So first the premium ANC headphone market, which are headphones that retail for around
$350 got really competitive. But now, I feel that the mid tier ANC headphone market is
about to get very competitive as well cause Microsoft slashed the price of their new Surface
headphones 2 and JBL recently released their new Club950NC’s. But then there are also
the Sony XB900N’s which are a year old now, but they’re still a great pair of mid tier
ANC headphones.
So first off there’s price, all three of these headphones retail for $250. But like
I just mentioned, since the XB900N’s are now a year old now they routinely like to
go on sale. And they can usually be found on sale for $178. Making them a steal at that
price. But depending on your needs you’ll might be better off with one of these other
two headphones. Nonetheless if you want to pick any of these headphones up they’ll
be linked down below.
Now even though I really do like and recommend the Sony XB900N’s… one of the things that
I really don’t like about them is that they come included with a carrying pouch. Where
as both the Club 950NC’s and Surface Headphones 2 come included with a hardshell carrying
case. Now even though the Surface 2’s case is very large in general… personally I do
prefer this case over the JBL’s case cause the Surface 2’s case has room for storing
your cables. But what im getting at here is that if you are looking for a pair of headphones
to constantly commute with and if you decide to go with the XB900N’s you’re going to
have to invest in a hardshell carrying case.
But now lets talk about build quality, and this is something the Club 950NC’s excels
at. These headphones are built like a tank. These headphones are using very dense plastics,
they have exposed stainless steel arms, and the leatherette on these headphones doesn’t
feel half bad. Where as these other two headphones are mainly just made out of plastic but they
still have great build quality nonetheless. But when it comes to fit and comfort this
is my biggest gripe with the Club 950NC’s. Even though the JBL’s have amazing build
quality, they are very heavy. The Club 950NC’s weigh in at 372 which is a lot, where as the
Surface 2’s weigh in at 293 and the XB900N’s weigh in at 252 which is what most other headphones
weigh in at. So all of this extra weight on the JBL’s does lead to posterior neck pain
from just having to hold these headphones up and these headphones are also very noticeable
whenever you’re just walking around with them on or even when you just turn your head.
But lets say you’re able to put up with the extra weight on the Club950NC’s better
than I am. Another problem with the JBL’s is that their headband has very little padding.
Combined with the fact that these headphones weigh in at 372 grams, this headband does
like to create a hot spot on the top of your head rather quickly. Now the surface 2’s
also like to create a hot spot on the top of your head cause this headband also have
very little padding… but I can usually go about an hour straight with these headphones
on before having to take a break. But if you are looking for the headphones here with the
best comfort then hands down the XB900N’s are the winners here. First off these headphones
have a lot more padding underneath their headband so hot spots aren’t an issue with these
headphones. These headphones also have the least amount of clamping force here so these
headphones are very easy to forget that you even have them on. And the ear cups on these
headphones are also very spacious so they should have no problem fitting most people.
But if you do have larger ears or ears that stick out a lot then you’ll be better off
with the Surface 2’s cause they do have the most spacious ear cups here. And for comparison
sake, even though the Club 950NC’s do have spacious ear cups, they are the most cramped
here by comparison. So over all, comfort wise the XB900N’s are a no brainer here but if
you do have larger ears then you’ll might want to go with the Surface 2’s.
Now when it comes to tech specs, all three of these headphones charge via a USB C port.
But keep in mind this USB C port is strictly used for charging. You can’t use the USB
C ports on any of these headphones as a wired connection like you can with some other headphones
out there.
Regarding battery life, the XB900N’s have an advertised battery life of 30 hours with
their ANC turned on where as the JBL’s have an advertised battery life 22 hours and the
Surface 2’s have an advertised battery life of 20 hours. Now even though both the Surface
2’s and JBL’s have okay battery lives, the average these days is more around 25 hours
of playback time. So I do feel that these two headphones could use some battery life
improvements.
Now when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, both the Surface 2’s and JBL’s can be
connected to two devices at the same time which could be very important for some power
users out there. But the Surface 2’s do switch from one device to another much faster
than the JBL’s cause it does take the JBL’s a few seconds to realize it time for them
to switch.
Where as the XB900N’s can only be connected to one device at a time. So you can’t hot
swap from one device to another like you can with the Surface 2’s. Now ultimately this
isn’t a huge deal… but it is nice to be able to quickly switch from one device to
another.
Now when it comes to watching movies or videos on your phone… Both the Sony’s and Surface
2’s have zero latency across the board whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device
which is good. Where as with the JBL’s they do have a noticeable latency to them when
ever you watch YouTube videos on an iPhone. But everything else is just fine.
But finally, I do want to point out that all three of these headphones still have an easy
to reach audio jack. Now I know that this sounds basic but I do want to point it out
cause some companies are starting to get rid of the audio jack on some of their headphones
either cause they’re really trying to push for this all wireless future or as a cost
saving measure.
But now lets talk about listening to music with these headphones. Now all three of these
headphones have a fully customizable EQ so you can make them sound how ever you want.
But I do feel that the Surface 2’s are the worst sounding headphones here. Now with their
stock EQ the Surface 2’s sound decent and they should be able to please your average
user. They have pronounced vocals and they also have a decent amount of bass to them.
And the bass on these headphones is going to rattle your head a decent amount. But the
problem with these headphones is that if you listen to a lot of bass heavy music or if
you have the volume set too high then their bass will occasionally bottom out. And if
you were to go into these headphones app and raise the lows and mid lows then therye going
to bottom out even more frequently. So personally I just recommend that you use these headphones
with their stock EQ or if you are going to adjust their EQ then I wouldn’t raise the
lows or mid lows too much.
But then there are the JBL Club950NC’s which also have a very similar stock EQ to the surface
2’s. Strong mids, punchy bass. But more importantly, the bass on these headphones
doesn’t bottom out nearly as much as the Bass on the Surface 2’s. It still does happen,
but its very rare and its only for a split second. So over all I do think these headphones
are people pleasers cause if you like a neutral EQ you can do that or if you like a bass heavy
EQ you can also do that. Now these headphones also have a bass boost mode. But the Bass
boost on these headphones is more on the audible side, meaning that these headphones aren’t
going to start physically rattling your head like the bass on the XB900N’s do. Having
the bass boost on the JBL’s turned on is like having the bass dial on the XB900N set
to 3.
And over all, I really do prefer to listen to music with the XB900N here cause if you
like a lot of head rattling bass then these headphones can give you that… which is a
lot of fun. Or if you like a neutral EQ and don’t want to use the Extra Bass feature
on these headphones you can also do that. But also I really like the Extra Bass feature
on these headphones cause if you use it while watching movies it does add an extra level
of immersivness. Its kind of like having your own private subwoofer strapped to your head.
And unlike the bass on these other two headphones, the bass on the XB900N’s never bottoms out
even when you have their Extra Bass slider maxed out. But the XB900N’s aren’t all
about bass, these headphones still have decent instrument separation, and a decent sound
stage. So over all sound wise, I do recommend the XB900N’s here cause they sound good
but they also have that extra bass feature if you want it.
But now I do want to quickly address the media controls on these headphones. Now the JBL’s
are using physical buttons. So if you don’t want to have to deal with a touch pad then
the JBL’s have you covered. Where as the XB900N’s have a touch pad. Now the touch
pad on the XB900N is very easy to use and its very accurate. And I also feel that this
touch pad is easier to use than the touch pad on the 1000XM3’s cause my finger glides
much easier on this all plastic ear cup. But occasionally there are missed inputs. And
then there’s the Surface Headphones 2 which have a hybrid set up. And this set up is a
really good medium between the previous two set ups. The physical dial on these headphones
allow you to quickly and accurately adjust the volume on your headphones and since the
touch pads on these headphones simply register taps, their accuracy is very good as well
cuase usually other touch pads tend to mess up when they have to register swipes. So over
all I really like the controls on the Surface 2’s, but Sony’s touch pad is good as well.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancellation on these headphones cause this is where the
Surface headphones 2 simply just dominate. To be frank, its not even fair and I think
this is Microsoft’s strategy for dominating the Mid Tier ANC headphones market. But so
that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump in an ANC test.
So like you may have just seen, the Surface headphones 2 simply just block out the most
amount of noise here period. With the surface 2’s you’re getting premium ANC headphones
performance for mid teir prices. Now the ANC on both the Bose NC 700 and Sony 1000XM3’s
out performs the ANC on the Surface 2’s but if you don’t want to spend the big bucks
and you want to block out the most amount of noise possible than the Surface 2’s are
the way to go. Now with the Surface 2’s there is a little bit of cabin pressure when
you’re not playing music through these headphones but the cabin pressure isn’t unbearable
like the cabin pressure you’ll might find on the Bose QC35’s. So if you’re looking
for the headphones here with the best Active noise cancelation then the Surface Headphones
2 are a no brainer.
Now all three of these headphones have an ambient mode. But performance wise I think
the Surface 2’s have the worst ambient mode here. Unfortunately the ambient mode on the
Surface 2’s does like to pick up a lot of wind noise when walking out doors so you are
going to hear a lot of interference in your music and this ambient mode also sound very
unnatural. Where as the ambient mode on these other two headphones sound much more natural
and they both do a much better job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors. But
ultimately I do prefer the XB900N’s ambient mode here cause you can adjust how much sound
these headphones let in.
Now both the Sony’s and JBL’s have a conversation mode where they’ll lower the volume of your
music and let in all of the ambient sound around you so that you can quickly talk to
someone without having to take your headphones off like this.
But personally I do prefer JBL’s method cause once its activated your hands are free.
Where as with Sony’s method you have to constantly keep their touch pad covered which
is both uncomfortable and awkward. And even though the Surface 2’s don’t have a similar
feature, they do have proximity sensors so they’ll automatically pause your music when
you remove them.
But with all that being said… Performance wise I think the JBL Club 950NC’s are decent.
But for me its just very hard to recommend these headphones they’re very uncomfortable.
At 372 grams you never forget that you have these headphones on and due to their very
little padding underneath their headband these headphones to like to create a hotspot on
the top of your head rather quickly. The real comparison here is going to boil down to the
Sony XB900N and the Surface headphones 2. I think the Surface Headphones 2 are the best
mid tier ANC headphones that you can get if active noise cancellation is your main priority.
You’re getting premium ANC performance for mid tier prices. But these headphones only
sound good enough to get the job done and I still can’t help but wish that these headphones
had more padding underneath their headband for better long term comfort. So even though
they’re a year old now, I still feel that the Sony XB900N are the best mid tier ANC
headphones you can get right now. First off, the XB900N’s are very comfortable to wear
for hours on end without any problems and their ear cups should be able to accommodate
most people. These headphones also sound decent but they also have that extra bass mode if
you want it. Now the active noise cancellation on these headphones is average for mid tier
ANC headphones but at least they have very little cabin pressure and their ambient mode
is very good as well. My only grip about these headphones is that they come included with
a carrying pouch instead of a case. But fi you get these headphones on sale and buy your
own case you’re still winning.