Noise-cancelling head/earphones
Discussion
We splashed out on the Bose ones. Fabulous invention!
Great for flights. Takes you into a world of your own.
I don't even listen to music on them... just switch them on and unplug the wire. Almost silence.
Yes, they're damn expensive but after 20 flights they work out at about £15 a flight which is fine by me.
Depends how much you'll use them and how much you hate the background noise.
Great for flights. Takes you into a world of your own.
I don't even listen to music on them... just switch them on and unplug the wire. Almost silence.
Yes, they're damn expensive but after 20 flights they work out at about £15 a flight which is fine by me.
Depends how much you'll use them and how much you hate the background noise.
wilwak said:
We splashed out on the Bose ones. Fabulous invention!
Great for flights. Takes you into a world of your own.
I don't even listen to music on them... just switch them on and unplug the wire. Almost silence.
Yes, they're damn expensive but after 20 flights they work out at about £15 a flight which is fine by me.
Depends how much you'll use them and how much you hate the background noise.
Surely cheaper to buy ear plugs if you're not using them for music?Great for flights. Takes you into a world of your own.
I don't even listen to music on them... just switch them on and unplug the wire. Almost silence.
Yes, they're damn expensive but after 20 flights they work out at about £15 a flight which is fine by me.
Depends how much you'll use them and how much you hate the background noise.
I'm firmly in the BOSE camp here. After flying 60,000 odd miles in m months they're a godsend. It's the constant airplane drone that can be told killer. The active mics on the headphones work a treat.
I've tried a lot of other noise cancelling headphones and when my original QC3's gave up I went and bought another pair.
I've tried a lot of other noise cancelling headphones and when my original QC3's gave up I went and bought another pair.
On American Airlines business class they hand out the Bose QuietComfort 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones that are a much more comfortable and effective around ear design compared to my cheapo Sony ones. Others here on PH recommended the the Bose in ear ones (QC20i?) but I prefer the around ear ones personally.
You can get a Bose set for much less than £270 - there is a set on ebay for £100 at the moment which looks very clean.
I have a pair of QC25s & they are very good. The older QC3 & QC15 models seem to be discontinued as they no longer appear on the Bose website. Personally I would go for the QC15 or QC25 as they cover the ears not sit on them & they use AAA batteries whereas the QC3 uses a custom size rechargeable battery.
If you just want to cut the noise out while sleeping then Quies wax earplugs are fantastic.
I have a pair of QC25s & they are very good. The older QC3 & QC15 models seem to be discontinued as they no longer appear on the Bose website. Personally I would go for the QC15 or QC25 as they cover the ears not sit on them & they use AAA batteries whereas the QC3 uses a custom size rechargeable battery.
If you just want to cut the noise out while sleeping then Quies wax earplugs are fantastic.
sennheiser do a few pairs. I have the MM-450x Bluetooth (or wired), noise cancelling. You can control the music device (skip/volume, pause play), telephone call taking - rechargeable 8hr(ish) all singing and dancing.
So they are much more flexible and useful than the Bose - they also do the MM-550x which are over ear instead of on ear.
They do a few do a few versions, Bluetooth, not Bluetooth, noise cancelling not cancelling etc so be careful if you buy and think you have found a bargain - I nearly bought the MM-450 instead of the MM-450x
However they are not cheap.
So they are much more flexible and useful than the Bose - they also do the MM-550x which are over ear instead of on ear.
They do a few do a few versions, Bluetooth, not Bluetooth, noise cancelling not cancelling etc so be careful if you buy and think you have found a bargain - I nearly bought the MM-450 instead of the MM-450x
However they are not cheap.
I had the QC3s for years and loved them for noise cancellation. Found the batteries lasted ages so in reality that was never a problem.
I could never sleep in them on planes due to their size so when the QC20i came out I bought a pair. The cancellation if anything is better, and is aided by the earplug design. Added to that, they're obviously easier to carry around, I can sleep in them, and use them places I wouldn't have bothered with the QC3s.
They also have an inline remote and mic, and work fine as handsfree. Battery life isn't as good as the QC3s, but they charge off a micro USB so in a pinch I have charged them whilst using them using my OTG cable and my phone. Also, they do work as normal earphones when they're off, whereas if the QC3s were dead, they were useless.
Another way to look at this though is to go for noise isolation - a good fitting pair of in ears (with comply foam tips or custom tips) are like wearing earplugs that also happen to play music. You can get great isolation this way - I've got a pair of Sennheiser ie8i in ears which I tended to use before on flights instead of the QC3s for convenience, with comply foam tips. If you get a good fit, they're awesome.
I could never sleep in them on planes due to their size so when the QC20i came out I bought a pair. The cancellation if anything is better, and is aided by the earplug design. Added to that, they're obviously easier to carry around, I can sleep in them, and use them places I wouldn't have bothered with the QC3s.
They also have an inline remote and mic, and work fine as handsfree. Battery life isn't as good as the QC3s, but they charge off a micro USB so in a pinch I have charged them whilst using them using my OTG cable and my phone. Also, they do work as normal earphones when they're off, whereas if the QC3s were dead, they were useless.
Another way to look at this though is to go for noise isolation - a good fitting pair of in ears (with comply foam tips or custom tips) are like wearing earplugs that also happen to play music. You can get great isolation this way - I've got a pair of Sennheiser ie8i in ears which I tended to use before on flights instead of the QC3s for convenience, with comply foam tips. If you get a good fit, they're awesome.
J4CKO said:
Tried a few, bought some Sony ones and they arent a patch on the Bose, I am generally a bit sceptical about Bose stuff but they nailed it with the noise cancelling headphones.
I've got Bose QC somethings as I travel a bit on business, but bought 3ea Sony & JVC £25 jobs of Amazon for a family trip to the US last year. OK, they're not as good as Bose, but for listening to film soundtracks on the IFE they're a million times better than the headset given out flights.
I've got Bose QC3s and whilst they are very good at what they do, I find them uncomfortable on long flights.
I tried some of these in the Apple store about a year ago, and was seriously impressed by the sound for the money. The noise cancelling may not be as impressive as the Bose stuff (according to the reviews), the way they sound more than makes up for it.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-UE-6000-Headphone...
I tried some of these in the Apple store about a year ago, and was seriously impressed by the sound for the money. The noise cancelling may not be as impressive as the Bose stuff (according to the reviews), the way they sound more than makes up for it.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-UE-6000-Headphone...
Transiter said:
wilwak said:
We splashed out on the Bose ones. Fabulous invention!
Great for flights. Takes you into a world of your own.
I don't even listen to music on them... just switch them on and unplug the wire. Almost silence.
Yes, they're damn expensive but after 20 flights they work out at about £15 a flight which is fine by me.
Depends how much you'll use them and how much you hate the background noise.
Surely cheaper to buy ear plugs if you're not using them for music?Great for flights. Takes you into a world of your own.
I don't even listen to music on them... just switch them on and unplug the wire. Almost silence.
Yes, they're damn expensive but after 20 flights they work out at about £15 a flight which is fine by me.
Depends how much you'll use them and how much you hate the background noise.
I hate earplugs and these headphones are just amazing. Like magic!
Bose all the way - I've had both the on-ear and the in-ear sound cancelling ones. Simple for me is that the in-ear "QuietComfort® 20 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headphones" are the ones for me.
Why? Well the in-ear ones I can fall asleep in anywhere, the on-ear ones used to get knocked off my head in my sleep... Oh and I look less like a CyberMan as well
Why? Well the in-ear ones I can fall asleep in anywhere, the on-ear ones used to get knocked off my head in my sleep... Oh and I look less like a CyberMan as well
Gassing Station | Home Cinema & Hi-Fi | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff