easily adjust the volume. The only complain is the 2-pins to 1-pin in-flight audio adapter is very flimsy. It is broken when I squeezed through the sleeping guy sitting next to me to go to the toilet. The adapter just a piece of cheaper plastic with 2 wires and I can get replacement in HK for less than $3.

Overall, I am very happy with my new noise cancellation headphone. Highly recommended for long flight, it will give you have a good night of quiet sleep.