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Beyerdynamic Lagoon ANC: Versatile Performer

Listening to music or audiobooks, taking a phone call, playing a video game, or watching a movie require focus. However, many things around us can interrupt our focus and these go beyond our control. Ambient noise coming from vehicles, people, or even the monotony of an air conditioner can bother us while enjoying our content. 

Fortunately, devices like active noise canceling (ANC) headphones serve as a buffer to minimize, if not totally eliminate, aural elements that can mar our experience.

Looking at one of ANC headphone offerings today, the Beyerdynamic Lagoon ANC comes with a masculine look not only because of its dark grey color scheme (Traveller version) but also of its size. The Lagoon ANC can cover enough your ears with its circumaural cups that already provide passive noise canceling even when the ANC mode is off.    

Each cup of the Lagoon ANC comes with a plush artificial leather memory foam cushion for a secure yet comfortable fit. Apart from the plastic shell and cushion, cloth lining also protects the sound drivers inside the circumaural cups. 

Each cup attaches to the headband by means of a pivot, making them rotate to adjust according to the contour of your head. The forks where the cups attach fold so that you can neatly store the entire headset inside the bundled compact hard case when it’s not in use.

The adjustable headband also has a strip of cushion for head support. While the headband seems mostly made of hard plastic, the spring steel backbone beneath it makes it more resilient against bending and stretching. 

The right ear cup hosts all of the Lagoon ANC's ports and switches. It comes with a 3.5mm audio port where you can connect the bundled 3.5mm audio cable which turns the audio gear into a wired headset.

The Lagoon ANC has two separate switches activate/deactivate the headphones' Bluetooth connectivity and ANC feature. It also has a USB-C port that allows you to recharge its built-in battery needed to power on its Bluetooth and ANC functions. 

When recharging the headset, you know that the battery’s full when the light inside the cups turn from yellow to green. When fully charged, the headset’s battery life can last up to 45 hours with ANC and 24.5 hours with it. 

Beyerdynamic's Lagoon ANC comes with a touchpad located on the right ear cup which works when it is linked to a phone via Bluetooth. Swiping your finger upward or downward on the touchpad adjusts the audio volume of your phone. Swiping your finger forward or backward allows you to skip to the next track or go back to the previous one. Tapping once the touchpad's center stops/pauses the track while holding the center for two seconds launches the phone's personal assistant like Google Assistant, Siri, or Bixby.

While the Lagoon ANC's passive noise canceling seems enough, others might still want to further minimize ambient noise to improve their listening experience. This Beyerdynamic offers two levels of ANC, though we find the first level good enough to block even the faint sound of a humming air conditioner. 

As versatile as its functions, the Lagoon ANC works well in any listening scenario. Instrumentals sound lingering like those guitar chords in the first part of Yes' Roundabout. Vocals of Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman also sound crystal-clear in their version of Con Te Partiro. Bass also sounds solid and strong in Deadmau5 remix of The Crystal Method's Cherry Twist and Yellow Clad's DJ Turn It Up. With a frequency response ranging from 10Hz to 30,000Hz, the aural flexibility of the Lagoon ANC assures you that you'll get good audio when you also use it while playing games or watching videos on your PC or phone.

The Beyerdynamic brand has been around for almost a century (96 years to be exact) and the Lagoon ANC testifies the audio expertise of its maker. Whether it’s in wired or wireless mode, or it’s ANC active or not, the Lagoon ANC remains a good performer. Priced at P23,800, fans of circumaural headphones will find this solidly built headset a good choice among the selection of many ANC offerings in the market today.