Noise-cancelling Headphones

[mrcharly-YHT]

Now - there are plenty on the market for over £200 - but I'm not sure I can bring myself to spend that much.

I do have access to funds via work that will cover some expenditure in this regard, I think (need to check this).

What works reasonably well without being stratospherically expensive? Comfort on ears a major factor, I wear glasses and anything that presses my ears down hard will cause soreness.

[LEE]

I just happened to be in Currys 2 weeks ago when they had the BOSE QuietComfort 35 on half-price.  OK I still paid £160 for a pair of headphones (which seems crazy even now) but I've been lusting over them for years.

They always get a 5/5 rating from the Audio Mags and I can understand why.

1 - The noise-cancelling is extraordinary.  Makes my Philips items redundant.

2 - The Audio quality is superb

3 - The are sooooo comfy.

If you work in an office environment, with the background whir of PC fans and air-Con, then it's as if someone pressed the Mute button on the World.

Worth checking local stores for a pair at this price.

[Kim]

I have QC15 from a few years ago when it was the only noise-cancelling headphone worth a damn.  It's not a brilliant fit for my head, and not as clear for music as my late lamented Sennheiser HD25SP, but the active noise cancellation is magic^[1], and most of the time that I use headphones, that's a net win.

I've tried a friend's QC25, and they're basically the same, functionality wise, but seem a bit less cheap and plasticy and have a folding headband.

I'm not sure about other brands.  I think they're still playing catch-up.


Beware of "noise cancelling" when used to describe headsets with a mic:  They're probably referring to how much background noise gets into the microphone signal.


Not very useful, I know.   


_{[1] Expectation management: Active noise cancellation works best on continuous noises.  It'll kill computer fans and aircon dead, make planes trains and automobiles pleasantly quiet, and make a decent dent in the noise of an echoey crowded room.  What it won't do is block out your nearby colleague's phone calls.  Indeed, it'll probably improve the signal:noise ratio of their speech.  Autistic people and people with auditory processing disorder use these to improve their speech discrimination in noisy environments, because speech mostly gets through the cancellation.}

[andytheflyer]

Now - there are plenty on the market for over £200 - but I'm not sure I can bring myself to spend that much.

I do have access to funds via work that will cover some expenditure in this regard, I think (need to check this).

What works reasonably well without being stratospherically expensive? Comfort on ears a major factor, I wear glasses and anything that presses my ears down hard will cause soreness.

I also wear glasses and I prefer the over ear type.  When my old Sony cans disappeared (aka thieved from my hotel room) I bought some used (but unused) Sennheiser PXC 350s for £80 off fleabay.  These have been excellent, as they take 2x AAA batteries and easily got me to Aussie and back by air on a single pair of batteries. 

Very comfortable, if a bit sweaty, but much more comfy IME than on-ear or earbuds.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Thanks for the heads up, Kim. It is to block out speech that I want them. Sounds like I might be as well going for something that just gently muffles noise then.

[Kim]

Thanks for the heads up, Kim. It is to block out speech that I want them. Sounds like I might be as well going for something that just gently muffles noise then.

In that case, I'd agree.  Nice comfy set of over-the-ear headphones with plenty of isolation, or maybe something that sits in the ear canal (hair and glasses friendly), if you don't find such things intolerably sweaty for prolonged use.

[Jaded]

BOSE QCs are the bees knees.

[rr]

The simply noise website provides a range of colours of noise, you can set the volume to oscillate to break up nearby speach.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

[Jaded]

I’ve tried three solutions

Sennheiser folding headphones. These don’t cover the ear so were partially successful. They fold into a not so small carry case and are fiddly with the wiring and battery holder/control

BOSE QC 35 Comfortable, over ear and work very well with the noise cancelling. Can wear them for many hours. Fold a bit into a medium sized carry case. Bluetooth so very convenient.

Custom made in-ear mounds for some Kliptsch phone earphones. These eliminate external sounds rather than mask them. The best of the three solutions, but fiddly to put in ear (so tricky if you do need to hear what is going on, like train announcements, every now and again) and not a comfortable solution I can wear for very long periods. The downside of wired, but the upside of a very small carry case. Downside of that - easily mislaid...

[mrcharly-YHT]

I'd forgotten that I was 'gifted' some Sennheiser hd205 from previous job. They do a half-way ok job of blocking out noise, helped with some ambient music. Trouble is, they clamp on my head like Xenia Onatopp.

[Zed43]

The Sennheiser Momemtum 2.0 BT is wireless and has active noise-reduction. However its micro-USB port is fragile. So after a while you can't charge it anymore, leaving you with a regular headphone that is neither wireless nor noise-cancelling.

In short: avoid!

[LEE]

Thanks for the heads up, Kim. It is to block out speech that I want them. Sounds like I might be as well going for something that just gently muffles noise then.

Bose QC are superb at blocking a steady frequency (Air conditioning rumble or Jet Engine whistle) they are less effective for sudden or random noises*
To some extent they actually make speech clearer as they can isolate it from the background noise.

For blocking speech my preferred solution is my set of Sony earphones.  Basically they just plug your ears up and stop all noise apart from music being played.

*You tend not to notice just how much white-noise there is in a working environment until you switch on a pair of Bose QCs and it disappears.