So a quick review of the AKG AV100 ANR headset. It was bought for me as a present and I thought I would try it and compare with the Bose A20s I usually use.
First up the appearance and build quality is very good. The carbon fiber on the headset looks great and everything is well put together. They feel more solid than the Bose and this made me feel very confident about the quality of the headset.
Features
The bluetooth music works well. I have never managed to get it to work with the Bose. The led lights in the earcups are impressive however I doubt their utility in practice. I do like the fact the the headset comes with both LEMO (which I use) and normal twin plugs. No need for an adapter.
Passive noise protection
First noticed how quiet these were while starting the turbine engine. With the Bose you can have the headset on an clearly hear the starter running. With these I had to check that the engine was starting as it was so quiet. So for passive ANR the headset is far quieter than the Bose.
Feel
The passive ANR is probably caused (or at least helped) by a very high clamping force. This hurt after a while and is not good.
Active ANR
Sadly, this is the point where it all went wrong. The active ANR had a continuous whine from the turbine engine that it just couldn’t cope with. Other tones were simply louder than the Bose. Coupled with the high clamping force it made me change back to the Bose for the next leg. Overall the active ANR is significantly worse than the Bose.
Result
I have returned the headset. So far, nothing compares to a Bose A20 for active ANR. Of course nothing really compares to them for price either however the AKGs are not cheap so I think the comparison is a fair one.
