Sennheiser HDC451 Noise Cancellation Supra-Aural Headphones

 (13 customer reviews)

These Sennheiser HDC 451 noise suppression headphones are absolutely wonderful. I wear them everywhere -- indoors or out -- even when I'm not listening to music. Nothing I've owned has improved my quality of life more.These Sennheiser headphones eliminate redundant noise -- high or low, up to 20 db -- but leave other sounds undisturbed. Indoors, this means an abatement of unwanted utterings from dishwashers, air-conditioners, or other appliances; even people talking -- or the TV playing -- in other rooms. Outdoors, this translates into a reduction in noise from lawnmowers, leaf blowers, cars driving by, or planes flying overhead; even the sounds of kids playing or dogs barking emanating from down the street.On planes, the Sennheisers significantly reduce the rumble from engines -- and the incessant hissing from personal air vents overhead. And let's not forget sleeping -- which is now, for once, truly feasible.With noises canceled out, my CD's (or DVD's) sound...Read more

I've owned these headphones for 3 hours and LOVE them. I just walked 8 blocks through Manhattan to the subway, took 3 different trains, and not only did it cut ambient noise considerably but it made the subway announcements easier to hear! Here are my pro's:Open-air design with CLOTH covers--very comfy. Cupped headphones make my ears sweat and ear-buds hurt after a while. I hardly felt these at all. Fairly lightweight. I don't think they are heavier than my fully cupped headphones, but less bulky.Noise cancellation seems to rival that of the VERY expensive Bose headphones, but at a fourth of the price. They cut repetative and bass noise very well, and dim the higher pitch din too. I took them off at one point to discover jack-hammering going on not too far away, but couldn't hear it at all with them on.I took an entire subway ride with my CD playing at volume I usually only use indoors. For the first time I didn't have to blast my ears off to hear the...Read more

This is meant to be a lightweight headphone set which can make travelling with them a little easier and travelling itself more comfortable. It reduces external noise, but one should note carefully that 10dB is NOT all that much. Is it an improvement? Yes. Does it completely block external sound? No, not by any means. In fact, the best way I can describe it, it's the equivalent of taking a thick towel and wrapping it once around your ears. You will still hear outside noise, but it's muffled. I bought this for airplane use, as I travel frequently, but can't yet say how effective they are in blocking that horrible engine droning. I'd imagine they'll help, but not too much. They come with a handy airplane headphone converter jack as well (plug it into the armrest). As far as sound reproduction, I'd advise these headphones if you have a programmable/custom equalizer function on your CD/MP3 player (I use these with my portable, which adequately powers them). Otherwise, you're...Read more