Block the outside world forever! Wireless noise canceling headphones: what’s your favorite?

I stupidly lost my wired Bose headphones but I’ve been tripping over the wires anyway. Do y’all have a favorite wireless version?

Sony's are great

Bose Quietcomfort 35 ii

i had the sony wh1000xm2 then got the 3 not much between them both incredible

I have the first gen Sony wh1000xm and they are great by the headband cracked in a couple of places after 18 months daily use. I will buy another pair at some point.

3 most comfortable- lighter, profile sits better on head, look great

2 had, imo, slightly better noise cancelling

How cumbersome are the Sony’s for switching between audio sources?

Not too bad, on the first generation at least. You don’t have to do anything on the headphones. Assuming both devices are paired. Turn off Bluetooth on source 1 and then select them on source 2. I’m only ever doing this between phone and laptop. There might be a way of cycling between sources on the headphones but I don’t know it.

no way in the phones that i know of, select from device and it takes the last instruction afaict.

The people sitting behind me at work are so obnoxious I had to get a pair of WH1000XM3s and they are, as described, incredible.

It’s genuinely surreal to be walking through a crowded train station or a busy street listening to Mazzy Star and to only be able to hear Mazzy Star.

yep. changed my life!

yesssssss

i'm looking at some of these sonys and seeing that they all have alexa built in? i don't want that. between that and the fact that they need to be charged, i'm not sure i'll ever make the switch. the convenience of no cord is appealing though

I own a pair of OnePlus Buds 3, they came free with a phone. They're not as good as over-ears but they are really pragmatic. They come with their charging case which actually lasts surprisingly long before that needs recharging.. and they're alexa-free

not something i could see becoming a part of my daily listening routine, but i'm thinking i could overcome some of my reservations and get a $50-70 pair for traveling. not having to deal with the cord on an airplane

I now have a pair of WH1000XM4s and a pair of WH1000XM3s simply for reason I left the latter in a taxi by mistake and had given them up as lost for good over two years ago until…this year the taxi driver in question recognised me and had been keeping them the whole time.

I don’t know that the 4s are dramatically better but I’ll have to try them out in test conditions and report back. An annoying factor of some of these noise cancelling headphones is that people whose voices are particularly high or particularly low seem to get around the noise cancelling. That’s my main gripe, otherwise they’ve been excellent.

I've got some cheap ones from Argos but I think it's the longest I've ever had a pair of headphones. Wired headphones always eventually stop working.

Still a fan of the Bose Quiet Comforts, but I replaced my old QC35ii's with the QC Ultras last year and am very happy with them.

alexa is an option im not sure built in describes it

bose qc are generally accepted as the alternative

id easily recommend last year or the year before's models in either, the price saving absolutely justifies any incremental improvement ime

I had no idea there was Alexa installed or whatever, I’ve never used it or had it prompted.

oh ok. maybe that's just the marketing then. the idea of that voice talking to me in my headphones was basically a non starter

yeah it's a setting you can toggle. these are definitely life-changing for travel

lets just repeat that for everyone

these are absolutely _life changing_ for travel

i dont think ive ever been so gobsmacked by a piece of technology

hmmm ok ok i am starting to see

thoughts on noise cancelling earbuds opposed to the big headphones?

Kind of depends on your current location and cargo load, and whether you find them comfortable. Earbuds/IEMs are pretty damn good these days, and the noise cancelling ones with a transparency mode are awesome in noisy environments where you still want to hear subway stop announcements or someone speaking directly to you. The latency is good enough that, if you don't mind looking like a dork, use them as volume limiters in real world situations, even at concerts instead of music earplugs.

As far as wired IEMs, I'd dig around on the web to see what the most popular Chinese IEMs that fit your desired sound profile are. Here's a decent article on the landscape as a whole: https://aftermath.site/you-should-get-some-chinese-in-ear-monitors?giftLink=7d231596ebd7b9fc227c571e0208d6c2

You can get pretty great ones that have standard swappable cushions/tips at very reasonable prices

I finally gave in and bought a pair of Sennheiser for a hundred bucks and I'm very happy about them. I still rely on earphones at work and for exercise, but for commuting or WFH, headphones are worth it. Initially got cheap Chinese wireless earphones that were all around crap.

thoughts on noise cancelling earbuds opposed to the big headphones?

I was 100% wired for life then i got some beats fit pro as a present, now I'll never go back. I've never tried noise cancelling headphones so I don't know how they compare, with these you can still hear outside noise but it's very muffled - if you turn off the noise cancelling after being on a train for a while it can seem deafening!

the sony in ears do a good job also yeah

resisted for ages but got WH1000XM3s at a discount a couple of years ago and yes, totally transformative for travel. One curiosity is that even with EQing they do seem to push me a bit towards certain genres when I'm on the train (crunchy guitars meh, reggae & hip hop yes).

In terms of incremental upgrades I think my step-daughter got WH1000XM4s for cheap from a colleague who'd bought them but preferred the WH1000XM3 so I don't think there can be much in it.

(xps around the house I don't need the noise cancelling & usually use those cheap Chinese IEMs. The truthears ones are kind of amazing for the price - I have 3 or 4 sets of the crinacle zero:2 & the gate in various rooms and bags)

I avoided wireless for years, mainly because I figured it was just another thing to charge. I finally got some Sony WF-C700N earbuds and they're brilliant - best purchase for years. Charging is a pain in the arse, but that ship sailed years ago. Noise-cancelling is passive but still pretty great. I will eventually upgrade to some headphones.

I ask about buds* vs headphones because I'm wondering if headphone ANC tends to be much better than buds. I guess Airpods Pro vs Max would be a decent thing to search, someone has to have written about that. I got some pretty pricey ANC buds a while back and was surprised that some of my chunkier wired sets are better at blocking noise passively, than these can do actively... for like, mowing a lawn. Flying to China with my kid in the fall and going to need all the help I can get lol.

*Yeah I mean In-Ear Monitors and co-sign all mh said. However my favourite thing to stick in/around my ear is old-school flathead EARBUDS. There are some small-time makers doing great things. In most situations I hate the occlusion you get with in-ears... and I'm not looking to wear a big headphone much of the day.

I guess it depends on whether you'd consider airpods pro an iem or not. They have a silicone tip that is meant to completely seal that they're shipped with, and they really do need to seal to sound right. So they're technically more of an earbud in that they don't go as deeply into your ear, but honestly, most of the other things marketed as IEMs don't, either.

I guess Etymotic still has the IEMs that use the same tips as their earbuds and you really shove them in there, but not many manufacturers are really doing that style

Airpods pro not an in-ear?? that never would've occurred to me. You're right I guess they don't have a proper nozzle.

I bought and returned the Airpods (non-pro, no silicone) 4 with ANC ironically because they fit my ears *too well* and I found the occlusion (with noise features turned off) closer to full-on in-ears than a flathead bud (more what i was looking for!). Also the ANC made terrible feedback noises when, like, closing a bathroom door.

fwiw the ANC wireless IEMs i got are the Nothing Ear 2024 model. Review consensus is ANC is fine but not quite on the level of Apple/Sony/Bose. It's my gym set pretty much.

yeah, Nothing has a pretty good quality/price offering imo

why yes I do alleviate my anxiety by buying headphones

I have the Technics Bluetooth ones. Really happy with them.

Tho sorry that's more for day to day. For travel noise cancellers I have the Sony from an iteration or two ago.

I got mine free with my Sony phone contract.

It's like having two sofas on my ears, but tbf it does dull the airplane noise when I use them.

as a real hater of wireless got a pair of WH-1000xm4 as a gift last year and really love them (for anything other than working on audio). they're light. they're immersive. the battery lasts a long time. they sound great in a hi-def 2025 kind of way. lossless hi rez audio from my iphone.

I have WH-1000xm4 cans after having XM1s for years. Test really great for travel. However I recently got the new Powerbeats pros (I can’t use AirPods I have an extra bit of cartilage in my right ear that means I need the hook)

Whilst the noise cancelling isn’t nearly as good as the Sony it’s still pretty amazing and massively smaller is a huge bonus.