JVC HANC250 Noise-Cancelling Headphones Review By Vic Kanwar

First all noise canceling headphones will produce some audio pressure in the ears and this is simply to do with way noise canceling works. Neither the Bose nor the JVC produce any annoying amplification hum found in many noise canceling headphones. The Bose QC2 are over the ear and just the physical design cuts out a large amount of ambient noise, the active noise canceling takes care of the rest. The audio reproduction is like most Bose products excellent, good bass and sparkly highs and missing in the middle. But you live with the discomfort of over the ear design (my ears lobes get hot) and relatively large bulk.

With the Noise canceling standard set by the QC2 Bose had to take a much more aggressive approach for the active part of Noise Canceling for its over the year QC3. The QC3 do an excellent job (actually better then the QC2) of canceling noise. The downside for me is the extreme audio pressure exerted by the noise canceling on my ears and I can't keep them on for more then 15 minutes (I feel the discomfort in 15 seconds) but every one is different in their tolerance.

Now to the JVC HA-NC250 with an over the ear design but slightly larger then the QC3 the JVC ear pads do a very good job of dimming the sounds. But with noise canceling off you can hear most common sounds (kids, TV, fridge, furnace). Switch on the noise canceling and something strange happens all the low frequency sounds just vanish fridge, furnace or in a plane the jet engines you can still hear the kids and TV (till you switch on the music). The other big difference for me is I feel no audio pressure and I have kept them on for hours. Bose with the QC3 eliminates a much wider frequency range then the JVC but introduce much greater audio pressure in the process. The JVC are more targeted for the low frequency hence cause less discomfort. If you are looking to use the headphones in a noisy environment and can bear the audio pressure the QC3 have a slight edge but for plane travel the JVC win hands down. My wife just took them on a 16-hour flight (that's in the air 16 hours non stop) and never took them off and felt no discomfort.

With noise canceling on the JVC are better then the QC3 with good tight bass, clear mid range and crisp high end not as sparkly as the QC but more similar to the Bose non noise canceling over the ear headphones. The JVC will work with the noise canceling off (in case you run out of batteries) the Bose will not but the sound quality will suffer. Buy a 15 minute quick charger and a bunch of AAA rechargeable batteries.

Though you won't get the envious looks from other passengers that you would with the Bose but for about the cost of one QC3 a family of four can have the same comfort and sound quality as you get with the Bose. At the same price I would take the JVC HANC250 over the QC3 but at a fraction of the cost this is not even a contest the JVC wins.

You Can Buy This Headphone for Best Price or Read More Reviews at: Amazon.com