When you’re at the gym working out, you probably don’t want to hear the huffing and puffing of the sweaty guy (or gal) next to you. That’s part of the reason why you might bring along your iPod or iPhone along with you, bobbing your head to the latest Smashing Pumpkins release or pumping your fist to the adrenaline-fueled tunes of Journey. Whatever your musical interests, you want to keep your mind focused on the music and not the grunts of the other gym rats.
Passive sound isolation headphones can work wonders in this area, but if you really want to have a completely isolated aural experience, you’ll want a set of with something a little more active. You know, something like the iLuv i910 Noise-Canceling Stereo Earphones that we’re looking at today. Better still, this thing has a built-in mic for taking your cell phone calls on the fly too. Let’s see how well the folks at iLuv did with these!
Features and Highlights
Among the features that you will experience on the iLUv i910 Earphones are:
- Highly effective noise-canceling circuitry
- Hgh-performance speakers
- Up to 30 hours of noise reduction with 1 AAA battery
- Switch between call and music with a one-touch button
- Self mute feature for conversations or public announcements
- In-line microphone for convenient hands-free phone conversations
- Driver unit: 9mm diameter, NdFeB magnet
- Frequency response: 20Hz – 20kHz
- Sensitivity: 105dB +/- 3dB
- Noise reduction level: -15dB (max)
With only a maximum of 15dB noise reduction, you probably shouldn’t expect the world of the iLuv i910 Noise-Canceling Stereo Earphones. It’s a fair bit better than nothing, but you’ll probably still hear the jackhammering at the construction site if you’re waiting at the bus stop.
What’s in the Box?
Inside the packaging for the iLuv i910 are two parts. There is a cardboard box and a plastic tray. These together contain the following items:
- Noise-canceling earphones
- Carrying pouch
- 2.5mm to 3.5mm audio/microphone cable
- 3 sets of silicon ear tips
- One set of 3-layer ear tips
- Instruction manual and warranty information
Notably missing from the package is the obligatory AAA battery that you’ll need to use the Active Noise Reduction function. The carrying pouch comes in pretty handy though, taking on a shape and feel similar to some cases for sunglasses.
A Somewhat Modular Design
Naturally, a set of stereo earphones with active noise cancelation will be a little bulkier than your standard set of ear buds. The part of the headphones that performs the actual noise-canceling is similar in size to a larger USB flash drive. It sports a set of rudimentary controls and slot for a single AAA battery. For whatever reason, iLuv decided to throw a 2.5mm jack into the little controller. But From there, you use an included 2.5mm to 3.5mm cable to adapt it a normal size. This in turn can be inserted into your iPod, iPhone 3G (not original iPhone as you will need a recessed adapter), or any number of other audio sources. I suppose that the thinking behind this semi-modular design is so that the iLuv i910 can be used for both 2.5mm and 3.5mm devices; you just have to provide your own cable for the former.
Coming from a slightly different perspective, you could also say that the controller itself is somewhat “modular” in that it does not have a totally streamlined appearance, bulging out to accommodate the single AAA battery. There’s also a clothing clip on the back, so you don’t have to have this thing dangling in front you the whole time. And yes, those extra ear tips come in really handy for people with different-sized ears. I found the default configuration to be the most comfortable, but some people may prefer the 3-layer ear tips. The unique design of the earbuds does certainly make them look a bit bulbous, but to each his own.
Real-Time Price and Stock Check – Search for More iLuv Products Here
Audio Quality
When listening to my music (sourced from an iPod nano), I was pretty happy with the audio quality offered by the iLuv i910 Noise-Canceling Earphones. This was without the active noise reduction feature turned on. Even so, the rubber tips and snug fit made for a good deal of passive sound blocking, just like you would experience with other similarly-designed ear buds. The treble and mid-range were well represented with rock and metal (Metallica, Oasis), and the bass was adequate for hip hop (Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco).
These earphones still won’t be able to outperform a more expensive set of earphones nor will they outperform an expensive set of deejay-style cans, but they easily hold their own against some of the premium ear buds you’ll find on the market. They’re definitely solid. Phone conversations were equally adequate and I had no trouble switching to “phone” mode through the in-line mic (and the included one-touch button).
Canceling Out the Noise
The controls for the active noise cancelation are very straightforward. There is a slider switch, for turning the ANR on and off, and a mute button. The mute button does not mute the music permanently; instead, it only mutes the music for however long you hold down the button. I would have preferred a more standard “mute” configuration. In terms of actual noise cancelation performance, I attempted to listen to my music with ANR on while surrounded by a stereo system and television set. Even without the ANR turned on, the iLuv i910 was able to block out some noise, assuming that I turned the volume on my iPod up a little.
With the ANR turned on, there wasn’t much of a noticeable difference in noise cancelation. It muffled the outside noise a touch, but there wasn’t much there. Interestingly, audio quality for my music actually improved, ever so slightly, with ANR activated, compared to when ANR was turned off. For me, the level of active noise cancelation performance isn’t really worth the extra bulkiness of an in-line control unit of this size.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
It’s clear that iLuv produces some pretty good quality accessories for the iPod and iPhone, and the i910 Noise-Canceling Stereo Earphones with Built-in Hands-free Microphone (what a mouthful!) are no exception. I appreciate the variety of ear tips and the build quality overall was quite good. Audio quality for a variety of music genres was equally impressive.
That said, I found that the active noise reduction (ANR) function was not as impressive as I was hoping it would be. There was such a minimal difference between having ANR activated and deactivated that it’s hard to justify the need for a single AAA battery and that somewhat bulky controller. I’d rather just have a decent set of ear buds. The microphone, for taking calls on an iPhone, is a bonus. A brilliant design change would be the ability to detach the earphone/microphone segment from the ANR controller. This way, if you needed ANR, you could have it. If you didn’t, you could have a much more portable set of earphones. That level of modularity would have allowed me to rate these headphones just a little higher, but for now, they do a decent job, but they aren’t anything spectacular.
Pros
- Great audio quality for music listening and phone calls
- Good quality and variety of ear tips
- Inline mic and phone control
- Compatible with both 2.5mm and 3.5mm devices
Cons
- Active noise cancelation isn’t terribly impressive
- ANR control unit is quite bulky
- Mute button only mutes music while held down
- No battery indicator
Overall Rating: 7.5 / 10.0
Discuss This Review in the Futurelooks Community Forums
Real-Time Price and Stock Check – Search for More iLuv Products Here