Audio-Technica's ATH-AL5NC brings noise reduction to an open-back wireless headphone

Audio-Technica has launched the ATH-AL5NC at $279 / £219 / €249, available from 9 September 2026. It is an open-back wireless headphone with 53 mm dynamic drivers and LDAC at up to 24-bit/96 kHz alongside AAC and SBC, with a claimed 75 hours of battery life, falling to 50 hours with its noise-reduction function engaged. A Sound Leakage Reduction mode in the A-T Connect app is meant to limit how much sound escapes through the open earcups, which the company itself says cannot be prevented entirely. It also runs wired from a 1.2 m 3.5 mm cable with an in-line microphone.

An open back is open in both directions, so any noise reduction here works against the design rather than with it, and the useful question is what it costs the sound. Leakage reduction is the more unusual claim, and the company has not said how it limits what escapes without changing what the listener hears. Both modes are measurable as a response taken with each one on and off, and that comparison is the one worth waiting for.