Originally Posted by
oshelef
Can you compare them to passive in ear phones? Like from Etymotic or Shure?
Finally bought a pair of ANC23s and took them and my etymotic 6i on my recent trip.
Short version: Etymotics are much more comfortable, but even poorly sealed anc23s + active noise cancellation blocks more sound than the passive but high quality seal.
Details:
The included flanges on the ANC23s are cheap, uncomfortable, and provide negligible passive sealing. I noticed this before my flight and spent a good deal of time with my baggy of extra flanges to see what I could do. I normally wear the small 3flange silicone set on the 6i but ended up using the larger set of 3 flanges borrowed from the leftover on the 6i on the anc23s. These are far from ideal - I have to make sure the largest flap doesn't cover one of the microphone holes, and the anc23s barrel is a good deal wide than the 6i's. This makes it difficult to repurpose flanges from the 6i, but it also meant I couldn't get as comfortable of a fit or as deep of a seal.
In passive mode, even with replaced flanges, the anc23s provided noticeable but ultimately negligible isolation. However, turned on, the noise cancellation was great (with the usual pressure sensation of active noise cancellation).
The flights were quiet in terms of talking etc... so I don't have a great test of how well the anc23s would block those sorts of sounds, but my guess is not great.
Will I use them? It's not clear. If they had a narrow barrel and I could get a more comfortable fit, I definitely would.
Now, only if I knew of a way to see the barrel size of the competitors....