Stuff - UK (2020-04)

2

TESTED MARSHALL MONITOR II ANC

GOOD

MEH

EVIL

Killer

rock’n’roll

styling...

...with a

slick folding

design

No touch

controls,

only buttons

Nice EQ

customising

options

Battery life

is up with

the best

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Combining long battery life with customisable

EQ, Marshall’s first ever noise-cancelling

cans are a magical mystery tour de force

If your aim in life is to feel the same

raw power from your headphones

that you do from a rock concert,

there are some clear limitations.

Strapping an amp stack to your

head isn’t really recommended

unless you’re a World’s Strongest

Man competitor, and any sort of

prolonged listening will leave you

with tinnitus akin to being stuck in

a lift with My Bloody Valentine for

seven years.

Marshall’s new over-ear cans

attempt to deliver a scaled-down

version, by drawing on nearly 60

years of producing some of the

finest amps rock music has ever

seen, only in a more practical form

factor and with less risk to your

hearing. They also have tweakable

EQ, and active noise-cancelling

so at least a live recording can’t be

ruined by someone talking all the

way through it.

Styled to resemble Marshall’s

famous amps, the Monitor II ANCs

offer definite swagger... but is

there anything going on under

that rock star facade?

£280 / stuff.tv/MarshallANC

Eight days a tweak

Strum together

Marshall’s headphones look the

part... and they sound pretty great

too. While some cans only seem to

be suited to certain genres, these

span all of them. Being able to

switch between EQ presets, or

create your own, makes these

the noise-cancellers of choice

for those with broad tastes.

Sergeant peppy

Custom-tuned 40mm dynamic

drivers deliver powerful, crisp

audio with Marshall’s signature

punch. Bass is strong but not

overcooked, vocals are clear,

there’s a warmness to acoustic

tracks, and the ANC works a treat.

Then again, who needs ANC? The

passive isolation is excellent.

You won’t ANC me

Hit the ANC button (2) on the left

earcup to turn the noise-cancelling

on or off. Want more control?

Using the Marshall Bluetooth

app, you can choose how much

noise to let in on a sliding scale

from 0 (full ANC) to 100% (no

ANC). It’s a neat feature that’s

genuinely useful.

Here, pair and everywhere

On the right earcup, the M button

(3) can be used to switch between

EQ presets – or you can set it

to summon your voice assistant.

Equipped with Bluetooth 5.0,

our cans paired immediately with

a strong signal that never once

faltered. You’ll get about 30 hours

of playback with ANC, 45 without.

Twist and pout

The first thing you notice is

the classic cursive logo bearing

Jim Marshall’s surname (1). That’s

surrounded by amp-style textured

plastic, with squishy padding for

your head. These cans are not

heavy, they twist and fold away

easily, and the hinges help them

adapt to your head shape.

The price

is distinctly

premium

Wired

honey pie

The little coiled wires

running to the earcups

echo the ‘vintage guitar

lead’ look of the

included 3.5mm

cable.