Recommendation for Sound Canceling earbuds or headphones?

Hey, this probably won't help you, but I tried a few headphones a few years ago and couldn't get past how much better Bose noise cancelling headphones were than all the rest that I tried. I can't remember what the others were, but there were a few - Panasonic, Sennheizer (sp?) and one or two others. They were about 1/3 the price of the Bose and they didn't come close. When you turn the Bose ones on you literally feel like you go deaf as the background noise is wiped out, and then when you push play the music/sound quality is fantasic. Way more comfortable too.

Two drawbacks are the price and the fact that they don't work at all without a charged battery. They come with two batteries which last about 20 or so hours each. The charger is small and easy to take with you and only takes an hour or two to charge the batteries up.

Yeah so they are bloody expensive .. but really really good. Every now and then I feel a bit guilty about having spent that much money (about NZD $700), but when I actually use them for a decent amount of time, I never ever regret it.

Cheers

Julian :)

 I've tried a few types of noise cancelling headphones (not BOSE due to cost) and found them to be generally not that good at cancelling out noise.  I now use some Pro-Grade DJ headphones that fit over my ears and have thick foam padding.  Even in quite noisy environments with both high and low pitched noise (i.e. the bus on my daily commute where there's the low rumble of the engine, other people's music and conversationijthe mid ranges and the shrill squeal of the brakes and small children) they seem to block out most of the noise, enough that I can hear the music or pod cast I'm trying to listen to without having to turn the volume up high.

The ones I use (PRO-SOUND Studio Monitor Heaphones) were £20 from Maplin but I'm sure you can find similar for similar prices elsewhere.

 Stephen

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Skype: stephenbooth_uk  | DiSC: 6137

"Start with the customer and work backwards, not with the tools and work forwards" - James Womack

If you take the redeye (I do that regularly overseas), noise reduction headphones can really help you get that precious few hours of sleep.  

Crazy as it sounds, I travel with two pairs:  the Bose QuietComfort 15's  ("On-Ear") and an older pair of Sony MDR-NC11's (ear buds).  The Bose are too big and clunky to sleep with; I awaken with each loll to the left or right.  So the Sony's are for sleeping.  

The Sony's are very compact (can easily fit in your pocket), but the Bose take up a bit of space.

The Bose have better sound, use AAA batteries, and are better at noise reduction. I use them for flights where I'm awake.  I can listen to music, and focus on my reading (flights are great for catching up on books and magazines, research papers, all on my iPad).  8 or 10 hours of airplane roar is too much, and the headphones can't stay on that long either, but two stretches of 2 or 3 hours really help. 

Neither are cheap (Bose are USD 300, Sony's were USD130 at the time) but that's worked out to just a couple bucks per flight at this point.  

John Hack

The only drawback is the size.  They are over-ear phones, so they tend to get in the way when trying to sleep - as John pointed out.

Other than that, they're great at blocking the noise.  I frequently fly on a 747 overseas, and the cabin can be quite noisy.  These phones make it significantly more pleasant while watching movies or listening to music.  I have to turn down the volume on the plane's entertainment system to about 1.5 when I use them - compared to turning it up to 10 when using airline-provided headphones.

They have a rechargable internal battery and also came with an external battery pack (2x AA) for times when the internal battery dies.  I haven't had to use that yet because I always charge the battery before a trip.  The internal battery is still going strong after a 14-hour flight!

Steve Ibanez

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 Whilst I've never used them, I've been told that the best noise cancelling solution is not those Bose things (if you do some research on audio and headphone websites, all Bose gear gets a terrible rap), but to get good fitting canalphones.  IE the ones that go right into your ear canal.  They are small, don't need batteries, and apparently provide excellent noise isolation - you can't hear anything from outside.

This is all hearsay - but I'd suggest giving a pair of canalphones a try.

I have to agree with Bartman. Try some high quality Shure ear buds. I've had 3 different models and they are incredible. I recently got the Shure se425 and they're comfortable, low profile, super portable, and sound phenomenal. http://www.shure.com/americas/products/earphones-headphones/se-models/se425-sound-isolating-earphones

Active noise cancelling headsets are bulky, require a power source, and can color the sound.  'Canalphones' operate like ear plugs to block out noise but then also pump the pure sound directly into your ear drums.

I've been out in very loud clubs, gotten sick of the music and put in my Shure ear buds and its like the outside music doesn't exist.