Noise cancelling headphones – Introduction

Doing a bit of traveling, so here’s my latest product guide for those on the road, sea or air.

When you’re traveling there are times that you’d like some quiet and that’s when noise cancelling headphones enters on the shopping list. Planes, trains, cars and motorcycles are noisy places to be in for an extended period, regardless of how you currently perceive the level of quietness. That said noise cancelling headphones are not safe to use on a motorcycle for obvious reasons so you should not consider them for this type of use.

There are plenty of brands, types, specifications and price points for noise cancelling headphones so when I went shopping it was genuinely difficult. Furthermore the various sales folk have not tried them all or in a position to recommend a model unless they have a set them selves, which may or may not be suitable for you.

So aside from technical specifications for the headphones it is just as important that they are comfortable and have the required sound quality. Sound quality is not to be confused with volume as numerous headphones I tried where pretty loud but the sound quality was not acceptable. Yes many strangely confuse the two because they are possibly tone deaf? Sound quality is also often confused with the the level of bass notes which is a personal preference. So realistic sound is what you should be trying to hear for rather than just one factor.

When you go to a electronics shop these days there will be models you can try out and I recommend to try them all. Price is often a guide to the level of noise cancellation and quality but more importantly its ability not to filter the actual music being played is important. For example some of the most expensive  noise cancellation headphones made the music sound artificial especially in orchestral tunes. That said they performed very well on the latest top 40 tunes.

Aside from budget the essential things to consider when purchasing Noise cancelling headphones are:

  1. Comfort when in use
  2. Minimum noise reduction of 18db
  3. Looks and build quality
  4. Choose a set that suits you style of music
  5. Type of power eg. AAA batteries
  6. Price

More next time!