audio-technica ATH-ANC900BT

The performance and abilities of these top-of-the-range wireless noise-cancellers prove impressive at the current price.

When we first reviewed the ANC900BT wireless noisecancelling headphones, they were priced at $499, with a $150 gap between these and the company’s ANC700BT headphones, with which they share a great deal but gain app operation which allows three levels of noise cancellation. We thought that favoured the lower model. But since then the price here has fallen to a very attractive $349, with the lower model only $70 cheaper. That tilts things back in favour of this superior model.

The ANC900BTs also have a slightly better battery, quoted at a handy 60 hours with cabled NC (as on a plane, should we ever fly again) or 35 hours of Bluetooth with NC (as on a train). Supported Bluetooth codecs rises from basic SBC through the Apple-friendly AAC to the Android-friendly aptX.

The noise-cancelling here is described as “digital hybrid noise-cancelling”, offering reduction up to around 300Hz, and usefully effective. Along with app control they also gain a bonus called ‘Hear through’, which copies Sony’s idea of feeding through external sound when you cover (long press) the whole right headshell with your hand. Otherwise the main controls are split between hard switches with a bit of finger-swiping across the headshells.

Soundwise there are several different options, since they can work passively or actively with the cable, or actively via Bluetooth. We found the passive cabled sound to be just a little boxy, not entirely natural, though still a detailed and powerful sound, musically enjoyable, and the usual credit to the brand. Staying with the cable but moving to the active mode brightened things up nicely, at the cost only of introducing a little sibilance to vocals — and of using battery power, of course. Switching to Bluetooth, with noise-cancelling automatically engaged, a little of this sibilance remains, but the overall quality of the headphone continued to deliver fine music, well supported and impressively devoid of the degradations Bluetooth can impose on the sound.

App control, however, allows a far greater control over many aspects of the ANC900BT headphones. You can choose from three levels of noisecancelling — ‘airplane’, ‘on the go’ (e.g. traffic) and ‘office/ study’, plus the important option of turning NC off entirely). As noted, the full implementation of Bluetooth with NC sounds pretty good, but light NC removes nearly all the muddying effect of heavy NC, its musical quality almost indistinguishable from having NC fully off, while still delivering a fair level of casual cancellation. This, then, is a useful improvement over the lower model.

We found another unusual but potentially very useful option — the ability to force the Bluetooth connection into the most basic codec of SBC. While this is likely to minimise your audio quality, it may well reduce latency compared to other codecs.

Though comfortable, these headphones had (for us) a slight quirk of fit in that the seal between cushion and head required for effective noise-cancellation would break down when we turned our head sideways — we’d hear a little rush of external noise. But it didn’t often distract from these headphones’ highly enjoyable playback of music, and at their current price these are an excellent buy for anyone seeking relatively affordable but nevertheless high-class wireless noisecancelling headphones.