Reply to: Noise-Cancelling Earphones

[dundeedude]

Having suffered from slight tinnitus for some time, I can help here.

For blocking out noise in an office, whilst driving, try simple wax earplugs. The best ones are a cylindrical block of wax designed for 1 ear, but I cut them in half and use one half in each ear instead. This also has the benefit of making them nearly invisible. In clubs this works particularly well, because I can hear everybody better and my ears aren't damaged by the shrill high frequency noises that you hear the next day with ringing in your ears. For driving you'll hear conversation better and have the benefit of no hearing-fatigue on long journeys, as it's safely blocking out all the repetitive drone noises of engines, fans, and so on.

For your own music in an office, if you don't want to just use wax earplugs to block the sounds, you can use Sennheiser CXC700. These are inner-earphones that actively process noise and block certain frequency ranges out. Mode1 blocks out lower ranges, mode 2 blocks out higher ranges, and mode3 blocks out all possible ranges available, the manual details those ranges that it can cope with.

They can also be used with noise cancellation switched off, meaning if the battery dies at least you can still listen, if required. You can also adjust each ear individually, as your ears probably experience different sensitivities to different frequencies. There's a "talk" button, so you can quickly listen or talk to people without "occlusion" (the sound of your own voice in your head due to earplugs/phones) which I find very useful on long flights.

They're £152 in Dixons at UK airports. Good for office, planes, trains and automobiles - but you may as well try them then return them if you find they're not up to your expectations.

If you're a cheapskate, go for hard wax earplugs instead. Ignore soft wax earplugs from Asda and the like, they're rubbish.

[Wanderer]

Bose QC 15

I've got Bose QC 3 headphones. They are the business, excellent sound quality and they aren't so big that they make you look like Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.

Noise cancelling is very good but difficult to quantify. It works better with low frequency noise like on aircraft or the drone of car wheels than it does with speech. Wearing them on an aircraft, I can tell that they are making an announcement but can't make out what they are saying. With music playing, I don't hear them saying anything at all.

The nice thing is that when you are listening to music the combination of the noise cancelling and music drowns out most of the sounds around you even at very moderate listening volumes.

They have a rechargeable battery lasts ages, they say 24 hours. The newer ones only come with one battery but mine had two so you can switch them over while the other charges which is useful as you don't ever get caught short. Battery charges in about an hour or less anyway.

The main criticism is the charger that comes with them. It's a beautiful piece of engineering with loads of different plugs for various countries but it won't fit in the bloody case properly. It's also totally pointless when they could just have added a USB socket to charge the bloody things from so I can just plug in and charge them off just about any laptop, iPhone/blackberry power brick and or the USB socket long haul aircraft have these days.

They are comfortable enough to wear, I've worn them for a number of 12 hour flights, including while sleeping without too much bother.

[captainham]

That was a Top Tip about the white noise option, Jaws. I downloaded a free Android app that has a mixture of sounds, including heavy rain, which works very well at cutting down the distraction that exterior music represents. Very relaxing too when you're trying to get to sleep at night.

Just put your foot down, commandeer the office stereo and crank this beauty out, bound to be a winner:

Sounds & Songs of the Humpback: Amazon.co.uk: Music

[Gentile]

Thanks, NLUK. Those would have been just the ticket, and would have matched my Android Tablet cover beautifully:

In the end, though, I went for these. They're quite cheap, and have mixed reviews, so I'm not expecting all that much from them. They should however give me an idea how well noise cancelling works. And, unlike all of the others I considered, have re-chargeable batteries.

That was a Top Tip about the white noise option, Jaws. I downloaded a free Android app that has a mixture of sounds, including heavy rain, which works very well at cutting down the distraction that exterior music represents. Very relaxing too when you're trying to get to sleep at night.

[northernladuk]

I think you're probably right, Bunk. It's just the statement that would send.

@Jaws: ta for that suggestion. I'll give that a go before forking out for a decent set of noise-cancelling headphones or earphones if it doesn't do the trick.

These should do the trick and match your top to boot....

[Gentile]

Then don't bother with earphones and just get a decent pair of ear plugs. They'll be much better at keeping the noise out and cheaper too.

I think you're probably right, Bunk. It's just the statement that would send.

@Jaws: ta for that suggestion. I'll give that a go before forking out for a decent set of noise-cancelling headphones or earphones if it doesn't do the trick.

[Jaws]

Besides from increasing my estimates to account for the distractions, in the past I've used a white noise app for my phone which has drowned out all external noise and it has been easy enough to concentrate on coding whilst it is playing.

[Bunk]

Thanks chaps for the suggestions.

I had a look at noise-isolating (as opposed to -cancelling) earphones, but I think they only work if you're actually listening to music. Most of the time I'm just looking for peace and quiet to concentrate. Ideally library-like silence, though I don't mind a bit of work noise getting through.

Then don't bother with earphones and just get a decent pair of ear plugs. They'll be much better at keeping the noise out and cheaper too.

[Gentile]

Thanks chaps for the suggestions.

I had a look at noise-isolating (as opposed to -cancelling) earphones, but I think they only work if you're actually listening to music. Most of the time I'm just looking for peace and quiet to concentrate. Ideally library-like silence, though I don't mind a bit of work noise getting through.

[Scrag Meister]

Yes I know they are headphones, but I couldn't hear my wife and she was stood next to me, was un-canny. :-)

Get a crew cut and get these.

Bose QC 15

[Bunk]

Working in a noisy environment drives me mad.

I've tried various active noise cancelling headphones but none of them worked that well. In the end I bought a pair of Sennheisser HD280 headphones that are designed to block out noise, and they do about as good a job as a decent pair of earplugs.

The only solution I have found that comes close to completely eliminating background noise is to use a combination of high attenuation earplugs with the headphones over the top. It works a treat, but you will look slightly eccentric, and if you want to actually listen to stuff you'll need to crank it up.

In an office environment earplugs (these are about the best I've found) or some passive noise attenuating earbuds are probably a better bet (e.g. Shure SE215). If you really want to push the boat out you can get some custom moulded ones of the types some musicians wear on stage. They aren't cheap though. You could try the "comply" foam earbud tips as well, they improve the isolation slightly although TBH not that much.

I'd back up any suggestions for Shure earphones. I use SE535s which are probably a bit over the top for your needs but I can't hear a thing when I've got them in. They're probably a bit too good because if someone wants to get my attention they need to come over and poke me before I'm even slightly aware of them. Those SE215s look similar in terms of the foam buds and style so they're probably just cheaper speakers/internals.

[doodab]

Sound studio double wall: Rehearsal room, Soundproofing, Studio sound

[Moscow Mule]

Peltor Optime 2 Ear Defenders 31dB SNR | Screwfix.com

[doodab]

Working in a noisy environment drives me mad.

I've tried various active noise cancelling headphones but none of them worked that well. In the end I bought a pair of Sennheisser HD280 headphones that are designed to block out noise, and they do about as good a job as a decent pair of earplugs.

The only solution I have found that comes close to completely eliminating background noise is to use a combination of high attenuation earplugs with the headphones over the top. It works a treat, but you will look slightly eccentric, and if you want to actually listen to stuff you'll need to crank it up.

In an office environment earplugs (these are about the best I've found) or some passive noise attenuating earbuds are probably a better bet (e.g. Shure SE215). If you really want to push the boat out you can get some custom moulded ones of the types some musicians wear on stage. They aren't cheap though. You could try the "comply" foam earbud tips as well, they improve the isolation slightly although TBH not that much.

[fckvwls]

Have tried loads of earphones, never found one that was satisfactory in the noise cancelling department although a pair of Shure ( I forget which specific model ) came closest. What about a pair of smallish headphones such as these

http://www.amazon.co.uk/JVC-HA-NC250...=IN0VFFK9NY5E1