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Comment by ghotli | Hacker News Reader

http://www.amazon.com/Shure-SE210-Sound-Isolating-Earphone/d...

Those effectively eliminate auditory ADD in an open environment. Nothing has been more effective than these for me.

Careful. Daily use of in-ear headphones can lead to impacted ear wax. Your hearing will gradually degrade until you can't understand people at all. Then one morning you wake up and realize you're deaf and you make a trip to the doctor where they pull out a block of ear wax the size of a lozenge and just as hard.

Happened to me twice before I ditched using in-ear headphones at work.

I have been prone to cerumen (earwax) buildup my entire adult life, regardless of whether I wore in-ear, sealed, open-air phones, or nothing at all. In my early twenties, a doctor showed me how to remove it using a small piece of alcohol-moistened cotton plucked from a cotton ball twisted onto a flat toothpick. He said commercial cotton swabs were too large and the cotton was packed too hard for the task. While his advice goes against the prime directive to never put any object in your ear canal, I have never hurt myself. A gentle self-cleansing in the outer canal every two weeks keeps things clear. Without this, I'd be in the doctor's office getting flushed 3 or 4 times a year. I wouldn't advise anyone to do this without a doctor's recommendation and training.

http://www.earclear.com/

Just as a data point I've been using these for nearly six years and I have never had a problem with earwax or build quality.

I used to love these things. But, be forewarned - I found them to be incredibly fragile. I'm not abusive with them or anything, but during the 2 year warranty, I received 3 brand new sets. Each time, one ear would become louder, despite my own ears being clean and the headphones themselves being clear of earwax as well.

I have a pair of Bose Quiet Comfort 15's, supposedly one of the best noise canceling headphones you can buy. While it eliminates alot of the noise, noise still gets in.

I've tried the Bose QC and the Shure, and IMO the latter is better at removing ambient sounds.

The Shure does not use active noise cancellation like the Bose, but I think it is more effective simply because it fits snugly in your ear like a set of ear plugs. (It's also more uncomfortable because of that.)

Earphones that actually block sound are far superior to noise canceling headphones that degrade the sound quality of whatever you're listening to.

Combine them with 30dB or better earplugs. If you can still hear things that are bothersome, play some music or pink noise.

Note that earplug use can cause earwax buildup. There are a bunch of home remedy's that can help. Talk to your doctor about options.

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