Able Planet NC1000CH Headphones

Product: Able Planet NC1000CH Active Noise Cancelling Headphones
Provided By: Able Planet
Price: $349.95 MSRP

Introduction:

At CES earlier this year, we met with Able Planet - not a company name that is on the lips of every individual, but certainly a company that has a well-known name is certain circles.  Able Planet is a company that is into audio and they use a technology call "Linx Audio" to make their products sound better.  A few months ago we look at the NC500LC and NC500SC headphones and today we are following up with their high-end NC1000CH "Clear Harmony" headphones.  These carry a price tag of $350 and we aim to find out if they are worth the price, or if you're better spending the next month's rent on something else.

Carry Case

In The Package

The NC1000CH came in a white oem box and lacked any official packaging unlike the ones you're receive when you're shopping.  With that being said, let's find out a bit more about Able Planet before we continue.

About Able Planet:

LINX AUDIO™ Technology Summary        

How It Works
Able Planet embeds patent-pending LINX AUDIO™ into audio and communication devices to enhance sound quality and speech clarity For All Levels of Hearing™. Here’s how it works:

Sound quality and speech intelligibility are impacted by high frequency sounds.
Hearing loss associated with age usually begins in the higher frequencies, or the “High Tones.” If you lose the ability to clearly hear these tones, high pitched sounds like “f”, “s” and “th” will be difficult to discriminate, and music may not sound as lively.

LINX AUDIO™ creates high frequency harmonics that enhance sound quality and speech clarity of difficult to hear words or notes, and increase the perception of loudness without increasing volume. LINX AUDIO™ provides full rich sound and enhanced speech clarity even at lower volumes, which may lead people to “Turn it Down™” to preserve hearing. An analogy of a richer sound might be the difference you hear when you play a “C” note on a piano, as opposed to a “C” Chord. The “C” Chord demonstrates the impact of adding harmonics to the audio signal. 

 

LINX AUDIO™ filters undesirable sound.
LINX AUDIO™ removes undesirable sounds and noise making it easier to hear high frequency words or notes where clarity is often lost, maximizing full rich sound for music, and enhancing clear voice for speech intelligibility.

 

LINX AUDIO™ reduces distortion.
Increasing volume increases all sounds, including distortion. As volume is increased, standard audio products hard clip peaks with traditional square-edge characteristics (red). LINX AUDIO™ reduces harsh sounds by soft-clipping distortion (yellow).

 
LINX AUDIO™ technology advantages.

• Enhances sound quality
• Improves speech clarity
• Filters undesirable sound
• Reduces distortion
• Restricts electromagnetic interference
• Increases perceived loudness without increasing volume

First Impressions:

I had never heard of Able Planet before CES 2008 where I was introduced and impressed by their high quality products.  That being said, it's easy to be impressed by a 5 minute demo on the show floor, so I was quite interested to see how these performed in more real-world scenarios over extended periods.  The NC1000CH headphones come packaged in a nice semi-hard sided case that protects them in your carry-on baggage.

Inside the case are the NC1000CH headphones and these are slightly more bulky than the NC500LC and NC500SC headphones.  At first glance you can't see any discernible size difference, but when you put them on you will notice that they are made for bigger heads than the lower-priced siblings.

NC1000CH Profile

Inside Cans

Able Planet headphones are designed for the professional and the traveler - so if you're a professional traveler...that is getting too corny.  The NC1000CH comes with adapters and cables that will help you hook up the headset to a large stereo plug or even older airplane jacks using the provided adapter.  Volume control is positioned in-line and uses a slide to lower or increase the volume.  The cable is about 5' long and has gold-plated connectors.

Adapters

Cord Volume

On the next page we'll take a closer look at these headphones and jump right into testing.