AKG Acoustics K28NC Noise Cancelling Headphones

Customer Reviews

It is unfortunate that whoever did the physical design for these headphones chose such a goofy folding design, because if it weren't for that, these would be excellent headphones.
The sound quality is excellent. The bass belies the small size. The bass may even be too strong for many, but it is quality bass, which is to say that it is reasonably uniform over the bass frequencies, and without the muddy sound that typically accompanies drivers that are underdamped. The frequency response is very uniform over the full audible range, and there are no obvious resonances or peaks anywhere. The noise cancellation circuitry works as well as any noise cancelling headphones that I've ever used or listened to.
Notwithstanding all that, I still can't recommend these headphones, because the folding design is goofy and highly annoying. If you study the picture, you will see that the hinges that allow it to fold on each side, are not oriented at right angles to the band. The hinges are set at an angle, so that instead of folding straight, one side folds toward one the front and the other side folds toward the back. There was no reason to do this, because the earcups are easily small enough to fold up within the band and still close the band most of the way. The intent was that the two earcups also rotate, so that they rest against each other face-to-face. They won't quite do that in the way that you would expect, because the pivots won't allow them to rotate far enough for that. It works better if you rotate the cups the other way, so that the backsides of the cups rub against each other. But it is still just goofy and annoying. Each and every time that you use them, you will look at it and wonder what in the world possessed someone to do this this way.
The stretchy sack that comes with it is just barely large enough to hold the headphones alone, much less the separate module. The two plug adapters just toss into the sack, and sooner or later they will fall out onto the floor of an airplane or train or whatever, never to be seen again.
The cord is ungainly, mostly due to the excess length of the section between it and the headphones. The headphones are able to be much lighter as a result of the separate module, but thus far no one has figured out a good way to do this. Because of the extra length of the cords, you can sort of it configure it however you like, by shortening one or the other of the two cables. You can find or make a small spool of sorts on which to wind the extra cord. I reduced the length of the cord between the headphone and the module to less than half what it was originally, so that it it works well for when the module is in my shirt pocket. The other option would be to use small wire ties and make it as though the headphones and the module were both connected into the plug.
The headband is also uncomfortable. The pads on the two points where each half of the metal band terminates with the other part sliding through, are much to hard to be comfortable. I wondered why this was different from the similar Koss headphones, so I compared the two. The Koss headphones have a much thinner pad, and the surface under the pad is completely flat. AKG chose to incorporate a rim on the four sides of that little square, with a recess for the pad. In effect, the greater thickness of the pad was made necessary by that recess, which was put there, ostensibly, for the pad. The recess is not needed, and were it not for the recess, the pad itself would not need to be as thick or as firm. I replaced the pads with some softer foam, and I added a short length of cloth-covered neoprene to the underneath of the metal band.

I just returned from my first trip with the K28NC headphones. The sound is incredible. The headphones are infinitely adjustable. They are easy to stow and very well designed. They are also well built. I believe that about 70% of the jet noise was blocked with the noise cancellation. They are very comfortable and I use them at home on my computer without the noise cancellation enabled. The battery is supposed to last about 20 hours. I've already gotten about 30 hours use on the original battery. I would (and have) highly recommend these headphones.

Product Details

• Item Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B000CSIJIK
  

Price : $84.00
You Save : $75.95 (47%)

Product Description

Forget the noisy part of traveling. The K28NC turns every trip into a relaxed listening session. An integrated active noise reduction filter reduces noise-related stress to a minimum for a fatigue-free, restful travel. The K28NC turns every trip by plane, train or bus into a relaxed listening session. The K28NC provides excellent comfort and takes up almost no space in your traveling bag.
List Price : $159.95

Technical Details

• Integrated active noise reduction
• Carrying bag included