If Lindy had a CV you could read, it would be one of the most comprehensive and varied you could imagine in electronics. They cover everything from networking equipment, audio & video equipment, computer accessories and headsets, to all kinds of cables and adaptors for just about any product you could think of. Lindy actually started up in 1932 so have some of the best experience you’ll be lucky to find in the electronics industry!
The real reason you are reading this of course is to find out what Lindy’s latest set of noise cancelling headphones are like! Dubbed the BNX60’s they have already won plenty of prestigious awards from What Hi-Fi?, Hi-Fi Choice and T3. I was very keen to see what all the fuss was about and try this modestly priced set of headphones for myself. They are packaged well and come with a very handy carry case. Inside the case it also has a neat little Velcro pouch to store all of the cables and adaptors that come with it. We find in here a 1.5m audio cable with 3.5mm jack (great for use if you don’t have Bluetooth or to extend the battery life), a quarter inch adaptor, airplane adaptor and micro usb cable (used for charging the very handy in-built rechargeable batteries). On the subject of batteries, the life expectancy is a thumping 30 hours using the wired option with noise cancelling on, 15 hours Bluetooth only and 12 hours Bluetooth and noise cancelling on.
The headphones themselves have a pleasing matte black plastic texture which makes them look and feel quite premium, but does attract fingerprints quite easily. These are an over-ear type of headphone and the padding of the cups is very soft and comfortable – I could easily see these being worn over a long-haul flight with no discomfort whatsoever. Their noise cancelling ability is also very impressive; an 85% reduction in ambient noise is evident when using the headphones, which makes listening an even more enjoyable experience.
Enough talk about the headphones themselves, how do they sound I hear you ask! To kick things off fresh out the box the sound was nothing like I was expecting given their reviews. The immediate sound was quite harsh, although there was a nice amount of bass the overriding sound was bright and not particularly pleasant. However as any audio enthusiast will know headphones or speakers do require a running in period to let things loosen up. Left running for a few hours I came back to see if anything had changed. Thankfully it had, the top end had softened up somewhat to bring things more into balance.
Trialling some of my favourite songs at the moment, the first track was Maroon 5’s latest song Don’t Wanna Know. This track demands a lot of energy to be put in it, from the big deep bassline, to all the percussion going on in the background, to the lead singer’s vocals and all the other little nuances. The Lindys handle this song very well indeed, the large 40mm drivers dig deep to give all the bass you could ever want and the top end sparkles whilst the vocals are kept clear and upfront. They still do sound harsh to my ears but given more time to run in I’m sure this will smoothen up more.
Next I tried something a little different, a track by Haven called Floating Above. This is a fantastic track as there is so much going on in it, you have lots of synthesised sounds, to little nuances of vocals, big bass lines and a fantastic rhythmic section that really keeps your attention. It all adds up to a track that I’ve been favouring for testing with lately due to its complex nature. This sort of music swings well in the favour of the BNX60’s, their slightly harder edge working well to make everything defined and tuneful. Bass is kept very well under control and the headphones give a good sense of scale to the track.
The complexity of the track does come across slightly confused on the Lindy’s as some tones and instruments blend into one another but it’s a small shortcoming to what is otherwise a good sounding pair of headphones.
To summarise I like the low-end of these headphones and how portable and easy to use they are, but the top end does have a hard edge to it that never fully went away in my period of use. Pop in store to try them out for yourself! We offer a large range of noise cancelling headphones so please feel free to give us a visit!
Click to find out more about the Lindy BNX60 headphones.
Author: Aaron – Bournemouth store
I’ve had a pair of these for over six months now and just can’t stop using them. Ideal on our recent fligt on holiday, I Iove them and have got my Dad a pair for Christmas!