Marshall Mid ANC adds Active Noise-Cancelling to what's already a great pair of headphones

Marshall Mid headphones already ride high in T3's list of the best Bluetooth headphones, thanks to their hard rockin' sound and leather-style cladding. Woah YEAH! Huh! Now Marshall Mid ANC promises exactly the same great sound and look, with like totally bitching noise cancelling that will rock you like a hurricaaaaane, all niiiiiight long. 

So that's nice.

• Best Bluetooth speakers (Marshall makes these too)
• Best multi-room speaker of 2018 (yes, and these)

As on the first Mid, there's a black 'leather' coating reminiscent of Marshall's legendary concert amps, with an optional curled 3.5mm cable that recalls the kind of lead a 70s guitar god would have plugged into them. Despite that, the audio is largely handled by the kind of up-to-date digital technology that Marshall's core audience probably loathes with a visceral passion.

More fool them, we say. The guitars if Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck may have been fully analogue and made of only the finest natural materials. But would they have given you 20 hours of wireless playback with active noise-cancelling turned on and up to 30 with just Bluetooth and no ANC? I very much doubt it.

Anyway, even if it is all done with digital signal processing and mass-produced electronics, rather than valves and copper, Marshall's headphones and home speakers always put out a very bracing sound that doesn't betray their rockin' heritage.

Yes, the standard Marshall sound is tailored for vintage RAWK, with a lot of midrange warmth and plenty of attack, but to be honest they also make a perfectly decent fist of hip-hop, electronica, pop and Wagner's The Ring. I doubt the Mid ANC will deviate from that one iota; the review sample arrives this week.

• They will need to be good, mind, given that at £239, these are 70 quid more than the version of Marshall Mid without ANC, and even more pricey than the brand's flagship Monitor cans.