For most of my career as a tech reviewer, noise-cancelling was associated with one brand: Bose. However, a few years ago, the company went quiet, despite being at the pinnacle of its success with the Quiet Comfort series of earphones and headphones, ceding space to brands like Sony and JBL, which now offer top-of-the-line headphones with noise cancellation and high-fidelity audio. Bose seems to have woken up of late and is reviving its brand in multiple ways, including collaborating with popular Indian audio-maker Noise to come up with co-branded devices. The Noise Master Buds Max is the second in this joint venture of sorts. The Noise Master Buds Max are lightweight over-the-ear headphones that look premium with their plush earcups and stylish design. The headphones can fold flat, making it easy to carry them along on flights, etc. On the right earcup, you have power and volume buttons. I loved the soft earcups that settle easily on your head and are perfect for long binge sessions or layovers at noisy airports. The Noise Audio app lets you get one level deeper into the settings and control the ANC with multiple levels — I thought the mid-level was good enough for home, while I needed max to find my zone in a mall. You can also switch off the noise cancellation or move to transparency mode here. I could not find a way to do this on the headphone itself. The app also has a find your headphone option that triggers a sound in the device in case you have misplaced it. There is a basic equaliser with the ability to save a custom setting as well as a spatial audio mode. I like the focus mode that locks all controls, especially good for fidgety people like me. The headphones offer good call quality, and the battery lasts 60 hours on a full charge, which is more than enough. My experience with the first Noise-Bose earphones was good, and this has pushed up my expectations with the Noise Master Buds Max. However, I must say that the headphones performed a notch better than I had expected. In fact, the first song that really showcased the headphones was a fun Ganaa-style Tamil number, Chi Pae Thu. The headphones showed how rich its audio playback was, capturing the heavy bass percussions and the funky chorus with equal capability. When the playlist ticked over to Kalaavathi by Sid Sriram, I got the sense that these headphones do manage vocals also very well. The audio sounds a bit flat with some mid notes, but the punchy bass more than makes up for it. Neeye Oli took the experience to a whole new level, layering the bass-heavy background notes behind the rap. Every now and then, like in the intro of Jaadu Salona, the headphones can really surprise you with their versatility Listening to Hans Zimmer’s emotional Flight from Man of Steel was like the cinematic experience it was meant to be, elevating my entire audioscape to an INOX level, even though I was very firmly seated on my living room sofa. I did feel at times that I could do with a bit more sharpness in some playback, but then I have been spoiled by all sorts of top-end headphones. For a regular user, both the noise cancellation and audio playback will be a great experience, especially given the price point of Rs 9,999. At this price point, I don’t think you can get anything better.
