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The Audio-Technica ATH-ANC900BT Headphones with hybrid ANC offer a really good listening experience with its support for AptX, AAC, and SBC, long battery life, and more, but there are some issues. Tech expert Dave Taylor talks about the good, the great, and the limitations of these quite capable Bluetooth 5.0 headphones.
Check 'em out on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3z4si2g
Check out Dave's site at https://www.AskDaveTaylor.com/
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Bluetooth headphones with hybrid ANC. Let's check them out
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Dave Taylor here, and I'm checking out these
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These are the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC900BT ANC headphones. And some specs just to start out
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40mm drivers, and they are diamond-like carbon-coated diaphragms, giving you 5 to 40,000 Hz response
0:32
I can assure you I cannot hear 5 to 40,000 Hz, nor can you
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but there's a lot of dynamic headroom here. That's also one of the reasons they're certified high-res audio
0:42
which is something to look for. Turns out they support aptX, AAC, and SBC
0:49
So pretty much any Bluetooth source you're going to use, it's going to give you the best possible sound
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Now, the earbuds, the earpieces, I should say, are memory foam, which makes them super comfortable, and they're really light
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This is a 9.3-ounce or 263-gram pair of headphones. So when you put these on, it's really incredibly comfortable
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They're really, really easy to wear for a long period of time
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and they are long-period-of-time friendly. Give them a full charge, and you've got 35 hours of battery life
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of using ANC and Bluetooth. But if you choose to use the included wire and turn on ANC anyway
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you can get 60 hours of ANC while listening to these in corded mode
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Even 35 hours is a heck of a long time. You are not going to be able to do that without taking a break, I promise you
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Now, Bluetooth 5.0, so it's the latest version of that spec. And let's see, in terms of what it comes with
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there is a 3.9-foot or 1.2-meter cable with 3.5-millimeter on one end
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and it's sort of slightly—one of them is slightly fatter than the other
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So it's not exactly a regular cable. It charges, comes with USB and micro-USB to charge
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I'm going to take points off for that. I'm tired of micro-USB and the fact that you have to orient it properly
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It's time to upgrade to USB-C there, Audio-Technica. And it has an airplane adapter, though the last airplanes I've been on
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have just used a 3.5-millimeter jack. So I guess you have this
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Oh, and it also has a nice hard case. If you're a fan of the hard case design
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then this actually is a nice and very safe way to transport the headphones
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Now, it also includes the Audio-Technica Connect app, which gives you a lot of control over what's going on
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and lets you switch ANC modes and everything. So let me turn that on, and I'll show you what's going on with the Connect app
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Once I get everything all working, let's turn on the headphones, and let me go ahead and record
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Let's see. I'm going to get this phone recording, and then you'll be able to see my screen
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That should work. And it's connecting with the headphones. And so now, as you can see, I am 95% charged
3:24
It's using AAC because I'm connecting to an iPhone, and I did not want to actually have Siri come up
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And I'm using noise canceling, but if I tap on that, I can actually choose different kinds of noise canceling
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airplane, on-the-go, or office study. My experience is that I just use airplane mode
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and the ANC is not top of the class. We'll come back to that in a little bit
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But pretty easy to go through and change them or to turn it off
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But it's also worth noting that you can do all of this from the headphones themselves
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So, you know, you can definitely be in the app, and you can be using it
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You can even play music through the app and everything. But probably you're not going to
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Probably you're going to use your own audio source and everything. So, let me turn off the recording, and let me just show you some close-ups
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So, first off, all the controls are on the left ear. And, you know, as always, it pulls down
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It's very flexible. As I said, they're super lightweight, so they're really, really comfortable
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I mean, it's almost like I don't have them on my ears
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And then all the controls are on the left side. So, there's not a lot going on here
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There is a microphone for phone calls. There is micro USB for charging
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There is that 3.5 millimeter plug for you to use in wired mode
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I think it's actually slightly less than 3.5 millimeters. On-off switch. And then there's a button, an unlabeled button, which kind of interestingly lets you temporarily turn off ANC
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So, if I'm like this, and I have ANC on, and someone comes up to me
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I can literally just push the button, and now ANC is off, and now I can hear what they call hear-through mode
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And then I push it again, and I have it back on
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Now, it turns out that there's also controls on this side. It's a touch control, and it takes a little getting the hang of it, but push in the middle, and that's pause play
5:33
Volume up, volume down. And what I really like is that you can cycle through those three ANC modes
5:40
So, I have the music playing, so I'll pause that. And now I can push my hand, and after two seconds, it will switch ANC modes
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So, if someone comes up to me, I can just do this, and now I'm in hear-through mode
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And I can put my hand there again, and after a couple of seconds, it's turned off ANC
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And I do a couple more seconds, and now I'm back to my noise cancelling
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Now, I can't choose which noise cancelling mode I have on the headphones
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I'll need to use the app for that, but that's really the only reason you need the app
6:20
So, the headphones are very easy to store. They fold up. You can fold them this way if you prefer
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So, you could easily carry them however you prefer. However, there are a couple of limitations with this
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But before we get there, let me talk about the sound, because I found they sound really good
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It's a very flat response, like studio monitors. So, if you're used to headphones that give you a lot of bass or something, then these are not those headphones
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But they're very, what I call, technically precise. So, it's a very good soundstage
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There's a richness. There's an expansiveness to the music. But it's really giving you very similar to what the audio source is
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So, the app doesn't have an EQ, but your phone probably does, or whatever device you're using probably has an EQ
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You might be the person who wants to turn on loudness or something
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And that's fine, and it'll do that, and it'll give you that bass. But by default, it's a very flat response, which is something you want to know, because some people don't really like that
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Some people really want it to sound like that nightclub, and they're waiting for that big drop
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So, these might not deliver that out of the box. So, there's that
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Now, in terms of issues, number one, like I said, I don't like the micro USB for charging
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Just, I really can't stand that plug anymore. I'm really glad people are moving away from it
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Number two, I found the ANC to be a little meh. I was using them in a very loud environment, and they weren't cutting out as much sound as I was hoping they would
7:58
Part of that might be that they do fit. They're super comfortable, but they fit relatively loosely on your ears
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And maybe if they were a little bit tighter, then that would be a little bit more of an acoustic barrier
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But that's what ANC is for. So, they talk about their hybrid noise cancelling
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I really wasn't particularly blown away by that. So, if you're using these in a really loud environment, like on a train commute or something
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then they might not be the ANC headphones for you. So, those are two
8:27
The third issue is that this touch side is a little tricky because you can accidentally touch it
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So, here I am, and obviously, that's exactly the kind of sound I want my ANC to cancel
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But I could accidentally touch it, and now I've turned off the music
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I've made it a different volume. As you saw, Siri popped up at one point
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So, that's something where I wish there was a little switch that said
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just defeat this, just turn this feature off for me because that's not what I want
8:59
But I think a lot of people that get this actually really enjoy that feature
9:03
So, once you get the hang of it, and no wonder that wasn't working because I was on the wrong ear
9:08
Remember, all the controls on this one are on your left ear. There's nothing at all on the right ear
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It's just the sound. So, you know, once you get the hang of it, that is actually pretty cool
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But even here, I have to be careful not to touch this surface at all
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because I don't know what's going to happen, but something will happen. And it's probably something that I might not want to have happen
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So, those are my downsides. On the upside, it's super light. It has really good battery life, and the sound reproduction is really clean
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It's a really listenable pair of headphones, and I like that a lot
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I like that it supports aptX, which is for the Android fans mostly
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and AAC, which is for the iPhone fans. So, depending on what device you have, this thing covers it
9:51
It also does high-res audio. It also gives you that wired option
9:55
Lots to like, really, and they have some solid pricing right now if you explore around online
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But before we get to pricing, let me go ahead and ask if you could subscribe to my channel
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Really appreciate when you do that. Just click or tap on that red subscribe button
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Leave me a comment with some feedback. Give me a thumbs up if you found this to be a useful review
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And with that, let's talk about that price. These are the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC900BT ANC headphones, and they're $299
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But when I looked on Amazon just now, they were reduced down to $149 at Amazon.com
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That is a pretty screaming deal for these headphones. Definitely one to check out
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I'm going back to my music, which means I'll hope to catch you in my next video
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