Okay Geek Farm
Ableplanet Extreme noise canceling headphones w/ clear voice linx microphone review
Ricardo Trejo
The last time we got to look at some Ableplanet gear we were looking at solely the headphones. Well, they checked out as a solid pair of cans with a not-too shabby design and support. This time we’re going to be adding some more functionality to those headphones by connecting a microphone to it for answer phone calls, as well as even making them compatible as a gaming headset for PC or Xbox 360.
Features
- Connects directly into Ableplanet headphone jack
- Packaged with mic adapter for PC / Xbox 360 / iPhone
- Offers “play controls” on wire itself to answer calls or adjust volume
- Adjustable and built for durability, multipurposes
Our Impressions
The headphones themselves (Ableplanet’s Extreme noise canceling headphones) are just as sturdy and reliable as the last time we checked them — not much has changed since then. So our review here will be focusing on the Clear Voice Linx micrphophone that can be attached to the headset via the headphone jack.
Ableplanet is known for their patented Linx Audio technology, which helps isolate only the stuff you want to hear and keeps everything else out. For that reason these headphones can be used for a multitude of different purposes, but one of them can be for those who can’t hear very well or have developed hearing loss. Using the the microphone adapter along with Ableplanet headphones gives hard-to-hear folks the ability to isolate voices over the phone, or those you’re playing with online through your Xbox or PC.
The microphone adapter comes packaged in its own separate box and comes with the mic itself, and two separate cable extensions — one to convert the standard 3.5mm audio plug to fit into an Xbox 360 controller’s mic jack, and the other is a Y-adapter for PC’s so you can plug into the mic and stereo port at the same time; allowing you to communicate and listen to your computer’s audio through the same pair of headphones.
The mic itself has “play controls” on the wire itself, with an answer button for phone controls, a volume wheel, and also a mute switch.
Xbox Live
While using the Linx microphone as a gaming headset for Xbox Live we experienced two issues. Since the headphones themselves surround both ears and are noise-canceling, you get put into a strange bind; to use the mic and headphones together you’re going to have to sacrifice hearing the game audio coming from your tv / surround sound since you’re going to be wearing the headphones over your ears. So the choice here comes down to communicating with your online teammates and opponents, or enjoying the game’s sound.
That was our first issue; the second comes from the fact that while hearing the other players through our headset came in through clearly and crisp-like, from our experience the other players heard us through some static. No matter how much we tried to fix it there was no way to prevent the static from leaking onto their side while hearing us — but as we went to try the mic’s audio on the PC and iPhone we didn’t run into such issues, so it could be a problem either with the small Xbox 360 adapter cable or the electricity running through the Xbox 360 controller that caused our interference.
PC
On the PC side of things you get a special Y-adapter that gives you the option of plugging into the speaker and mic jacks on your laptop or gaming rig, allowing you to listen to the game’s audio and any chatter from friends through the single pair of headphones. In this case, the sound we were sending to people over Skype was crystal clear, and again with Ableplanet’s noise-canceling features built into the headphones, the sound we received on our end was better than we ever heard.
iPhone
Finally, using the Linx Mic adapter for use with the headphones on an iPhone worked wonderfully. The people we called heard us loud and clear, and we too heard our test calls’ voices in a way we haven’t before — isolated away from the background noise around us with the help of the Ableplanet headphones.
Overall
Throughout our tests through on all the different purposes we could use the Linx microphone with we didn’t run into any functionality problems — our only one being the static being heard by others when communicating on Xbox Live, though that was an isolated issue as the same headphones and mic set received and sent crystal clear audio on the PC and through iPhone conversations. While the price might be a little steep, the headphones and mic are both quite durable and could be the perfect addition to someone who needs a little more oomph to hear what’s being said through a telephone call or in a Skype conversation.
Pro’s
- Multiple uses (i.e. phone, gaming, PC)
- Audio comes in clear and crisp
- Noise canceling isolates voices excellently
Con’s
- Using w/ Xbox Live delivers unexpected problems — SEE XBOX LIVE SECTION OF REVIEW
Where to buy
Ableplanet / Amazon — MSRP: $149.99 (headphones) / $39.99 (clear voice microphone)
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This review was done by Ricardo Trejo, who was provided the above samples by Ableplanet.
