Korg NC-Q1 White Smart Noise Cancelling DJ Headphones

Korg's NC-Q1 is a closed-back DJ headphone in white, combining active noise cancelling with hearing protection and onboard tone shaping. Bluetooth handles wireless listening while the supplied lead covers booth duty, and six EQ curves change what you monitor. Long sets are the use case.

Cancelling, and letting the room back in

Noise reduction pulls the venue down so a cued track stays legible over a loud system. A surround-aware setting does the opposite, opening things up when you need to hear the floor or somebody next to you. Between them, your ears take less of a beating across a night.

Drivers and tone control

The closed dynamic design uses a five-layer diaphragm of PEEK and polyurethane, quoted from 10 Hz to 25 kHz. That span runs past the audible band at both ends. Six presets cover high boost, high cut, low boost, low cut, mid scoop and flat, so a bass-heavy room can be compensated for at the headphone rather than the mixer.

Wireless and wired

Bluetooth 4.1 supports SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX Low Latency and aptX HD, which keeps delay manageable on compatible sources. For the booth there is a 1.5 m cable with a stereo minijack, plus a 6.35 mm converter for full-size sockets. Charging runs over USB 2.0.

Battery and what ships with them

A 1,200 mAh lithium polymer cell gives up to 36 hours and refills in about three and a half. Weight is roughly 321 g on its own. Supplied in the box: the minijack lead, that jack converter, a USB cable and a carrying bag.

See it in action

Specifications

Specifications from Korg. Appearance and specifications are subject to change without notice.