Marshall Monitor II Active Noise Cancelling Headphones: A Rock-Solid Noise-Canceling Headphone

There’s a powerful image baked into the collective consciousness of music lovers: a wall of Marshall amplifiers. It’s a monolith of sound, a promise of raw, chest-thumping, glorious volume. For decades, the Marshall script has been synonymous with the very act of making noise. So, when I first got my hands on their Monitor II Active Noise Canceling headphones, I had to smile at the beautiful paradox. The undisputed king of loud was now in the business of quiet.

This isn’t just a company chasing a trend. To me, this move represents a fascinating evolution in a core philosophy. Marshall has always been about controlling sound. On stage, that meant shaping a guitar’s tone into a legendary roar. In the 21st-century city, on a plane, or in a bustling café, that control means the exact opposite: carving out a sanctuary of silence so the music can breathe. This is the story of how they did it, and why it’s a masterclass in design.

The Architecture of Your Acoustic Space

Before you can appreciate a piece of music, you need a clean canvas. In our world, that canvas is constantly being splattered with the sonic grime of traffic, air conditioners, and ambient chatter. This is where the Monitor II’s primary function, Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), comes in, and it’s a clever bit of applied physics.

The Artful Subtraction

The concept of ANC is elegant. It doesn’t “block” sound in the way earplugs do; it actively erases it. Microphones on the outside of the earcups listen to the constant, low-frequency drones of your environment. An internal processor then generates a soundwave that is a perfect mirror image—an “anti-noise” wave. When the original noise and the anti-noise wave meet at your eardrum, they cancel each other out through a principle called destructive interference. The history of this tech is telling; it was first seriously developed for aviation to combat the fatiguing roar of engines, allowing pilots to hear critical communications.

Now, let’s be clear. Based on my experience and widespread consensus, the ANC on the Monitor II isn’t the most absolute, vacuum-sealed silence you can buy. It won’t make a nearby conversation completely vanish. But I don’t believe it’s trying to. Its strength lies in nullifying the monotonous, soul-crushing hums of modern life. It wipes the mud off the sonic canvas, effectively and without creating an unpleasant “pressure” sensation some headphones induce. It’s noise cancellation in service of the music, not just for the sake of silence itself.

The Soulful Addition

With the canvas prepped, Marshall gets to do what it does best: paint with sound. The Monitor II headphones deliver that signature “Marshall sound,” but what does that really mean? It’s not just about being loud; it’s a specific and pleasing audio profile rooted in psychoacoustics—the study of how we perceive sound. They have a warm, full-bodied character with a “punchy” low end that feels impactful without being bloated, and clear, present mid-ranges where vocals and guitars live. This tuning is incredibly satisfying for a huge range of genres because it aligns with how our ears naturally like to hear music.

Crucially, Marshall doesn’t lock you into their vision. A small “M-Button” and a companion app allow you to switch between EQ presets or even sculpt your own sound with a full equalizer. In an era where many tech companies dictate the experience, this is Marshall handing you the keys to the mixing board—a respectful nod to its professional audio heritage and a fundamental grant of control to the listener.

The Genius in Your Thumb

This brings me to my favorite part of the entire product, and what I believe is its most brilliant design statement: the single, multi-directional brass control knob. In a world obsessed with sterile, featureless touch surfaces and inscrutable tap-and-swipe gestures, this physical knob is a defiant act of user-centric genius.

There’s a scientific principle in human-computer interaction called Fitts’s Law. In simple terms, it states that the time required to move to a target area is a function of the distance to and the size of the target. A physical, protruding knob is an infinitely easier and faster target for your thumb to find without looking than a flat, invisible touch zone. The definitive, tactile click it provides for play/pause, volume, or track skipping is unambiguous. You know your command has been registered.

This isn’t just nostalgia; it’s superior ergonomics. It’s the difference between fumbling with a wet phone screen and turning a solid key in a lock. This single control point is the soul of the headphones. It’s reliable, intuitive, and deeply satisfying to use. It’s a declaration that how you interact with a device is just as important as what the device does.

Built for the Long Haul, Not the Glass Case

The philosophy of robust, tangible control extends to the physical build. At 320 grams, these aren’t the lightest headphones on the market. You feel their presence. But the weight feels purposeful, a consequence of the sturdy metal rotation hinges and dense, high-quality plastics. They feel less like a fragile piece of consumer electronics and more like a piece of musical equipment—something built to be used, not just admired. This “tour-ready” DNA is something Marshall understands deeply.

This ethos is even reflected in the accessories. Many reviewers lament the lack of a hard-shell case, noting the inclusion of a simple canvas carrying bag. I see it differently. A hard case implies fragility, an item that needs coddling. The canvas bag suggests a rugged companion, something you can confidently toss into your backpack. It reinforces the idea that these headphones are meant to be a part of your life, not an object of anxiety.

And they can certainly keep up with that life. The battery is formidable, providing up to 30 hours of playtime with ANC on and a staggering 45 without. This is the kind of endurance that gets you through multiple cross-country flights or a full week of commuting without reaching for the (thankfully modern) USB-C cable.

The Verdict on Control

After spending considerable time with the Marshall Monitor II A.N.C., it’s clear who these headphones are for—and who they are not for. If you are on a singular quest for the most powerful noise cancellation on the planet, there are other, more clinical options.

But if you are someone who values a holistic experience, who believes the feel of a product is as important as its function, these are special. They are for the person who appreciates the satisfying click of a well-made switch, who wants their technology to have character, and who seeks a sound that is both powerful and soulful.

Marshall didn’t set out to win a numbers game on a spec sheet. They chose to build a product that offers a different kind of prize: a profound sense of control, wrapped in a design that has more soul than a thousand faceless competitors. In an age of fleeting digital interfaces and disposable gadgets, the Monitor II feels like an anchor—something tangible, dependable, and unapologetically cool. They didn’t just engineer a headphone; they engineered a feeling.