Audio Technica ATH-ANC33iS

I first bought a pair of Audiotechnica noise cancelling over ear headphones in 2013 and they were fantastic. Very effective noise cancelling (at the time they were advertising over 99% and my experience was it was really effective at cancelling out traffic noise). Also the noise cancelling headphones in 2013 were made of quality materials - not… Read more

the kind of plastic that comes off so you get lots of microscopic pieces of plastic all over your hair! They lasted a long time also. Then in 2023 and 2024 I bought another pair thinking the quality would be like the Audiotechnica over ear noise cancelling headphones I'd bought in 2013. How naive I was! They were far inferior to the point of not being even comparable yet the price was higher! 1. The "noise cancelling" headphones no longer provide any noise cancellation! Rendering them useless for that purpose 2. They are now made of that cheap plastic that disintegrates such that after 9 months I was getting pieces of plastic all over my hair! 3. The ear cups are not attached properly and come off, and to put them back on is extremely difficult. With my 2013 pair I never had the ear cups come off with many years of use 4. The battery compartment is very difficult to use. This is going beyond inbuilt obsolescence - Audiotechnica has decided to take an excellent product and render it useless, such poor quality in so many ways. I will certainly no longer be loyal to this brand anymore and will never buy this brand again.

For flying. Tiny. Very old now but they were Great noise cancelling for the price. Quality patchy but great sound – Totally outdated, but still don't fly without them because you still need wired noise cancelling headphones. I used to do a lot of long haul flying, so I have used them and replaced them when they wore out (,the downside of cheap quality ). I have looped the airline jack into the cord so it's always attached. The battery lasts months. This is… Read more

my go to wired noise cancelling phones for flying. It's not top notch for the office, but it takes the airline white noise out well. Back in the day, probably 13 year ago, I read every review out there to get and for the low price, these are stunning. I found other frequent travellers who also swear by them. Mmmmm that was over 9 years ago admittedly and tech has moved on. So I probably will need an alternative to these when my final pair breaks. That's said the fit and performance have been great for the price.

So good, even when the clip breaks (build quality is a bit cheap but so are they), or simply wore out, I got another one. They are the most affordable noise cancelling things out there and sound is very good. Ideal for thrifty jetsetters. But they are from a vintage.. maybe totally outdated now.

Positives: overall the best bang for buck in the category. Have been available at airports for a decade, so if you lose or forget to bring them, they make a good emergency replacement pair. For the price and vintage, superb noise cancelling on planes. There is obviously far better available now but maybe not for this price. Being tiny, you can lie on your side and sleep with them just for the noise cancelling feature on planes. You can't do that with over ear noise cancelling, or the big modern wireless ones .

Tiny portability. Which is why I use them for travel. Bulky over ear ones are a bad alternative if portability matters. Accessories are good.

Negatives: the short clip brakes SO EASILY. Plenty of quality issues, have returned probably 1 in 3 pairs that were DOA. Buy only form a place with good return policy as I have had a high failure rate on my recent replacements.

Good sound but annoying noise from "rustling cables" – Hubby bought these for me to replace an old pair of noise cancelling in - ear phones. Said they had a good rep. for their sound. Yes, to my uneducated ears the sound is pretty good (better than my old set), good stereo effect, comfortable to wear. I use earbud headphones for when I am out walking or on an aeroplane to connect to the inflight AV… Read more

system or connected to my iPad to watch movies/listen to music etc. I also have worn them on a plane to reduce external noise to help me sleep. I am still in 2 minds about the noise cancelling ability. I have yet to wear these ones on a plane but out in the street when walking they seem OK but not to the degree that the promotonal material suggests - 90% cancelling of external noise? Nah. What I find annoying are the wires leading from the control unit to the ear buds are very sensitive to rubbing against clothing, being touched/knocked and create quite an annoying rustling sound. I find I have to tuck the wires into clothing so they don't move/rub against anything or pin them with the control unit to limit their movement. There is a volume control on the control unit which can be used instead of controlling volume from the device (though still dependent on the initial volume coming out of your device). There is also a small button control high up on one of the ear bud wires to allow On/Off/Forward/Back control rather than using your main device. Found it works on my iPhone and iPad but not on my old music storage device. No big deal though. Comes with an aeroplane AV system adaptor and a range of earbud covers. Have a long cable which may or may not be annoying depending on how you use these. For the price they do the job.

Underwhelming – I have a pair of Sony noise cancelling in ear phones which are pretty effective. I forgot to take them with on my last flight, so bought these with similar expectations (since the configuration is all but identical). Nope - nowhere near the "90%" claimed. I'd say most of the noise suppression came from having my ears blocked up.  Show details

Great for what they cost – I fly a lot for work so I decided I should purchase a pair of noise cancelling headphones. I chose not to go with the over ear headphones because I usually like leaning my head on something which then vibrates through the headphones and defeats the purpose. These in-earphones are perfect for what I wanted. It probably blocks out about 70% of noise… Read more

and the form comply tips are really nice on the ears. Only downside, the battery pack and control unit is awkwardly placed along the length of the cable.

Good value, entry level noise cancelling ear buds – Copped these for $79 and they are my first pair of noise cancelling earphones. I had tried out some Bose QC 25's in JBs which were obviously pretty amazing but for a fraction of the price these things do a pretty good job. The sound is still good without the noise cancelling turned on, with the noise cancelling on sound quality goes up a fraction… Read more

and it cuts out a lot of the ambient noise (air con noise, plane engine noise etc). Pretty happy with them for the price.

Low cost, good value noise cancelling earphones – This is my 2nd pair, after I managed to lose my first pair in NZ. For $79 this is a good buy in the noise cancelling earphone range. I've used these on several long haul flights to the UK and the noise difference is significant. I even leave them in with no music playing because the noise cancelling is so effective and allows me to sleep! My 2nd… Read more

pair stopped working after a few months & I followed the customer service instructions on the web-site & the ear phones were replaced within a week. You can pay a lot more for noise cancelling earphones, but these meet my requirements & my budget & the customer support was excellent when I needed it.

PRODUCT DOESN'T WORK , NO CUSTOMER SERVICE AT ALL ! – ]The noise cancelling was not working form the start , there was not a single audible difference from the noise cancelling or normal set up. Once the battery ( included form the start) was over ,I’ve replaced for a new Duracell battery , and for some reason the quiet point does not turn on again Definitely not impressed by this headphone , which in all honesty just don’t deliver what it promises.  Show details

PRODUCT DOESN'T WORK , NO CUSTOMER SERVICE AT ALL ! – there are more than a few issues with it , the most inconvenient are the following : - The noise cancelling was not working form the start , there was not a single audible difference from the noise cancelling or normal set up. - Once the battery ( included form the start) was over ,I’ve replaced for a new Duracell battery , and for some reason… Read more

the quiet point does not turn on again

Definitely not impressed by this headphone , which in all honesty just don’t deliver what it promises.

Noise Cancelling function of the ATH-ANC33is – The sound quality from these is ok however don't expect noise-cancelling to work and certainly not the 90% (totally meaningless figure) claimed* - I should have smelled a rat! I returned the first set as the noise-cancelling was ineffective but the replacement set was no better. * To cut a long story short, sound levels are usually quoted in… Read more

dB(A) and any claimed noise reduction should be qualified by a dB figure (at specific frequency). Hence a noise cancellation should, for example, be 20db at 500Hz and not a totally subjective and meaningless like 90%.

Worked as expected and great value – I was looking to buy noise cancelling earphones to replace the complimentary earphones supplied by the airlines, and didn't want to spend too much on a pair. I read some mixed reviews on these earphones and decided at $79 from Store DJ they were worth a try. I have only tried these at home with a youtube video playing aircraft noise to test the… Read more ·  1

performance, and found the noise cancelling worked as advertised and the sound quality better than expected. I replaced the silicone tips with the foam tips supplied in the box and found these to be very comfortable. At 20% of the price of the Bose equivalents, they may not be of the same standard but they do represent great value, and also represent great value for earphones that will only be used while flying.

Nb: I will add to this post after using them under actual conditions.

Taken by surprise - very impressed – Left my over ear NC Bose phones at home and loathed the thought of flying without them. Picked these up at Perth Airport for $99, fair price, with no high expectations? Wrong. Claimed 90‰ ambient noise reduction, not far from the truth. Pleasantly surprised by the audio quality, after adjusting the equaliser on my music player. For the price, … Read more

they produce strong lows, crisp highs, and solid mid range. Noise cancelling ability defies the price, aircraft ambient noise is reduced to a whisper leaving mostly the music. On return to Perth two days later, I bought another pair. Nothing comes near these for the price, even double the price. Highly recommended.