misteRate.info

Great Headphones - ridiculous cable needed for MP3

I bought these headphones to wear while woodworking and cutting the grass. I am happy to say that they do a GREAT job. They have switches on the back of the right headphone that are easy to reach while you are wearing them. The top switch is the noise cancelling/amplification switch and the bottom one is the radio on/volume. The noise cancelling/amplification is amazing. I switched it on and I heard the fountain across the street and birds chirping as if they were right in front of me. Then I picked up a hammer and slammed it down on the workbench and I heard the hammer hit, but it sounded as if I tapped the bench. That is the beauty of these headphones - you can hear everything, but not to a damaging level. You still get the feedback you need from your tools but it is at a level that is pleasant. You can even listen to the radio and still hear everything you need to provided you don’t turn up the radio volume too loud - you shouldn’t need to since you are blocking out the unwanted noise.

The following things keep the headphones from reaching 5 stars:

The radio tuner is not for the decision making challenged. There is no readout, analog or digital, so you have to listen to the heapdhones and wait for the DJ to say what station you are listening to. Not a big deal, I found a station I like and just leave it there. The station adjustment knob is the large and in the center of the outside of the right headphone - again easy to reach and not so sensitive that you keep skipping your station. The AM/FM toggle is right on the front of the right headphone and easy to reach. The other thing keeping these headphones from 5 stars is the fact a special cable is required to use an MP3 player or other audio device. Peltor is very careful to never show the back side of the left earphone - that is where the goofy connector is located that requires their special cable. There are a couple of websites that sell them - I have seen them for $20-$30, it is an FL6N cable. Maybe there is a good reason for this connector (2 way comm standard or something) but for $110, I want to be able to buy a $2.49 3.5 mm stereo cable and be good to go - or better yet INCLUDE IT with the headphones.

Overall - great headphones with excellent performance.

Update (2/7/2012):

The featured review for this product, Peltor M2RX7A Alert AM/FM Radio Headset Tools & Hardware, was written by Wild Bill.

The average rating for this item is 4 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.