Ask Engadget: Best noise-canceling headphones?
By Darren Murph 
posted November 27th 2008 9:30PM
posted November 27th 2008 9:30PM
Over at the Engadget household today, we staffers have gathered around a cornucopia of good eats, good gadgets, and most importantly, good times. When it came time to list all the things we were thankful for, our readers were undoubtedly the top choice. And with Ask Engadget questions like this one, can you really blame us? "I've been listening to your podcast since the day you reintroduced it and I really like it, but I have a hard time understanding what you're saying when I'm in the subway. So I'd like to know what are the best noise-suppressing headphones I could get for around $150. Either that, or you could just ask Nilay to speak louder... thanks a lot!"
We'll be sure to pass the word to Nilay (he's a bit busy with the pumpkin pie at the moment), but for all of you overstuffed individuals out there, how's about giving Gabriel an answer he'll appreciate? Afterwards, send in a question of your own to ask at engadget dawt com.
Bose Quiet Comfort 2. The best ever. Amazing sound quality, complete blockage of sound, and a comfortable fit as well. Does not get better than this (wearing them now, actually). Better still, if they break, Bose will replace them for $50 (This happened once when a flawed piece of plastic broke, and they gave me another set, even offering to upgrade me to QuietComfort3, but I like over-the-ear better than on-the-ear, so I stuck with these. The price is a small one to pay for the quality.
I have the Shure e530PTH and it's the best I've heard so far.
Excellent reply psychotropic... However, I did mention that Bose's clarity surely has plenty of room for improvement and almost all of the high-end phones I've used have blown Bose's clarity away. But, Engadget's article is asking about the best sound-cancelling headphones, and IMO when it comes to sound cancelling, long-trip use and comfort go hand-in-hand and thus the Bose QC comfort (not to mention sound-cancellation ability) is vastly superior to any other headphone out there.
You lose a shit-ton of clarity with noise canceling. You'd be better off with IEMs honestly. For $300, you can do a lot better with IEMs as opposed to whatever Bose has to offer. Honestly, spend it elsewhere.
hey Kevin, these Audio-Technicas are noise cancelling as well....and they do the NC as well as the Bose headphones, and they are comparable in terms of comfort.
IEMs for me. Not only do they actually block out noise (as opposed to just canceling it out) by they are way more portable than the Bose Qc's. I have nothing against Bose, but there are a lot more choices out there with respect to noise-canceling head sets. Also you are forgetting that most people are listening to to lossy, compressed music (ie mp3's) and that these higher quality headphones will reveal how bad the music sounds...meaning if you have a great pair of cans, but you'll be listening to crappy music if you're encoding them at lower bit rates. Anyways, the Ultimate Ears pro 5's have my vote.
I use both the Bose (the original and damn old now but still work fine) and the Shure in ear. They both work just fine and it really depends on what I am doing and where I am. I do a lot of flying and no one can tell me that the noise canceling phones don't work - they do great on a plane. Yeah another thing to figure out how to jam into my carry on but once the routine is figured out its no big deal. I see all the newer models that I have not tried out and are cheaper than Bose so when/if my Bose dies I will. Most other times, such as in the car (I use my Tilt for my music/tv etc) or in the gym the Shure in ear do a great job as well and would not put on over the ears in that case anyway.
But lets get real, most of us have crappy MP3 music on our players so how good is the sound really going to be anyway? Since the 8 gig cards came out I have put some lossless songs on my player but the reality is most of the music is not high quality so not sure spending more than $100 makes any difference anyway.
i have both the bose on ear headphones (160$) and the QC3 (350$).
i fly a lot and the cheaper set of the two does a really nice job of keeping the noise out. I have tried some shure in ear pieces and they work just as well but dont give me the sound quality that i get in the bose.
Sennheiser HD280 Pro's. These are $99 or less. They are the best noise canceling headphones, and sound amazing. They are designed for field recording engineers and are used by news crews and films crews. You've also probably seen a few intelligent people with them connected to their MP3 players. I am a headphone junkie, and have different headphones for different uses. Anyway, if you want superb sound, and serious noise canceling, these are the best. There is no gimmick, no batteries, nothing to ruin the sound. They hug your head, and kill external sound. You will not be able to have a conversation with them on. They are no joke, and they are awesome. Again, Sennheider HD 280 Pro's. With 32 decibels of attenuation, they make every so-called "noise-cancelling" headphone weep. For the third time:
Sennheiser HD280 Pro. $99 or less. Buy, rejoice.
Engadget should do a poll of all mentioned head/earphones to give a better understanding. Because this has made it even worse to choose.
Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7 QuietPoint Active Noise-Cancelling Headphones.
I had some shure e2c headphones and they were *ok*, although had no bass in them... anyway, when they failed i bought some ultimate ears. they are brilliant! just enough to block out any irritating noises from screaming anklebiters on planes and busses, and they're modular, so when you do rip them apart by catching them on a door handle you can simply plug them back together or buy spares! genius! if only other headphone companies would realise that this happens and do something similar! the only think i dont like about them is that the over-the-ear cords on some in ear headphones are a hassle if you are taking them off and on again in an office environment. theyre kind of a pain.
Call me crazy but, skullcandy buds. Alebit in ear and very cheap (15 bucks) they are the best pair i have owned, working more efficently then my shure 210's. I've sat next to an engine on the plane, in the subway, even going through a working consturction site and barely hearing anything. If the bud fits your ear it blocks out all the sound, you literally can't hear a thing with them. Even though they break very often (warranty allows u to keep getting free pairs every 3 months! lol) they are still the best i've ever owned. sound quality, in my opinion, is also very good and they are discreet too.
Get Westone UM1s. They are 100 bucks and are ear bud isolation made in the US.
I've seen the um2s selling for
Dam comment system. I'll try again.
I've seen um2s selling for
I know these aren't in the price range, but the noise cancelling is AWESOME if not mega awesome..
So I present you the Beats by Dr. Dre http://www.beatsbydre.com/
I personally don't have them, but my friend does and if you put them on without any music, you cant hear a thing.. now put the music on and you go deaf because the sound is just so awesome!
I have had several headphones in the years and Active Noise Cancelling is definitely different from Noise insulation And usage is very very different.
First i have to say i have very narrow ear canals so not all in ear phones are usable for me at all.
Had some old sonys great sound small but blocking nope...
Then i bought the cheapest Senheiser Active Noise Cancelling Phonese just for traveling and in an airplane and i still consider them best budget solution... It realy supresses all the low freq in an aiplane, you will only hear a slight hiss. And because they are over the ear, wearing long time is no problem. However i damaged the cord when i was trying to match it with the sony in ear canal plugs. And discovered that the headset uses 2 microphones in the headset itselve making the match impossible. so i will buy a new one for $75.
I am also using a couple of Shure E3C's with custom moulded earpieces. They sound realy great but those are not travel comfy due to the big piece sticking out combined with that thick cable. With foam tips they were on the limit of comfort and even custom moulded they hurt when the part of the shure hits a headrest. Sound entering via body contact is also possible.... Definitely not the phone for sleeping with. in a plane they are utterly unpractical, because they insulate so well you need to take them out to understand the steward. And doing that a couple of times irritates your ears very much.
Shure has a solution, they have a headset with the option of a talk mode so toggling a switch will enable you to hear what people say. But this puppy is damn expensive at over 400usd and still uses those big clumsy drivers sticking out of your ears. If i could get one with smaller drivers i would buy this one sans the price issue Just because its more compact as a senheiser cx350
On the contrary i have some tailor made noise suppression plugs for heavy industry with a center piece which leaves the voice freq more or less open. This is great in an airplane You will hear everybody relative clear but all the big noise is gone. And to my suprisse, if you add a headset you will hear the music (sans some of the blocked freq so its not exactly super audiophile). You can also use the plugs for when you are working with a powerdrill etc. But sleeping with these industrial plugs does not block enough noise, for getting rid of the voice freq you will need solid foam.... Still combining these with a senheiser cx350 gives me the most practicall comfort.
So coming full circle
Allmost all in ear canal phones insulate better as over the ear. If you do not have to remove them from your ears on your comuting trip go for these. Will also give you the best sound.
If you need to remove that headset every 30min or so go for something like a senheiser cx, i've had the cheapest and they are good enough.
LOL and if now someone at the hearing aid companies can combine some stuff so you get a box to switch noise suppression and TALK/Music on and off and use either an air tube headphone (no drivers in your ears so no magnetic fields) or a normal one combined with usage of the mic build in to use it on a mobile phone.... Well that would be the killer app for frekwent travel and frekwent calls. Low SAR, Low Noise, Practicall
Professional musician here and I've tried many headphones. Etymotic ER-6i is the best headphone out. Precisely as you describe for volume levels on the Underground these phones are AMAZING!!
Hey.. I can help you ... if your budget is just 150$ max then go to ebay and youll see a bunch of sellers selling shure se420. This one is a big improvement over the se210 and se310 and gives 85% of the audio quality of the top of the line shure se530 (which i own.. its ground-breaking awesome)... now.. ull see it for $210 but u can get a 10% discount if ure an ebay member for the next week cause of november savings coupon. if not then u can also get a 25% discount from microsoft live search. it works like this - go to live.com, search shure se420 or something.. click on any ebay links with the live cashback icon (it doesnt have to be a product u want).. once u click on the link the cashback logo is on the top hand corner of the ebay page. Sign in.. then search for the item u want (any item btw will work as long as it is BUY IT NOW) in this case shure se420 or se310 as u wish... then click buy it now.. and then itll tell u how much cash back ure getting.. the se420s generally sell for 200 to 210 buy it now from authorized sellers.. with the cashback (which ull get after 60 days only.. but ull get it dont worry)..it costs 200-25%(200) = $150... an amazing value. This earphone is brilliant.. check reviews at head-fi.org and headroom and cnet and laptop magazine.. ull see y bose sucks in front of these.. these are one of THE BEST IN THE WORLD.. u can even look for honest reviews and comparisons on earphonesolutions.com.. WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF AUDIO BLISS.. THE WORLD OF IEMS (in ear monitors).
Se420 from shure through ebay buy it now and microsoft live cashback - $150 money wellllllll spent.
Noise-Canceling headphones require power to actively dampen sound, they cannot be operated during take off and landing on most airlines because of this. They can be effective to about 25dB, but many models only cancel about 15dB. Some can allow voices through quite well.
Noise-Blocking headphones are a low tech alternative that passively block sound. They require no power and you can use them (or simple ear plugs) during take-off and landing. Most can dampen all sounds by about 30dB, but that includes human voices (you'll have to pull one out to hear, or use sign language). They are cheaper.
For me that is a simple recipe for using noise-blocking head-phones or foam ear plugs instead of wasting money on active cancellation of noise (which requires both power and computation).
I love my er-6i's. Any good set of in-ear models will give you great noise isolation. With music playing, i can mow the lawn and only barely hear the mower, without cranking up the volume.
I really like the Dr. Dre Headphones form Monster. Even though they cost an arm and a leg, they sound great!
READ! the price point is $150 or less. The Monster headphones are double that and then some.
had some Shure SE530 but the best remain the Westone UM2 for their thin/light yet sturdy cables, much more comfortable than the thick ones in the Shures. Just my 2 cents.
Ultimate Ears will be my first choice, because of everything
Etymotic Research er6i will be second - noise canceling is awesome, few things that actually bothers me: microphone effect on cable and some sort of dryness of sound.
Tried V-Moda Vibe - crisp highs. not much of the noise canceling, I guess these more for mainstream.
Haven't tried Bose, but general stereotype is that it sound good at first, but when you start comparing to others...that's another story :)
As BananaBoat stated, noise cancelling earphones are something of a hack. For quality sound, you need sound isolation, not cancellation, which is best done with a set of in-ear buds.
For a very nice set of in-ear buds with unparalelled sound reproduction and sound isolation, you need to hit up Etymotic Research. I get the impression (just MHO, mind you) that Shure mimic'd ERi's engineering, so you could probably get a set of those as well... though I'd recommend the Cadillac instead, so to speak. :)
They do have sets in your price range, and you will not be disappointed if you use the buds properly, and with the appropriate sleeve.
Your ears will thank you!
Ultimate Ears Super.fi 4 vi (for your iPhone) I own these. They have a tight bass and good detail. Can be uncomfortable depending on your ear. My ear canal is small so I don't use it for a long period of time because it starts bothering and actually aching, in my occasion. I lost my favorite ear tips for these which used to be more comfortable (there is variety in ear tips that come with these). Though they sound great and block out a lot of noise. You can't tell when someone is talking to you... you can't even hear your own voice. Good use for in train, maybe dangerous for walking on the streets. It is always just the music, you, road in front, and the car that is about to hit you 'cause you can't hear it coming/beeping... happened to me a couple of times :D
If you demand higher sound quality check out these:
Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5
Ultimate Ears Triple.fi 10 (expensive!)
The other recommendations here have been good as well.
If you want the best, you've got to leave the consumer market. Ultimate Ears UE-11 Pro. While they're $1150 a pair plus the cost of molds, they are the best.
http://www.ultimateears.com/_ultimateears/products/custom/ue11pro_description.php
AKG K 28 NC, for a little over $100. On-the-ear, comfortable. Used them for overseas flights to and from Taiwan last year. Worked great and are foldable and small enough to take with you lots of places.
I work in a 250k Sq Ft Data Center with thousands of computers. This means Lots and Lots of noise! With that in mind I bought the Bose Noise Canceling Headphones through one of their special promotion a few months ago, I had them for 1 week before returning them. I know people swear by them but I was not impressed with them at all.
I agree with several other poster saying that ANY in ear canal ear phones are going to be the way to go. I have a pair of cheap a$$ Skull Candy ones I got from Best Buy and they do a better job than the Bose could ever do. I also have some Sure ones which sound awesome but don't stay in my ear, the material that they are made out of doesn't grip enough. I keep meaning to check their site to see if they have any replacement ones that are made out of a different material.
Sennheiser hd280 pro
I'd recommend the Panasonic RP-HC500: only $90 and great headphones, almost as good as bose but for a small fraction of the money!
I'm surprised no one is mentioning the Sennheiser's PXC 450 + 350 models. Theyre expensive but good noise cancellation tech dont come cheap and I think they come with some kinda 4 year warranty and replaceable earpads. Fixing on getting me a pair when I can deal with eating bread and water for a couple of weeks.
The answer is quite simple: It depends on what "noise" you want to eliminate.
If you want something that will reduce all ambient noise, you have to go with a headphone that blocks your entire ear canal. Shure and Etymotic both make competent performers at many different price points. Some of them come with different options for blocking your ear canal, from silicon, flanged thingys to actual form earplugs with a small hole for the speakers to pass through.
The main downside is comfort. Having a plug deep in your ear can be irritating, especially for a long period of time. Also, the true in ear solutions can get ear wax on them, which you have to clean. Sennheiser makes some good partial in ear solutions (CX-300B) which block the ear canal but don't go as far into your ears as the Shure and Etymotic models. If you're active with any of these, the plastic around the headphone wires can transmit noise into your ears, but this tends to diminish over time, as the plastic loosens up from use.
If you want to block out loud, low frequency noise, like jet engines, road noise, and the like, merely blocking your ear canal will not work. That's because low frequency noises can pass right through your skin. If you want something that will work when travelling, active noise cancellation is the best choice. I've used them in cars and planes, but not in the subway, and so I don't know whether they work to reduce subway noise. The active part of these headsets will NOT reduce talking noise, and so many people who try to use them to cancel out noises at work are disappointed and incorrectly report that they don't work.
And there is a huge difference between the various models. I'm a big fan of the Bose Quiet Comfort 2 ("QC2"), because it reduces jet and road noise very well, produces decent sound, and is very comfortable. It uses standard AAA batteries, which I prefer (I use a rechargeable NiMH eneloop battery in mine). The QC2 has some downsides: It is relatively large. Many users have reported that it is fragile, however, many users have also reported that Bose will replace it when it breaks, without regard to warranty limitations. it costs $300.00. Avoid the QC3 which is slightly smaller, but uses a proprietary rechargeable battery, for no good reason.
If cost or size is a factor, consider the Sennheiser PXC-300 and PXC-250. Both are much, much cheaper and much smaller than the Bose units. Unlike the Bose, they sit on, rather than over, your ear, and the noise canceling circuitry is in a separate unit that doesn't sit on your head. Both Sennheisers work almost as well as the Bose. You can get a PXC-250 for around $70 and the PXC-300 for around $130.00. I've tried the PXC-300 and it is almost as good as the Bose, at less than half the price.
Both the Bose and Sennheiser models come with nice carrying cases.
I also tested the Sony in-ear active noise canceling and over the ear noise canceling and was very unimpressed. Like many cheap active-NC options, the Sony has a noticeable hissing noise and wasn't very good at reducing jet engine noise. The over the ear model was also very heavy, which can be irritating on long trips.
I've read good reviews about the Audio Technica models and a Panasonic model, but they are newer and I haven't tested them. They are priced comparably to the Sennheiser PXC-300, and I can recommend that model for its combination of price, size, and quality. Bose sells their QC2s with a 30-day return period, and so if money is no object, you can always try them out and return them if they don't measure up to the cheaper options.
I would very much like to know that what do everybody think is/are the best noise cancelling headphone(s) for under $100.
I own the sennheiser noise canceling pxc 300 headphones and shure E5C in ear phones. In ear solutions are better for minimizing surrounding noise, however they aren't as comfortable and convenient for conversation. With over ear noise canceling solutions it is easy to hear flight attendants and other people that may address you, with the in ear solutions you need to remove the earphone.
When trying to sleep the in ear solutions are more comfortable. In ear solutions also don't have an external processing unit and are much more compact.
I much prefer the in ear solution with the flanged sleeves, however the sleeves need to be changed after some time when they become soiled. I've also had the unfortunate circumstance of having the flanged sleeve come off in my ear when I removed the earphone. I needed an assistant to remove it with tweezers.
what about in ear ones that aren't uncomfortable. My in ears now i can't wear for more than a half hour
aurvana x-fi from creative labs. the x-fi buttons work well for music & movies. pretty well built too.
Well, that depends if you want headphones with active noise-cancelling or simply closed back headpones with a very tight seal that does not let much noise in or out. The latter is better for professional use and in my experience DT770M cans are excellent in that regard. Active noise- cancelling is better for using in an environment with low hum or buzzing such as when you travel by e.g. train or bus or particularily when you are on a plane. Bose QC used to be a standard solution here but since X-Fi Aurvana came up they took over. Aurvanas are much better value compared to Bose, X-Fi feature is a neat one, and most importantly Aurvanas can be used as normal headphones - without noise-canceling.
Like a lot of these other comments, I's agree that noise isolating in ear monitors are the way to go, rather than active noise cancelling headphones. Comfort, however, is an issue with many IEMs, the shure tips never quite fit right for me, and the tri flange Ety models were too big to be comfortable.
I like the Westone UM series (UM-1, UM-2, and U3), and can wear them for hours and hours comfortably. I currently have the UM-1's and think their overall sound quality is as good (different, but as good) as the Etymotic ER4 and better than she Shure IEMs in that price range, though people swear by the others. It's a presonal decision.
I'll also recommend earphonesolutions.com (I'm not pimping my site, I'm just a satisfied customer). THey'll ship you a pair and do full refund exchanges until you find a set you're happy with.
If, however, you want active noise cancelling headphones, I would recommend that you stay as far away from Bose as possible, and got yourself into a nice pair of Sennheisers. I do sound design for a living, and use Sennheiser headphones (albiet not noise cancelling, but it's the drivers that are important) daily.
I know the question dealt with headphones under $150, but I think there's a big quality difference between the cheaper models and the high end ones. I decided on a pair of Sennheiser 450s, over the Bose QC3, after reading this review . . .
http://tech.spotcoolstuff.com/review/noise-canceling-headphones/bose-vs-sennheiser
. . . and I've been so glad I did. The 450s are REALLY outstanding headphones. I'm not sure I'd be able to go back to a cheaper pair after owning them.
I happened to pick up a copy of Consumer Reports at an airport, and they had reviews of noise-canceling headphones and earbuds. Their conclusion (for what it's worth) is that the best-sounding model retails for $69, and is made by Panasonic. They ranked these higher than all the Bose models, the Sennheisers, et cetera.