# Noise-Cancelling Phones



## airpolgas (Aug 13, 2002)

I had my iPod since March, and I've considered buying a noise-cancelling headphone as a replacement to it's tiny earbuds. I've been thinking of getting the $300 Bose QC2, but I somehow can't justify the price. (I can go $300 for a Harmony 890 though  )

Anyway, I recently moved to our server room, and I will be spending the good part of the year in this room as my office. The server noise was tolerable until yesterday, when a new blade server was added. Now I get a headache after spending an hour in the room.

Any suggestions for a working, low-end, noise-cancelling headphones? I wanted to get the HN-700 from Creative Labs ($70), but that's not available to the US as of yet. The HN-505 is cheap ($40) and available, but it gets bad reviews.


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## Orcatek (May 1, 2003)

I like the Sony MDR-NC11 earbuds. They work pretty good. about $90-150.


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## n8dagr8 (Aug 14, 2004)

I actually got a pair of these for Christmas (yes, I have the best girlfriend ever...she understands my addiction to high-end electronics and even supports it). They would work great for what you are asking (even though you are asking for some less expensive ones). I wear these for flying and at work. I had to sit next to the engine for 2 flights in December and I couldn't even tell the engines where running with these puppies on. At work it drown out all the background noise (doing a lot of on-line training).


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## airpolgas (Aug 13, 2002)

I am considering the earbud approach, but won't it be too uncomfortable if worn for 8 hours? Right now I am just pissed with the noise, I am not considering even listening to music with them. I just want the noise blocked. How about those headphones worn by those people working in the streets with jackhammers?

If the earbuds won't cause any discomfort, then I'll check those out. Or if they did initially (like braces) how long did you get used to them?

Thanks.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

I prefer the full ear cups in a foldable head set for airplanes. The noise is completely cancelled and I can wear them around my neck as I board the plane. The pair I found are more compact than my Sony Professional MDR's I use for TV production ($375 ) these are Maxell brand and I bought 4 pair for $15 at the local Market Pro computer flea market. They have a volume control and on off switch on the cable. What a bargain. I also saw them at Staples.


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## airpolgas (Aug 13, 2002)

$15 :eek2: 

Can I have a model number please?


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

airpolgas said:


> $15 :eek2:
> 
> Can I have a model number please?


HP-550


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## dave1234 (Oct 9, 2005)

DonLandis said:


> HP-550


These appear to be great headphones for the price, but they arn't active noise cancelling headphones. They may be perfectly adequate for your situation however. The Bose and other less expensive(in the $100 range) headphones contain active noise reduction circuitry that reduces the noise even more. Especially lower frequency noise. I don't see how you could go wrong trying these first, especially since buy.com has them for $8.99 plus shipping(likely 6 or 7 dollars more).


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## airpolgas (Aug 13, 2002)

OK, now I'm confused. These Maxells are not noise-cancelling, right? They just go over the ear to muffle the sound out, is that correct? I currently have a Sony MDR-CD580 that I use as a muffler, so I'm really looking for an active noise-cancelling one.

How about this? The review seems pretty solid, and it



> ...grew to such success and prominence with its earlier product range that it attracted the ire of Bose; and apparently Bose lodged some sort of patent infringement lawsuit against Plane Quiet. Bose definitely have deeper pockets than Plane Quiet, and so PQ chose to withdraw their earlier design of noise cancelling headphone rather than dispute the lawsuit.


Review


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## koji68 (Jun 21, 2004)

airpolgas said:


> I had my iPod since March, and I've considered buying a noise-cancelling headphone as a replacement to it's tiny earbuds. I've been thinking of getting the $300 Bose QC2, but I somehow can't justify the price. (I can go $300 for a Harmony 890 though  )
> 
> Anyway, I recently moved to our server room, and I will be spending the good part of the year in this room as my office. The server noise was tolerable until yesterday, when a new blade server was added. Now I get a headache after spending an hour in the room.
> 
> Any suggestions for a working, low-end, noise-cancelling headphones? I wanted to get the HN-700 from Creative Labs ($70), but that's not available to the US as of yet. The HN-505 is cheap ($40) and available, but it gets bad reviews.


I have the old Bose model. I also tried a Sony model. I don't remember which one. I liked the Bose model better overall. I also tried them on the situation that you explained.

I can say they didn't work any better at cancelling the noise from a server farm with blades and 1U rack mounted servers than a full ear cup headphones

I think the problem is that this type of headphones are designed to cancel low frequency noise. The blades produce high frequency noise as they have tiny fans spinning at a high rate to move the air inside the server case.

So whether you get the Bose or other brand, I would get the headphones from a local electronics store, try them and return them if they don't work for you.


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

I just clicked on Walmart.com and found no less than 7 different noise cancelling headphones from vendors such as RCA, Maxell and Sony, with prices from around $20 to $60.


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## dave1234 (Oct 9, 2005)

airpolgas said:


> OK, now I'm confused. These Maxells are not noise-cancelling, right? They just go over the ear to muffle the sound out, is that correct? I currently have a Sony MDR-CD580 that I use as a muffler, so I'm really looking for an active noise-cancelling one.
> 
> How about this? The review seems pretty solid, and it
> 
> Review


You are correct, the Maxells are NOT active noise-cancelling. For some info on active noise cancellation here's a tutorial.

http://www.lightspeedaviation.com/tutorial101.asp

I haven't researched headphones outside the aviation market so can't give you any good consumer references.


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

dave1234 said:


> These appear to be great headphones for the price, but they arn't active noise cancelling headphones. They may be perfectly adequate for your situation however. The Bose and other less expensive(in the $100 range) headphones contain active noise reduction circuitry that reduces the noise even more. Especially lower frequency noise. I don't see how you could go wrong trying these first, especially since buy.com has them for $8.99 plus shipping(likely 6 or 7 dollars more).


Yes, they work quite well for mp3 music on an airplane. If you need to listen to music in an open helocopter then yes, I would not recommend these. The aviation headsets are awesome for voice communications. Music is no bass and piercing midrange. I know as I've used them in that environment. Don't know about ANR phones for music.


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## CoriBright (May 30, 2002)

I had the good fortune to be given a pair of:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16826106335
when I attended the launch event for the Media Center 2005 and wondered what use I'd possibly have for them but I was so wrong. They are brilliant. The "NoiseGuard" works very well and because they fold up so small, you can fit them just about anywhere.


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## russ9 (Jan 28, 2004)

I have the Sennheiser PXC-250. They are very compact and work very well on plane trips. Very comfortable. Around $100


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

I recently used *THIS* pair of noise canceling headphones on an airline trip. Worked well. Cut much of the lower frequencies associated with the engines enabling me to hear the music a lot easier. They don't cut all noise completely, but well enough to enjoy the music. The real trick was to make sure they were positioned correctly over my ear. Once I had that, I was pleased.


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

Chris Blount said:


> I recently used *THIS* pair of noise canceling headphones on an airline trip. Worked well. Cut much of the lower frequencies associated with the engines enabling me to hear the music a lot easier. They don't cut all noise completely, but well enough to enjoy the music. The real trick was to make sure they were positioned correctly over my ear. Once I had that, I was pleased.


I have the Philips NC Headphones. I did some comparison shopping before I bought, I travel quite a bit so I wanted a good set. The Philips NC frequency range is on par with Sony, but much less costly.

I have demo'd the Bose set for a week. Nothing compares to those. They do not publish the frequency range of the cancellation, but I believe it to be much closer to full range than any other competing product. The Philips and Sony's only cover the lower portion of the frequency spectrum, so you can't hear the person talking next to you or the whir of the jet engines but you can hiss the hiss of the air recirculation system and beverage carts banging around. Also I noticed with any of them, if you rest the ear cup against something that will transmit resonance, then it looses some of its NC ability.

The Bose really are the best in my opinion, but there's no chance in hell I'll spend $300 for them when I can pick up the Philips set for $40.


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