Not being someone shy of technology, I decided to take up an
offer to review a set of Sennheiser PXC 450 Noise Cancelling Headphones. My
previous experience with noise cancelling headphones includes owning the
following sets, Sennheiser PXC 250, PlaneQuiet Platinum, and Bose QuietComfort2
Noise Cancelling Headphones.
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How noise cancelling
technology work?
Noise cancelling technology works by detecting low frequency
repeating ambient noise via microphone/s built into the headset, this noise
is then electronically processed to generate an inverse of the noise thru the
headphone which in effect cancels out your unwanted background noise.
Don’t buy a set of noise cancelling headphones expecting it will
eliminate all unwanted noise, because as mentioned above this technology only
works effectively on repeating low frequency sound, for example the noise of
a jet engine, air noise heard in the cabin.
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At first sight the Sennheiser PXC 450 Noise Cancelling
Headphones are comparable in size to Bose QuietComfort2 Noise Cancelling Headphones,
yet much larger than the Sennheiser PXC 250. Sound quality & noise cancelling
wise all three of my previous sets have nothing on the Sennheiser PXC 450’s.
Simply put its sound quality is superb & its noise cancelling abilities are
second to none.
Picture 1: PXC 450 (top) compared in size with the PXC 250, both folded
The Noise cancelling technology which Sennheiser has implemented
in it PXC 450s is referred to as NoiseGard™ 2.0 and claims to eliminate up to
90% of unwanted background noise, this is achieved thru both the headphones superior
noise cancelling electronics & also passively thru the headphones well designed earpads.
Check for the cheapest price of the Sennheiser PXC 450 Noise Canceling Headphones
Picture 2: Sennheiser PXC 450 folded in its soft carry case
Most of the controls for the PXC 450 are located on right
side headphone, these being the power on/of, Volume +/- and the talk through buttons.
On first use I found these controls a little hard to find (now are the controls
on the right or left side and which button was Volume -) this is especially true
if you are used to noise cancelling headphones with controls on the audio
cable, however after my second flight I knew the exact positions for each
button.
A neat feature I love about the Sennheiser PXC 450 noise cancelling
headphones is the Talk Through feature
which allows the wearer at the press of a button to listen & talk to
someone without having to take off their headphones, this is achieved by using
the same built-in microphones, used for noise cancelling to pass the conversation
thru to your headphones.
Picture 2: The controls on the right hand side headphone
Even though the Sennheiser PXC 450 Noise Cancelling
Headphones are a tough and durable set of foldable, they are a little larger
than what I am used to after owning Sennheiser’s PXC 250 for many years, initially
it was hard to travel with this larger set, however I do take my music & in-flight
comfort seriously and in my opinion the larger set was a small trade off for
the superior sound quality and noise cancelling abilities of the Sennheiser PXC
450.
What comes in the Sennheiser PXC 450 box:
- Sennheiser
PXC450 Noise Cancelling headphones
- Set of AAA
batteries
- Soft
protective case
- 2 plug
adaptors (1 X Airline plug & 1 X 6,3 plug adaptor)
- Instruction
Manual
Cheapest Price Online: US $240.00 
Score 8.5/10
Pros
- Outstanding Sound and Noise Cancellation quality
- Detachable audio cable Long 1.4 meter cable length
- Talk through feature allowing you to hear someone/take part
in a conversation without taking off your headphones.
Cons
- Large size (Well larger than my set of Sennheiser PXC 250s)
- Cost - A fair bit more expensive than an average set of Noise Cancelling headphones