Noise-cancelling headphones

fluffnutter

Anyone got any advice on noise-cancelling headphones? I'm loving listening to my ipod at work so I can drown out the dodgy local station that's always on the radio! But, after a few hours my in-ear buds can make my ears ache a bit (not volume but pressure on the ears). I'm thinking of getting a big pair of cans but want to know if I should go for noise-cancelling.

Are they worth it? Any recommendations?

Thanx guys.

googler

Use a regular pair of in-ear phones (not the ear-bud type) and go to B&Q for a pair of ear defenders from their safety clothing section.

The ear defenders cover your ears totally and should be quite comfy. They won't need batteries (the noise-cancellers do), and not expensive either.

esuhl

You can get noise-isolating earphones, which block external sounds getting into your ears. The advantage over noise-cancelling 'phones is that you don't have the noise-isolating circuitry which interferes with the sound quality and requires an extra power source.

The Shure SCL2s I have are great - I've used them in a busy bar (where it was so loud people had to shout) and on public transport and they really do block out virtually all background noise.

The only thing is that I can imagine that some people might not find them comfortable after an hour or so... and they're more expensive (~£60) than a cheap pair of earphones (but worth it for the sound quality!)

Anyway, there are probably a lot of other models of noise-isolationg 'phones you could look at if the Shure's aren't quite what you're looking for...

danthemoneysavingman

A friend of mine bought a pair of sennheiser pxc-250 noise-cancelling phones. Senny's are a good brand, always liked mine. He said the noise-cancelling works best with constant drony noises like aeroplanes (or perhaps radio 1 ) and will help a bit, but aren't as good as the in-ears.

Suppose I'm saying I don't think they'll 100% help but are better than no noise cancellation.

Hope that helps?

Dan

westiea

Lidls have these for £12.99 now i know they're not Bose!!! but maybe worth a punt?

danthemoneysavingman

cheap headphones are a false economy if you actually like your music ;-)

suggest you look up reviews online re: quality and noise-cancelling effectiveness

NickieP

You probably won't want to hear this(pardon the pun) but yourcompany/H&S manager really shouldn't(probably doesn't) allow any headphones to used on site even in breaks. You won't be able to hear fire alarms, forlift and road vehicle beeps,machinery alarms/klaxons, colleagues shouting to warn of danger or ask for help in an emergency etc. Annoying I know, as I love listening to the radio at work and these were the reasons given to me. I have to agree, they are right though.
Just a thought for anyone working in a warehouse(or office for that matter)- better annoyed by rubbish local radio than impaled on a forklift!

googler

danthemoneysavingman wrote: »

cheap headphones are a false economy if you actually like your music ;-)

Which is why my solution rules - separate the headphones from the means of excluding the noise, and you can upgrade the headphones as much as you want and still use the same noise excluders.....

Lil306

googler wrote: »

Which is why my solution rules - separate the headphones from the means of excluding the noise, and you can upgrade the headphones as much as you want and still use the same noise excluders.....

The wording of your post confused me

I think what the person meant by that post is if you like your music it doesn't matter and should be cranked up loud anyway and not listened by headphones

althas

Have a look at www.trustedreviews.com for some ideas. I always use that site for gadgety things. Also I remember the Gadget Show doing a review of noise cancelling headphones in the last series, so they may still have that on their website

googler

Lil306 wrote: »

The wording of your post confused me

I think what the person meant by that post is if you like your music it doesn't matter and should be cranked up loud anyway and not listened by headphones

I think what they meant was that the cheap noise-cancellers from Lidl etc are false economy.

My solution means that if the OP has a pair of earphones that they're happy with, they can implement noise cancellation without taking a chance on the sound quality of any new headphones that they buy.