The ATH-ANC7b is the upgraded version of the ATH-ANC7—the very first pair we reviewed here on Headfile. These QuietPoint® active noise-canceling headphones reduce noise by as much as 90%, making it perfect for use while traveling, or in busy places where you need to “hear” your music or concentrate. In fact, use the noise-canceling feature without even playing music, and voila, privacy at your fingertips.

As the b denomination indicates, not much has changed from the flat-A-rated prior model to this one, with the exception of a few small things. First and arguably least significant is what appears to be a small change to the noise-cancelling technology, resulting in what initially seems to be slightly diminished active noise cancellation but turns out to be something else. Both versions of the ATH-ANC7 headphones use miniature microphones to listen to the noise environment you’re in and produce sounds that cancel out the ones around you; the original ATH-ANC7 also overlaid a very light layer of white noise that added a slight high-pitched mask to the ambient sound. This light mask has been removed on the ATH-ANC7b, and while the result is what appears to be a little more high-pitched noise intrusion into the earphones, we perceived it as cleaner amplification. In any case, there is no apparent difference once music is playing through both pairs of headphones; the sound of your tracks drowns out virtually everything surrounding you, anyway. Both earphones continue to operate even when their single AAA cells run out of juice after roughly 40 hours of play time, but with substantially diminished treble and midrange performance.

With the noise-cancelling circuitry switched on, the QuietPoint ATH-ANC7b’s deaden ambient sound, and practically eliminate low- and mid-frequency rumbling, like that of plane turbofans, a bus engine, or the chatter of loud conversation. Audio-Technica claims up to an 85 percent reduction of noise, and I’d say that’s about right. And the leftover high-frequency sound that isn’t canceled gets blotted-out when the music starts.

Supplied accessories include a 6.3mm plug adaptor, airline adaptor and Velcro-ed in accessory pouch plus – as the cable is plugged rather than hard-wired in – a choice of two cables, measuring either 1m or 1.6m. Sometimes you need that extra length when using headphones with a Hi-Fi, TV or PC, but you don’t want to have to drag all that cable around when you’re listening to your PMP on the bus. This setup makes a lot of sense.