Ask HN: Noise Cancelling Headphones

1 point·xur17··3 comments

I work in your typical open floorplan offer environment, and my current headphones are not cutting it (uncomfortable for long periods, and too much noise gets through).

Are you happy with your headphones? I'd love to hear others' recommendations on this.

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What do you currently have? Mostly curious. What's your budget? What kind of music do you listen to?

Edit: I use ATH-M50s at home where it's quiet -- they're VERY comfortable, sound great, and the price is unbeatable. These will run you about $130 on Amazon.

Nobody has ever had a bad experience with HD-280's from Sennheiser. They have a noise canceling feature but I don't have first-hand (ear? first-ear?) experience with it. Probably $100 on Amazon.

Going back to Audio Technica, the ATH-ANC7B have active noise-canceling, and I remember loving it when I checked them out at an airport. The quality is probably 10% less than what I get with my home cans, but they do do feature ANC so you may find them really appealing. Probably $120 on Amazon.

I have these right now (company provided) [1]. They work relatively well, but they are uncomfortable if I wear them for more than 30 minutes or so, due to the way they sit on my ears. Also, noise cancellation would be very nice.

My budget is as much as it needs to be within reason, but I'd like to keep it in the ballpark of $100 if possible.

I mainly listen to music as background noise, so anything up-beat works - I typically turn on alternative / rock, or electronic depending on my mood. Comfort and noise cancellation are the biggest 'wants' for me.

[1] http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/StaplesProductDisplay...

HD-280 pro is a excellent pair of headphones, but does not have active noise cancellation, just a solid construction to insulate one from the environment.

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