Hi guys,

First of all, great guide! I made my choice and bought these and I must say, they're excelent!

I had a problem when I first plugged them in and turned on ANR, there was a loud whining noise on the background. After playing around I found out that if I touched the metal on the side or back of my cabinet the weird sound went away.. So, I experimented some more and found out that I had no "ground" on my power box in my room, which means that the light-net will interfear with the headphones and cause the noise when ANR is turned on.

I thought you might want to know this if anyone should ask about it, get ground on your cables! Its not very common here so I dident think much of it, all good now tho, sound is perfect.. again thanks for the great review.

Regards,
Michael

Most of the reviews indicate good sound quality.

Are the Altec Lansing headphones as effective in air travel as the Bose???

Brad used them when we went to Vegas for CES and he said that he was very pleased with them during the flight. He doesn't have any Bose headphones to compare to, though.

yes, with just the phones themselves i noted a very remarkable decrease in the white noise in the plane. if you play music or are watching movies on a laptop (like i was doing) you can't hear a thing. they really made the flight much much easier.

and actually i did get a brief chance to try out the bose ones. the guy next to me on the plane had a set. i couldn't tell much of a difference between the two as far as the ANR goes. i didn't get much of a chance to hear the sound quality of the bose ones as i only had the airline radio playing through them.

also, i had a chance on the CES show floor to try out Sennheiser's noise canceling headsets. they worked very well too, but once again, the difference between the bose, sennheisers and the altec ones was not that great. i would say the sennheisers were the best. one other thing to consider is that the altec ones are larger and more bulky than the bose and much more than the sennheisers. the bose ones fold up a little better than the altec ones.

hope that helps. if you are a frequent airline traveler, any one of these headsets will be a tremendous help. i still can't believe the difference not hearing that jet sound makes. i slept better and was not nearly as weary when i landed.

brad.

How well do these compare with the Sennheiser PXC-250?

hey there
an absolutely fab review! detailed and useful!
have you tried the KOSS QZPro or the Maxell HP/NCII ?
i am about to get a set and was wondering how the AHP712i stand up against the above-mentioned. they will be mostly for use with my IPOD (plus i do air travel frequently) and was wondering what should be my choice. i dont want to spend much because eventually i want to purchase the Bose Quiteomfort (what's your view on them?). Till then, i would like a set below 100USD and effective at giving good sound and ANR. i am very tempted by your skullcrusher review but i dont think i should go for them over the other options (viz. AHP712i, KOss QZPro or Maxell HP/NCII). please revert, your expert guidance will be most useful.
cheers!

Terrific review! Is there any real difference between the AHP712s and the newer AHP712i? I use an IPOD when traveling, is the sound acceptable using the AHP712i?

Hi everybody.I do not speek english very good.So sorry.I have this headphones and i have a question.When I turn on ANR I can hear sssssssssssssssssssss.Is it normal.It is not very loud but I can hear it as long as I turn up the sound.Thank you

Having owned and tried several types of ANR headphones, and being familiar with the technology, I can comment on your static/clipping issue when tapping the earcups. ANR operates by sampling the ambient noise with a small microphone exposed to the outside of the earcup. When you tap the earcup, it sends a shock through the system that is relatively massive compared to the vibrations of normal external sounds. The clipping or static you hear has to do with the system briefly "amping out" for lack of a better term. You've maxed out the input capacity of the mic, and the ANR circuitry will freak out a little bit as a result.

This may not be a problem on all ANR headphones, as each has a slightly different circuitry, and some may be more resistant to large-amplitude vibrations than others. I have tried on the Bose QuietComforts and they sound great, but I never tried tapping on the chassis, so I couldn't tell you if spending $300 cures the amp-out problem.

Hope this helps!

The AHP712 is a good quality ANR headset. I compared them with my friend's Bose and we both agree I made the best purchase. The sound quality is great with an IPOD and has more than sufficient volume. I have worn them on overseas flights and can sleep with them on for hours. I have purchased two of these headsets (the latest is the AHP712i) because the first set broke from normal handling-this is the only weakness of the product that I am familiar with. The plastic swivel broke on one earcup. Although the headset was less than a year old and within the warranty period, Altec Lansing has not honored the warranty. They have sent me a less costly gaming headset as a replacement and will no longer answer my email or return my phone calls. So beware if you need warranty service you may not get it.

good to know. thanks a lot for sharing your experience with altec-lansing.