Marshall’s new Goldilocks headphones, the Marshall Milton A.N.C.s, are on-ear headphones that fit in the line between the Marshall Major V on-ear headphones and the Marshall Monitor III over-ear headphones, which I reviewed last year. These ‘phones combine the best of both worlds: the smaller, more compact on-ear design of the Majors with the noise cancelling of the Monitor IIIs.
I had the chance to see them firsthand at an exclusive media event in Stockholm Sweden last month and I have been testing them since. You can see my review here. But here’s a breakdown of what to know about these headphones.
The Marshall Milton A.N.C. on-ear headphones feature adaptive noise cancelling that helps remove distracting low-frequency ambient sounds, even without fully encapsulating your ears. They can run for up to 50 hours with adaptive noise canceling enabled or extend this to up to 80 hours without it. Use a slider in the app to adjust the level of noise cancellation needed. Maybe you want maximum noise cancelling on a flight, but moderate when walking a trail so you can be more aware of your surroundings. There is also transparency mode for when you need to hear a pilot announcement or waiter coming by your table.
They employ a durable and foldable design, holding their shape even when packed in the included carrying pouch. The memory foam ear cushions are designed for comfort and extended listening sessions. These are complemented by the square-shaped TPU molded ear cups with a textured leather surface, brass metal logo, and powder-coated metal arms.
Design-wise, these are most like the Marshall Major Vs but with improvements. The ear cushion size is bigger to help keep the sound in and improve passive noise attenuation. The larger earpads and softer memory foam also ensure a more comfortable fit for long periods, whether that’s a marathon movie night in bed connected to your laptop or a long flight for music or just ANC. A new driver system has been tuned to improve bass and treble extension so you get richer details when listening to Hi-Res audio sources. Additionally, these headphones have six microphones placed for both ANC and calls.
Another feature is Adaptive Loudness, which subtly adjusts audio playback tonality to the listening volume and environment so you get good detail without having to constantly fine-tune the audio. If surrounding noise starts to creep in, this feature raises bass and lower mids.
One feature carried over from both the Marshall Major V and Marshall Monitor III is Soundstage spatial audio. Marshall’s developed spatialization algorithm can be activated in the app to add depth and width to stereo tracks.
The headphones come with Bluetooth 6.0 with LE Audio, compatible SBC, AAC, LC3, and LDAC codecs. Helping extend their life, it’s also repairable with a replaceable battery.
The Marshall Milton A.N.C. headphones will sell in Canada for $330 and will be available through Erikson Consumer, with availability date TBA.