Noise Cancelling Head Phones

[allmine]

Reading the various posts on this site, I get the feeling that I am not the only one who travels long haul flights on a regular basis.
I discovered a few years ago the benefiates of Noise Canceling Headphones for reducing the effects of travel fatigue.
I have the Bose brand Head phone, these have the battery in them and so I can unplug the lead from the headphone and then walk about with them on. I can say in full confidence that the 1st time I used them made all the difference to my trip home and the lack of head ache afterwards.
Just wondering if any one else has found the same thing as me.

For the benefiate of thoes who don't know, a few tips on Jet Lag reduction are.
1. Plenty of water, the air in the plane is low in humidity
2. Streching before the flight, go for a walk etc.
3. Don't sit at the rear of the plane, try sitting on or forward of the wings, this reduces engine noise. Also you get the freshest air.
4. Noise canceling head phones help a lot by reducing the ambient noise, these are worth concidering.

The trick of getting to many drinks and passing out is old and just defers the pain you'll eventualy feel.

 

[Witzl]

I have used a number of different types of noise cancelling and regular headphones on long-ish flights (syd-HK), as we import them at my work, and being a product development guy here means i get to test out all the potential new products.

I have to say, my favourite has been a little set of Korean "in-ear" headphones that arent even noise cancelling! These little things just seal in your ear so well it's like wearing a very comfortable set of earplugs, but they make music
... and the sound quality is excellent - no wash of cabin noise effecting what you hear, so you dont have to have the volume turned right up to hear the quiet dialogue in the movie you are watching.
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=AA2068

Second favourite is some noise cancelling earphones... similar to the above earphones, but they have the active noise cancelling device in-line. I dont rate these as highly, because they dont make as good a seal in your ear and thus you still get a bit of "cabin noise wash", and thus have to turn the volume up a bit higher. High volume = uncomfortable.
They are really good though, when compared to normal headphones.
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=AA2057


Normally, i love larger "can" style headphones (studio headphone style), but on a plane these are really cumbersome and annoying. I really like the miniature size of the above two products.

Oh yeah... and drinking on a plane makes for a painful arrival.

 

[PrimeCommercial]

They make a huge difference which I was quite surprised when I first used them. Qantas business class has Bose noise cancelling headphones but I recently bought a set of Bose QC3 headphones which are the ducks nuts. much better then the Qantas ones

 

[Witzl]

JEESUS!!! For $600 i'd want them to massage my head and neck at the same time, and give me x-ray vision.

Even Sennheiser HD25's cost less than that!

Sorry... i guess that's the tightarse in me coming through.

 

[battle on]

I use the Sennheiser PXC 250's had them a while now but I think they were around $250 when I bought them.. Great little headphones.

Cheers

 

[wylie]

Hi Witzl. I am wondering if the Jaycar earplug type things you linked to would also be a good buy for my hubby to block out loud noises.

Last time we went to the movies, he ate two Minties and used the waxy wrappers in his ears to block the loud movie . He reckons it blocks the loudest noise and lets him still hear the dialogue. He would like to use them when we visit my mother as well .

He has really sensitive ears, always has done, and wears ear muffs when mowing. He often takes those little sponge type ear block foam things with him to the movies or anywhere where the volume will be up.

(His mum reckons he has never been the same since he was kicked in the head at a football match, and anything he has ever done that is "wrong" is blamed on this kick in the head . With her knowledge of how noise-sensitive he is, why-oh-why did every toy she ever bought for our kids have to be a noisy one ?)

Anyway, if I could find something less obvious than a Mintie wrapper then the kids and I would be less embarrassed when we are out with him .

 

[Witzl]

yeah it might help dull down the noise a bit....
... i'll give it a try and let you know, as I just bought a set for my girlfriend for our trip to thailand this week.

 

[babushka]

Hubby has a Bose 3 and loves it. He travels long haul a few times a year and said the money he spent on Bose 3 was worth it!

 

[allmine]

I started with the Stienhouzer, but rolled over in my sleep (my few business class trips where I can do it) and broke the battery pod thingy which was 1/2 way along the lead. Bit of a pain realy.
That is why I grabed the big studio Bose jobies.
But yep, can be uncomforatble when resting my head on the side.

 

[wylie]

Can I ask has anybody who has used noise cancelling ear plugs got any idea of whether they would help in the situation of an open office to block out people chatting.

Hubby works in such a place, and often uses soft foam type ear plugs when he is trying to work on spreadsheets. He says it helps, but not fantastic.

Would the noise cancelling ear plugs help, or are they more for blocking out aircraft type noise?

Any opinions would be appreciated.

 

[urban cowboy]

hey wylie...

get hubby to try musicians ear plugs... they don't generally affect sound quality, but knock several dB's off the loudest noises.

you can get them at all good music stores not all that dear either.

;-)

 

[Gee Cee]

Those head phones all sound great.
Must get a pair for my next Long Hall flight from Sydney to Coffs Harbour

 

[wylie]

Thanks for the tip Urban Cowboy. I will check these out.

 

[eggnog]

thanks for the tip guys. travel longhauls everyyear but never even thought of using noise cancelling earplugs/headphones. Usually just crank up the volume on plane supplied earphone.

oh, though the mid-front part of the plane might have lesser noise, i try and pick the back part as its the safest (relatively ) should there be a crash.

 

[Alabex]

thanks for the tip guys. travel longhauls everyyear but never even thought of using noise cancelling earplugs/headphones. Usually just crank up the volume on plane supplied earphone.

oh, though the mid-front part of the plane might have lesser noise, i try and pick the back part as its the safest (relatively ) should there be a crash.

Not if the plane breaks in half and some how you survive the crash and end up in the 'tailies' group.... If Lost is the documentary i think it is, almost all the surviving people from the tail end up dead pretty quick!

 

[murtagh]

Not if the plane breaks in half and some how you survive the crash and end up in the 'tailies' group.... If Lost is the documentary i think it is, almost all the surviving people from the tail end up dead pretty quick!

Dead isn't the problem .. being bossed around by Anna Lucia for four weeks is.

 

[sparky23]

Slightly off topic but just a general comment about headphones on airline flights.

I am one of those very nervous passengers and hate take-offs and landings though I can manage the bit in the middle quite well! I don't worry about crashing or anything like that but I just feel as though I am going to pass out at either end of the journey, in fact on one occasion we were almost on the ground after a flight to Perth when the pilot decided it was a little too bumpy to land and did what felt like a vertical ascent - I nearly had a heart attack and all the blood was gone from my arms!

Anyway the point being that I can't fly unless:

a) I am well tanked before I get on the plane and thus in danger of not being allowed on
b) I can wear headphones and turn up the music full blast which seems to do something to my balance and means I don't get that passing out feeling. Unfortunately though some flights turn off the entertainment just before landing in which case I go into panic mode so I usually embark on plan A just after take off in order to achieve the desired effect by the time we land!

 

[dave99]

I have a pair of Sony ones - MDR-NC6 - which work pretty well. You can turn off the cancelling in a quiet environment if you want. It's not that they completely cancel all noise - they just remove the low frequency sound (like aeroplane engines) so you can listen to movies or music with the volume a lot lower, and hear it clearly. You can still hear voices around you almost normally, just a bit muffled. But the engine noise is just completely gone. I think they're great!

In Australia they are about $150. But the US market for noice cancelling headphones is much broader, and you can get much better prices on Ebay across all brands and a bigger range of price points.

I got my headphones, brand new and delivered for about A$50. They retail for about US$40 in shops over there. Much better than $600!