Best noise cancelling headphones-music quality unimportant
Discussion
Hi all,
I'm after a new pair of noise cancelling headphones for my autistic son. Music/sound quality isn't particularly important as its the noise cancelling ability he needs, especially the ability to remove voices.
For a few years he's had the Plantronics Backbeat Pro's, which whilst a great headphone don't really remove voices. Are the Bose QuietComfort 35's still the ones to get (I believe their replacements are no better)? I know the Sony's are very highly thought of music-wise, but it really is the noise cancelling ability we're after.
Taking him somewhere to try them out is possible, but not particularly easy.
Thanks all.
I'm after a new pair of noise cancelling headphones for my autistic son. Music/sound quality isn't particularly important as its the noise cancelling ability he needs, especially the ability to remove voices.
For a few years he's had the Plantronics Backbeat Pro's, which whilst a great headphone don't really remove voices. Are the Bose QuietComfort 35's still the ones to get (I believe their replacements are no better)? I know the Sony's are very highly thought of music-wise, but it really is the noise cancelling ability we're after.
Taking him somewhere to try them out is possible, but not particularly easy.
Thanks all.
Don't discount the Taotronics ones - I bought these to replace my old Sony ones (which were good) when the battery failed.
So far, I'd say as good NC as the Sony's, at something like 1/4 the price (so less of a loss if your sone doesn't get on with them).
The battery life is way better as well.
So far, I'd say as good NC as the Sony's, at something like 1/4 the price (so less of a loss if your sone doesn't get on with them).
The battery life is way better as well.
I've got the Sony WH-1000XM3 noise cancelling headphones which I appreciated on a flight to Finland. What I would say is that as far as I know the noise cancelling stops after about 5 minutes if there is no connection with another device. (Not sure it this can be changed)
The noise cancelling is good in my opinion and if it isn't quite as good as you'd like, there is a button to change it on the fly.
The noise cancelling is good in my opinion and if it isn't quite as good as you'd like, there is a button to change it on the fly.
Thanks all for the helpful advice.
I think I'm probably going to go with the Sonys.
I did look at ear defenders, which they have at school and work quite well. Unfortunately my son wants music too, plus he gets embarrassed at people looking at him (he's 11) and headphones attract less attention (other than people thinking he's spoilt!).
I think I'm probably going to go with the Sonys.
I did look at ear defenders, which they have at school and work quite well. Unfortunately my son wants music too, plus he gets embarrassed at people looking at him (he's 11) and headphones attract less attention (other than people thinking he's spoilt!).
thepeoplespal said:
What I would say is that as far as I know the noise cancelling stops after about 5 minutes if there is no connection with another device. (Not sure it this can be changed)
Oh no! That'd be a problem. I'll need to investigate that.... looks like it might be ok with the mk3. https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/article...
Edited by page3 on Sunday 6th October 19:52
BenjiS said:
Sony.
I did a back to back test of my Sony WH-1000XM2 back to back with all its competitors from Bose etc in the Glasgow airport Dixons. Like you, I’m not interested in the best music playback but the best noise cancelling for flying and for work. I was very surprised to find my Sonys cut more noise than anything else I tried. I was only going to change them as I found the headband a little on the large side.
As others have said, no noise cancelling are stunningly good at speech though. They’ll cut the bulk but unless you’re listening to something through them, you’ll still be able to hear people talking, albeit at a lower volume.
Would some commercial ear defenders be a better bet, if you just want silence for your son?
You need to try them on an actual plane not in duty free, that's when noise cancelling comes into its own. You will also notice just about every pilot or first officer wears bose.I did a back to back test of my Sony WH-1000XM2 back to back with all its competitors from Bose etc in the Glasgow airport Dixons. Like you, I’m not interested in the best music playback but the best noise cancelling for flying and for work. I was very surprised to find my Sonys cut more noise than anything else I tried. I was only going to change them as I found the headband a little on the large side.
As others have said, no noise cancelling are stunningly good at speech though. They’ll cut the bulk but unless you’re listening to something through them, you’ll still be able to hear people talking, albeit at a lower volume.
Would some commercial ear defenders be a better bet, if you just want silence for your son?
thepeoplespal said:
What I would say is that as far as I know the noise cancelling stops after about 5 minutes if there is no connection with another device. (Not sure it this can be changed)
Can anyone confirm this? On a plane, I only way noise cancelling, I don’t want it connected to a device.The headphones work two ways. Partly the active noise cancelling works to cancel out recurring constant sounds like engine noise. But mostly they work by mass. So very heavy headphones or ear protectors with closed backs will be fairly good even without turning the NC on.
Pretty sure both bose and sony will stay on without a device.
Pretty sure both bose and sony will stay on without a device.
You are going to be very disappointed with NC headphones. They don't cut out voices unless the voices are a very constant frequency drone (anyone's wife? :-). )
They work by analysing the surrounding frequencies , then , after a short processing delay, produce the same frequency in an inverted wave form ( inverted phase) which cancel the original frequency wave.
This is why when you power up NC headphones , it takes around half a second for the effect to kick in. Time is needed to analyse the incoming sound before if can be dealt with.
This makes NC headphones very good at removing constant frequencies, such as engine drone, wind noise, etc. Anything fairly constant. But give them varying frequencies and they can't keep up.
I've got JVC NC headphones and they are superb at:
100% blocking out my neighbours tumble dryer drone.
100 % blocking out plane engine and air con noise. It's like you are in your own room.
I wear them whilst gaming too. Helps with PUBG. However, as soon as my partner speaks to me from across the room I can hear her clearly.
They work by analysing the surrounding frequencies , then , after a short processing delay, produce the same frequency in an inverted wave form ( inverted phase) which cancel the original frequency wave.
This is why when you power up NC headphones , it takes around half a second for the effect to kick in. Time is needed to analyse the incoming sound before if can be dealt with.
This makes NC headphones very good at removing constant frequencies, such as engine drone, wind noise, etc. Anything fairly constant. But give them varying frequencies and they can't keep up.
I've got JVC NC headphones and they are superb at:
100% blocking out my neighbours tumble dryer drone.
100 % blocking out plane engine and air con noise. It's like you are in your own room.
I wear them whilst gaming too. Helps with PUBG. However, as soon as my partner speaks to me from across the room I can hear her clearly.
thepeoplespal said:
I've got the Sony WH-1000XM3 noise cancelling headphones which I appreciated on a flight to Finland. What I would say is that as far as I know the noise cancelling stops after about 5 minutes if there is no connection with another device. (Not sure it this can be changed)
The noise cancelling is good in my opinion and if it isn't quite as good as you'd like, there is a button to change it on the fly.
I have the disconnect problem too - I just leave it paired with my phone in flight mode. Doesn't deplete the battery much at all.The noise cancelling is good in my opinion and if it isn't quite as good as you'd like, there is a button to change it on the fly.
By coincidence This Review was in the Telegraph today, it may help.
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