Panasonic RP-HC55-S Noise-Cancelling Earbud Headphones (Silver)
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Noise Canceling Earbud Headphones Reduce Outside Noise by 88% (18dB) at 200Hz, Compact Pen-Type Design, Cord Holder for Tangle-Free Storage, Silver; Noise Canceling Yes (reduces background noise); Reduced Background Noise by 88% (18dB) at 200Hz; Drive Unit (diam. in mm) 9; Impedance (ohm/1kHz) 103; Sensitivity (dB/mW) 105; Frequency Response (Hz-kHz) 10-20; Cord Length (ft./m.) 2.3/0.7 + 2.3/0.7; Magnet Type Neodymium; Color Silver; Plug Adaptor for Airplanes Yes; Additional Earpads Included; Weight(g./oz.) without Cord 30/1.06; Clip-on Design: Yes
Features
- Reduces outside nose by 88% (18dB) at 200Hz
- Compact pen-type design
- Cords holder for tangle-free storage in supplied carring pouch
- Clips to clothing for more carefree usage
- Small, medium and large ear pads along with plug adaptor for aircraft included
- Dimensions (W x H x L): 5 x 75 x 7 inches
- Weight: 0 pounds
Good sound, not much noise reduction
I bought these hoping I could use them at the racetrack to reduce noise and listen to the “play by play” but that didn’t work at all. I just used them on a plane and although they didn’t reduce the noise too much, the sound quality on them was pretty good so that I didn’t pay attention to the noise. I also had some trouble keeping the earbuds in my ears. I would recommend them for everyday regular ipod type use but not as reducing headphones.
Best Value for Noise Reduction, Comfort, and Reliability!
Hello Amazonistas,
I bought these ear buds after the battery door on my Sennheiser set broke. They still worked, but it was a real pain with the battery falling out all the time (and the Sannheisers were bulkier and over the ear type, like the old fashioned Head Phones, and the noise cancelling was no where near as good). Consumer Reports gave these Panasonic buds a very good review, so I thought I’d give them a try. After owning them for over a year now, I can say without a doubt that these are the best value on the market. But, being the best value isn’t always the best thing, but aside from the value, these are an EXCELLENT product. I make at least 4 very long trips to Asia every year, and many more trips beside those, and I never leave for the airport without these ear phones… My trips to China and Taiwan usually involve a 14 hour flight from Dallas to Tokyo, then a 4 hour wait in Tokyo, then another 3 hours or so to either China or Taiwan (longer depending on where I’m going in China). And I can tell you that for almost that entire time, these ear buds are in almost constant use! Yes, by the end of 20 hours or so of continuous use, they can become a little uncomfortable, but far less so than the over the ear type.
It’s important to size the ear bud correctly for your ear canal, because a good fit is essential for both comfort and noise cancelling. If I remember correctly, these come with three sizes, and once you get the right one, you are set to go. They are light, don’t press your ears against your head like “over the ear” models, such as the Bose models (you really don’t’ want that for 14 or so hours, very painful!!!), and because they fill the ear canal, the noise reduction is accompanies by great noise attenuation (it’s blocked). Besides this, I noticed that because the Panasonic’s have an internal amplifier and volume control, you will not suffer from the “too quite” sound track on some DVDs when played on a Lap Top. I don’t know why this should be, but some DVDs are almost inaudible on a Lap Top. But these units fix that problem nicely.
So, you have comfort (even on a 14 hour flight!), reasonable sound, VERY long battery life (I can easily make it from Dallas to China AND BACK on one rechargeable battery using the unit the whole way!), excellent noise reduction, light weight and compact (really important when you want to travel light), and they work great even at home. I don’t want to sound like a commercial for these, but given the price, functionality, and reliability, you just really can’t go wrong! And I won’t travel without them!
Happy Travels!
BrianB.
didn’t see the battery was needed when I ordered
I am ok with the sound and noise reduction quality, however I was surprised to learn that I needed a battery. It is in a pen light sized tube that was between the I-pod and my ears. That means you have this pen light thing hanging down, or you need a shirt to attach it too. I would not get it again, and will be more careful to look at the pictures more closely. Of course you have turn the pen light thing on and off as you use it, or the battery runs down and you are dead in the water and need a new battery. It isn’t always convient to have to carry extra batteries.
Love this product for the first few weeks.
These are quite simply the most comfortable headphones I have ever worn. I found them on the Consumer Reports review. They perform well in every way, and the only downside on average is the pen sized battery pack; but this can be clipped underneath a shirt and almost forgotten about. This is probably the only issue for most; I had another issue. Only a couple of weeks after I purchased the product, I turned my head and experienced a loud, high pitched squeal from my headphones. This hurt. It got more and more frequent and at one point I leaned my head forward and the music I was listening to died completely. Now I have dealt enough with electronics and re-soldered enough cords to know not to wind my headphones; so these simply wore out in a matter of weeks. I’ll contact the manufacturer today to see if they will cover repair or replacement and update this review accordingly.
I left two stars because I completely love the product itself and obviously from the other reviews you can tell that not everyone has an experience as unsatisfying as mine has been.
Cheers!
-Caleb
Great product for price
Great product for price. Works very well even compared to high end models such as Bose. Took it on several flights and worked very well. Very easy to carry and store as compared to the bigger unwieldy models.
Great value, good noise reduction, excellent for airplanes
I purchased these earbuds after looking at a Consumer Reports review. I was surprised to see that this inexpensive set rated better than large headphones costing several hundred dollars from name brands like Bose. The main reason I purchased them is because I take frequent walks on noisy city streets and found myself having difficulty making out words on podcasts and music and having to turn up the volume with my other headphones. I also wanted something with a volume control I could easily reach so I wouldn’t have to reach into my pocket to adjust the volume. The phones work reasonably well for their advertised function and achieve a small, but noticeable, level of noise reduction for city streets. Where they excel, however, is airplanes: I recently took several flights using them and they almost completely blocked out the nauseating roar of the airplane. For a large part of my flights, I even left the buds turned on without being plugged in–they don’t require being plugged into something in order to cancel out noise. A large part of the noise reduction is physical and independent of the electronics, a result of the buds’ blocking out of sound. Where the electronic part comes in is in canceling out low-frequency roars and making speech more understandable. I regularly listen to both podcasts (excellent sound quality) and streaming radio (very good sound quality). They are great for both applications.
One major downside to this set is that the earbuds are expensive to replace if they come off and cost a significant percentage of a whole new set. One earbud came off in my pocket and, if I hadn’t carefully checked the bottom of my dryer, I would’ve lost it for good. Just be meticulous about checking the earbuds when you take them out of your pocket. I keep the earphones in a zipper bag on my dresser so that the buds don’t get knocked off. The included cord wrapper is useless and will only lead to tangling the cord; you really need a zipper bag to store the set.
The other downside is fashion. If you don’t have a shirt pocket, you will have to clip this contraption with a glowing red light and a cord reaching into your pocket onto your shirt. People will definitely notice it if you are wearing a T shirt.
Tall people may have a problem with the cord reaching a phone or iPod in their pockets. Check the cord length and make sure it reaches before you buy.
Design Flaws Not Fatal For Me
The many reviews for this item are basically accurate about its shortcomings. However, it works well for me. I use it while on my John Deere lawn tractor cutting an acre of grass. I always wear a long sleeve shirt for sun protection, so there’s a chest pocket for the control unit, and the other connector cord easily reaches the nano in my pants pocket. The noise suppression does a good job of reducing the mower noise while delivering decent sounding music to my ears. Yes, a dead battery would render the device useless, but it’s not a problem for me at home, and for travel, I’d just carry an extra battery with me. However, I discovered that my weed wacker will cause interference in the device (probably the ignition circuits), causing a loud buzz if I get the weed wacker too close to the control unit or connection wires. It’s a bother but one I’ve learned to work around. For the cheap price from Amazon, I figure I’m easily getting my money’s worth, assuming Panasonic’s reputation for reliability holds true for this device.
Good sound, small, but problems.
The sound is great for ear buds. However, none of the 3 supplied ear pieces fit in our ears. Consequently, or additionally, the noise reduction is barely noticeable on a flight. Noise reduction is not nearly as good as the cheap large pair we replaced. I finally took the ear fittings off entirely and replaced them with pieces of foam from ear plugs. Those fit better, kept the sound out better, and kept the ear buds in our ears. The supplied ear bud covers push the buds out of the ears. Panasonic, get a clue here. We haven’t had them long enough to rate reliability. The noise reduction was still significantly less than the cheaper pair we replaced. I would rate it poor.
Lightweight Noise-Cancelling headphone for iPod & iPhone
What a great bargain with great quality!!! Beats dragging a large Bose headset on planes.
Panasonic earbud
This earbud was a replacement for a Sony earbud which lasted maybe a little more than a year, under intense use. I did not realize the Panasonic product had a pen-like device attached to the earbud cord, which is a little inconvenient and cumbersome to handle. Other than that, sound quality is great and the noise-canceling capability is almost a problem if you wear it while driving. Outstanding for airplane, especially at the side of the turbines, but you may risk not hearing flight attendants warnings to turn it off. Amazon suggests an airplane adapter as a combined purchase, but that is unnecessary as the product already comes with an adapter, as well as other buds of different sizes for best fitting.
Good, but not the best
I just received these headphones. They are nice in that they stay in my ears just fine and do block out a decent amount of noise. But, even as I type this with them on, I can hear the keyboard. maybe that’s normal…I have never owned noise-canceling headphones before. However, I think I would like even more noise blocked out. For $40 earbuds, I shouldn’t complain, though. My only real issue is that once or twice, if I am handling the battery holder that contains the parts that do the noise canceling, I will hear a very loud blast of static in my ears for a split second. perhaps these are defective?
Very good product
I purchased these earbuds for sound canceling as I am highly bothered by alot of noises. For the price, they are great. I will say that they did not work for sleeping in due to the cord, and, the system did not cancel out my snoring roommate at a conference. I still feel that they are great to use when I want some quiet at home and the TV is on in the other room. These will not cancel out all noise- they will, though, do a great job of lessening the noise level and are very comfortable.
Don’t buy it
The good news is they are comfortable in the ear. The bad news is the noise reduction doesn’t work. It doesn’t reduce noise. If it does, I can’t notice. I have a set of bose noise reduction headphones that cost about $300 and they are bulky but they work great. I was hoping to get a smaller lighter version of the bose noise reduction headphones at a cheaper cost but I guess you get what you pay for. I don’t see any reason to buy these. Either get cheap ones to save money or expensive ones if you want something that actually works.
Good product with one significant flaw
The noise reduction and fit of the ear buds are good, especially if you ensure you’re using the right size bud insert so they stay put in your ears. I’ve worn them several times on cross-country flights and they were comfortable the whole flight. The only drawback is that when you turn them off, they go completely off and do not pass through any sound. So when you’re taking off and landing and you shut off the earphones(and your MP3 player) you can’t just plug them into the airplane seat’s speaker jack to listen to music. You’re pretty much done.
Everything I Could Ask For
I’m very pleased with the quality of my Panasonic noise-canceling earbuds. I’m glad it came with a wire management device, an airplane adaptor and a nice case. The sound quality of these headphones is well worth the price, their added portability is invaluable when traveling, no longer do I have to stow large headphones in my carry-on. The only thing I dislike is the location of the battery unit, it sits in a very awkward position, It doesn’t clip to my breast pockets or belt, heck the clip barley even reaches my shirt. I will be leaving an updated review once I embark on my lovely 12 hour flight to Italy.
Can’t beat it for the price
I bought these after leaving my last two pairs of noise canceling headphones on airplanes. These are great for casual listening on airplanes, buses, etc. but don’t expect audiophile sound. There’s very little depth or bass. The noise isolation & cancellation is quite good if you have them properly seated in your ears – for $40 they can’t be beat.
OK Sound–But Quit Working Soon
The noise cancelling performance was impressive. However, the unit started crackling and loud groaning noises within a week of purchase. Not all the time, but frequently. I called the Panasonic repair facility within the warranty period and obtained a return authorization case number. It was a while before I could actully mail them to the repair center, so they refused to handle it as a warranty job. They offered to sell me a rebuilt unit for full, new price. I’m going to buy Audio Technica noise cancelling ear buds next–maybe they will be more reliable.
They wont stay in my ears
Got these for working out at the gym.
Must be me, but for the life of me I cannot get these buds to stay in my ears. And the cord is way too short.
Going back to my sennheiser pcx 250 phones, which I love.
Use Them On My Harley and on Airplanes——Love ‘Em!
My wife bought these as a Christmas present, and am I ever glad she did. The original use was intended to make a 10 hour airplane ride to and from Brasil every month more comfortable so I could hopefully get at least a little sleep, which I never did before using these buds. While I can’t say I sleep well the whole time, they make enough of a difference that I can get some solid sleep. And I can hear the TV on the plane a LOT better than I can with the airline buds.
Then in January I bought my first Harley-Daivdson, and it has VERY loud pipes. In addition, it has no wind screen, so between the pipes and wind noise, this bike is audio overload city, especially on the highway. So I tried these buds with the MP3 function on my cell phone and I was pleasantly surprised. They let just enough of the bike’s pipes come through to put that HD smile on my face, but at the same time the wind noise is well muted and the music comes through beautifully.
While these buds don’t kill ALL outside sound (none do that I know of), they kill enough to make the music the focal point of what I’m listening to, and do so up against some serious noise.
And finally, my daughter tried a set with her iPod, and once she did, I couldn’t get them away from her. These things really are that good, and for $40 give or take, they’ve far exceeded my expectations. I recommend them highly.
Great for the price!!
had many nc earbuds… these are the best value for the money. sound great…. good size… good nc…