Today, Marshall is debuting its next-generation over-ears known as the Marshall Monitor III A.N.C. Headphones. In partnership with Green Day frontman and 4-time Grammy Award winner, Billie Joe Armstrong, the release of the new Monitor III A.N.C. coincides with the 30th anniversary of the brand’s seminal album, aiming to inject some “desperately needed rock ‘n’ roll into the monotonous world of noise-cancelling headphones.”
New Marshall Monitor III A.N.C. Headphones
The Billie’s Joe Armstrong collaboration is really just a celebration of the band’s hit record all those years ago, and Billie’s history with the brand’s iconic amps, the JCM900 and Plexi 1959SLP – gear that clearly helped to define what made the record the soundtrack for the youth back in the mid ’90s. But beyond that, we are really just talking about a new set of flagship Marshall headphones, complete with the retro-infused guitar amp look and feel, serious battery life, and some notable high tech features.
The new Monitor III A.N.C. Headphones feature active noise cancellation and transparency mode, both “significantly upgraded” from the previous model – these headphones “continuously measure ambient noise to block out unwanted sounds. It’ll almost feel like it’s only you and your favorite musician in the room.”
They come packed with two all-new features for Marshall – Adaptive Loudness and Soundstage Spatial audio. The former of which can automatically adjust the sound output “based on surrounding noise so that you never have to compromise on audio quality” – it effectively automatically tunes the sound balance and loudness to ensure you can properly hear the tunes no matter the changing environment around you. The former is described as providing the ability to “take the music out of your head” and present a wider virtual soundstage, or what sounds like a more realistic listening experience.
The multi-directional brass-colors control knob and customizable M-button also make a return here. The first of which allows you to control the music, engage Bluetooth pairing, and turn the headphones on and off. The second, is how you navigate through EQ settings, Spotify, and voice assistants.
Some other highlights here would have to be the 70 hours of battery life with ANC engaged and 100 hours without, Bluetooth LE-ready for audio-sharing possibilities with Auracast, and the foldable design.
For me the Marshall headphones, and perhaps even more so on the new Monitor III A.N.C., have always stood out in the sea of the flat plastic-looking headphones out there – even in this price range. We are once again getting the tumbled, almost leather textured look on the ear cups and outside of the headband, hits of brass pulled straight from the old amps, and even the subtle curly exposed cable detailing – these things totally rock without being gimmicky and odd-looking when hitting the streets. They, in some cases, can even make the competition look sort of cheap by comparison.
The new Marshall Monitor III A.N.C. are now available for purchase at $350 from Amazon and directly from Marshall’s official site.
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