noise cancelling headphones

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so, i've been wondering about these for a while. i always thought they were super-expensive, but the last couple of times i've flown i've seen pairs in dixons for 30-100 quid. do they work? which ones are good? i'd have to be very careful not to get run over wearing them, i imagine, if they do work. i'd like to have some for cancelling out background noise in starbucks, and (perhaps this is too much to hope for) for being able to hear music on the tube, and just generally having music on more quietly when out and about, and being abl to hear it better.

― toby (tsg20), Tuesday, 15 March 2005 09:25 (twenty years ago)

I've been musing on getting some myself; any answers appreciated.

― stevo (stevo), Tuesday, 15 March 2005 09:39 (twenty years ago)

I use the etymotic earplugs (the ones you stick right inside your ear) which have transformed listening on the tube or airplanes. I rarely turn the volume up beyond halfway now and they sound fantastic - very intense and detailed - so I always really look forward to heaing things on them. The other thing I like is that they are small and discreet (hides that I'm using an ipod - which is good for all sorts of reasons from security to not feeling like I'm walking around branded). They are quite expensive though with the dollar rate not too bad if you buy them direct from the states.

I have also tried the sennheiser ones which work pretty effectively and look reasonably low-key. To my mind the Bose ones scream "mug" in a Third Rock from the Sun goofy kind of way.

― Guy, Tuesday, 15 March 2005 09:52 (twenty years ago)

Buy closed back headphones instead and spend the money on decent cans rather than fancy pants technology. I have some sennheiser closed back headphones and the music stays in and the street noise (largely) stays out.

also http://www.headphonereviews.org/

― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 15 March 2005 10:00 (twenty years ago)

I agree with Ed. I haven't tried noise-cancelling ones, but the guy in the shop kind of put me off them and my closed-back Sennheiser PX-200s keep out enough tube noise (even on Victoria Line) for a happy listen - Starbucks will be absolutely fine.

How people listen to music on the tube with earbuds is beyond me.

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 15 March 2005 10:50 (twenty years ago)

(standard, non-ear canal ones, I mean)

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 15 March 2005 10:50 (twenty years ago)

Don't expect miracles from noise-cancelling headphones, though. Remember they only reduce (and not completely eliminate) repetitive constant sounds such as engine noise, or hissing sounds from coffee machines. You will still be able to hear people talking, other music in the background, and other noises with transients - as much as any other closed-back headphone.

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Tuesday, 15 March 2005 12:10 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I use the in-ear models as well. I've tried both Etymotic and Shure and they both sound fantastic. The Etymotic is cheaper, but the
Shure models have a slightly thicker cable, which means you won't have to worry about damaging them by zipping them up into a zipper or pulling them apart accidentally against a turnstile.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Tuesday, 15 March 2005 13:46 (twenty years ago)

(They are a bit weird to get used to, though, as they go right into your ear canal, like an earplug. If you find earplugs unsettling, same here, but you get used to it fairly quickly. And because it does isolate your ears with the earplug-style tip, it DOES mean--as Guy noted--that you can play your music at a lower level and still hear it just fine. Less chance of ear damage from either the music or the train.)

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Tuesday, 15 March 2005 13:48 (twenty years ago)

CLASSIC when used on the airplane. I paid about $60 USD for AIWA branded phones, and while the sound isn't stellar compared to, say, Bose, they are great. Better than my in-ear buds on the plane. It's a great technology.

― don weiner, Tuesday, 15 March 2005 15:26 (twenty years ago)

Ed OTM, you're better off getting good quality headphones.

― deej., Tuesday, 15 March 2005 15:36 (twenty years ago)

http://www.head-fi.org for the most in depth discussion of headphones (it's like the ILM of headphones). The consensus there is that no noise-canceling phones are anywhere near equivalently priced cans in terms of music reproduction (there is a special hate there for Bose).

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 15 March 2005 17:59 (twenty years ago)

I bought a pair of Sony ones for 70$ for work and while the sound quality isn't superb, it is significantly better than your average < 100$ headphones. They are not as good as my studio AKGs by any stretch, but I didn't buy them for that reason. My complaint with the model I purchased is the faint hiss that ensues when you power them up. However, despite my complaints, they are very effective in terms of seriously limiting the sound of heaters and coworkers chattering.

― William Selman (William Selman), Wednesday, 16 March 2005 01:01 (twenty years ago)

two months pass...

the etmotic ones are amazing! i've had them for a month now, and while they were uncomfortable to start with, they're great now. i've got used to being able to listen to ambient music on my ipod on the tube with the volume only about 1/5 of the way up, and only just being able to hear that there are announcements, let alone what they are.

i do fear getting run over wearing them, though.

― toby (tsg20), Friday, 27 May 2005 05:19 (twenty years ago)

duh etymotic.

― toby (tsg20), Friday, 27 May 2005 05:19 (twenty years ago)

three months pass...

Revive! (OK, it could have been any of the headphones threads, God knows there's enough of them.)

One of the buds on my EX71s is failing, at a fairly rapid rate, after only 9 months of moderate usage so I guess I find myself in the market for headphones.

Prepared to spend a fair bit to get something more reliable so recommend away. Only limitation is on leakage - I don't want to share with the office at lunchtimes.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Friday, 23 September 2005 13:33 (nineteen years ago)

nine months pass...

I am thinking of investing in some of these to eliminate the sound of people (certain peole) talking bollocks and/or moaning when I am trying to work. Perhaps the Sony ones referred to above.

I am not sure what I am asking.

Is it worth the money, perhaps?

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Thursday, 20 July 2006 08:49 (nineteen years ago)

cancelling or excluding?

― toby (tsg20), Thursday, 20 July 2006 13:10 (nineteen years ago)

I don't know the difference. I want to be in a bubble of quietude at all times.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Thursday, 20 July 2006 13:45 (nineteen years ago)

I think I've praised the Shure e2c in-ear phones on another thread before, but they really are good for the $$$. I wear them on the way to work and they pretty much completely block out traffic noise, blaring ringtones and the like. Also serve this purpose at work, although they also mean I cannot hear my phone, co-workers stalking up to me etc.

For about half the price Sony's EX-71 variants are also very decent noise blockers, though the sound and build quality are nothing like the Shures.

― Bill A (Bill A), Thursday, 20 July 2006 14:12 (nineteen years ago)

So, if you listen to, like, Merzbow, can you hear anything?

― fuckfuckingfuckedfucker (fuckfuckingfuckedfucker), Thursday, 20 July 2006 14:25 (nineteen years ago)

cancelling or excluding?

Cancelling (e.g. Bose or Sony): "Microphones actively monitor what you hear, including unwanted outside sound. The difference between the unwanted sound and the desired sound is then electronically processed, creating a correction signal that acts to negate the unwanted noise. The speaker within each earcup is then fed the correction signal. This signal, combined with the passive noise reduction of the headset itself, dramatically reduces the outside distractions that reach your ears." LINK

Excluding AKA Isolating (e.g. Etymotic or Shure): "Works like an earplug to block background noise naturally. This enables you to listen comfortably at lower volumes-even in loud environments. And unlike bulky headphones utilizing active noise cancellation technology, no artifacts are introduced into your listening experience. Sound isolating earphones are also much smaller and don't require batteries." LINK

― Zimmer026 (Zimmer026), Thursday, 20 July 2006 14:28 (nineteen years ago)

i have a pair of Ety ER6s, which i swore by until i got these: http://www.xtrememac.com/audio/earphones_recorders/fs1.php

now i prefer the FS1s... also thicker cords

― that's so taylrr (ken taylrr), Thursday, 20 July 2006 17:46 (nineteen years ago)

i favour these:

http://www.earphonesolutions.com/westoneum1.html

much better than the etymotics.

― toby (tsg20), Thursday, 20 July 2006 20:53 (nineteen years ago)

These are out of your price range but they work pretty well: http://www.bose.com/controller?event=VIEW_PRODUCT_PAGE_EVENT&product=qc2_headphones_index

They aren't very comfortable after an hour or so, however.

― Tom Hatton (kl0pper), Friday, 21 July 2006 00:03 (nineteen years ago)

SEEK

http://www.koss.com/koss/kossweb.nsf/p?openform&pc%5Eeb%5EPLUG

― 100% CHAMPS with a Yes! Attitude. (Austin, Still), Friday, 21 July 2006 02:15 (nineteen years ago)

PLZ TO STFU RE. BOSE & THEIR OVERMARKETED CULTISHLY ADORED PRODUCTS.

― Damn, Atreyu! (x Jeremy), Friday, 21 July 2006 02:22 (nineteen years ago)

Let me throw my support behind the shure e2c earphones. The sound quality is SO good, and it blocks out SO much else. After the rubbish headphones I've had before it's like a whole new soundworld.

― Johnny B Was Quizzical (Johnney B), Friday, 21 July 2006 13:05 (nineteen years ago)

I think what I want is cancelling, then.

Thanks BTW.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Friday, 21 July 2006 15:47 (nineteen years ago)

Masn in the (corner) shop says they are no good on "our rail network" because they amplify high frequencies, but they are very effective on the bullet train.

So confusing!

Maybe I should just poison the peoople who talk crap all the time.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Saturday, 22 July 2006 10:52 (nineteen years ago)

seven months pass...

i have the sennheiser pxc-250s, and they're pretty good for what i paid for them. one problem: since the microphones are on the ears, they pick up vibrations from the frame of the headphones. so you get to listen to phase inverted wind noise and the sound of your hair rubbing against the headrest when trying to sleep in a plane or car. know any pieces of foam i can buy that will fit over the phones as a muffle?

― lfam, Sunday, 11 March 2007 05:52 (eighteen years ago)

I WOULD CANCELLING ALL YOUR NOISE WITH THIS HEADPHONES.

(I tried.)

― Rockist Scientist, Sunday, 11 March 2007 14:41 (eighteen years ago)

round two

― lfam, Sunday, 11 March 2007 17:21 (eighteen years ago)

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