Travel Technology - Best noise cancelling headphone for the money

Any opinions are welcome. I'm sure Bose is terrific, but is there anything out there that does the job for less money? Thanks.

The Sony's are pretty good and a lot cheaper. There are several models in various price ranges available.

These are $54.99 and I have loved having them on several over the water trips.

http://www.protravelgear.com/store/Electronics___Headphones___Plane_Quiet___28?Args=

The JVC's are probably the best price/value deal. They are 90% of the Bose's performance at 20% of the price.

I have used a pair of Plane Quiet headphones for over a year and been very pleased with them bar a couple of design problems. I believe the newer models have answered most of my concerns.

I prefer the Shure series (E3c currently), having recently replaced my long-time favorite Etymotics (ER-6). Both are in-ear and noise blocking as opposed to noise cancelling. They block more sound, over the complete spectrum as opposed to a narrow range, and a few pair would fit in the palm of my hand.

I have 4 pair of NC phones in the back of a drawer somewhere (Sony NC10, NC11, Sennheiser, PlaneQuiet) - they've been there ever since I found the Ety's.

If you really need to features of NC - being able to hear other sounds while marginally cutting the engine roar around 300Hz, I preferred the Sennheiser.

Try a search and you'll find dozens of threads on the topic for more opinions.

Check out the Technology Forum - lots of information (which led me to buy Shure E4s!)

Check out the Technology Forum - lots of information (which led me to buy Shure E4s!)

Travel Tech has a thousand of these threads (literally) you can find tons of info there.

I have Shure e2cs... love'em.

Would second ditrecting you to Travel Tech forum.

Summarising the discussions though there seem to be two schools of thought:-
Shure e4c for noise isolation and
Bose Quite 2 for noise cancelling

The rest is subject to personal preferences. I am personally looking to buy a pair of Shures.

PEople, he asked for "BEST for the MONEY", i don't think QC2's or some of the others posted here qualify in this category.

PEople, he asked for "BEST for the MONEY", i don't think QC2's or some of the others posted here qualify in this category.

Of the circumaural noise-cancelling headphones, I'm sure there's little doubt that the QC2s are the best. Some people prefer comfort and quality, with cost considerations secondary. If that wasn't the case, we'd all be driving Chevy Cavaliers . . . :D

For the amount I use them and the stress reduction they've provided, the $300 for the QC2s was an insignificant price to pay. That actually works out to approximately $1.20 per segment flown over the last 18 months.

There's no doubt that the canalphones offered by Shure and Etymotic offer superior fidelity, but I find them inconvenient to insert/remove and less comfortable overall than the Bose.

I got a lot out of the set of articles at TravelInsider.com:

http://www.thetravelinsider.info/9nov2001.htm

They reviewed a whole bunch of headphones, and gave some recommendations. I ended up buying the PlaneQuiet NC6's, and have been very happen with them - especially for the price.

I may splurge next year sometime for the Solitudes, but haven't been able to get the crowbar into the wallet yet ;)

The JVC's are probably the best price/value deal. They are 90% of the Bose's performance at 20% of the price.

I am quite happy with mine from JVC. I have tried the more expensive brands and can't justify the extra cost. And I truly am a gadget man/early adopter so this is saying something!

Great thread. These subjects belong on FT's Travel Technology forum, so let's continue the discussion there.

--richard, moderator

I bought a pair of Jensens on Overstock.com for less than $30. Confortable fit and while not as effective as QC, still rather nice.

I love my Bose QC2. If you want to save some money, you can purchase a used QC1 off Ebay fairly cheap, then trade it in to Bose for the QC2 at a substantial discount.

Ahhh... Noise cancelling headphones thread #9882 :)

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=400204&highlight=noise+cancelling
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=392481&highlight=noise+cancelling
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=448892&highlight=noise+cancelling
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=366324&highlight=noise+cancelling
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=401914&highlight=noise+cancelling
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=404743&highlight=noise+cancelling
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=375511&highlight=noise+cancelling
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=369399&highlight=noise+cancelling
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=339354&highlight=noise+cancelling

And these are just from the first page of results...

I'm sure you'll find your answers there. And as always; search is your friend!

Ahhh... Noise cancelling headphones thread #9882 :)

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=400204&highlight=noise+cancelling
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=392481&highlight=noise+cancelling
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=448892&highlight=noise+cancelling
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=366324&highlight=noise+cancelling
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=401914&highlight=noise+cancelling
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=404743&highlight=noise+cancelling
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=375511&highlight=noise+cancelling
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=369399&highlight=noise+cancelling
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=339354&highlight=noise+cancelling

And these are just from the first page of results...

I'm sure you'll find your answers there. And as always; search is your friend!

I remember this thread when I first joined flyer talk. While it can be annoying to the Evangelists, repeat threads do give us newbies a chance to feel like we can contribute, even if those contributions have been made by others, over and over and over........

In general, the conclusion (by myself) after using most models and combining information from threads here:

Bose QC1: not that good, bulky, non foldable

Bose QC2: Much better, foldable, slight hissing in noise cancellation

Shure E2c/e3c: Great noise ISOLATING, not very comfortable

Shure e4c: Perfect noise ISOLATING, comfortable, expensive (>$250)

Etymotics er6/er6i: Great noise ISOLATING, comfortable, small, cheap < my personal favorite

Etymotics er4: the reference in noise ISOLATING, perfect fit, amazing acoustics

Sennheiser PXC-250: light, foldable but poor noise cancellation

Sony MDR-NC11: small, in-ear CANCELLING (not isolating), slightly uncomfortable but probably the best in-ear cancelling headphones. Noise reduction pretty much the same as most noise-isolating

Sony MDC-NC50 : a Bose "lookalike". decent quality with fairly poor noise cancellation and low volume

Panasonic HC100: Folds up to a small package, pretty useless noise cancellation.

I remember this thread when I first joined flyer talk. While it can be annoying to the Evangelists, repeat threads do give us newbies a chance to feel like we can contribute, even if those contributions have been made by others, over and over and over........

Oh, don't mind me. I don't close threads like this, and don't mind people that don't search, but it is my "job" to help fellow members and point those that don't /can't search to threads that contain more information to their questions.

You won't find me posting "do a search" one-liners :)

I just hope people don't start new threads just "for the fun of it"...

Oh, don't mind me. I don't close threads like this, and don't mind people that don't search, but it is my "job" to help fellow members and point those that don't /can't search to threads that contain more information to their questions.

You won't find me posting "do a search" one-liners :)

I just hope people don't start new threads just "for the fun of it"...


And you really do a fine job! Thanks for what I am sure is a mostly thankless job.

Oh, don't mind me. I don't close threads like this, and don't mind people that don't search, but it is my "job" to help fellow members and point those that don't /can't search to threads that contain more information to their questions.

You won't find me posting "do a search" one-liners :)

I just hope people don't start new threads just "for the fun of it"...

Lol.

It does mean that newbies who do search can't work out where to post if they've found a good new pair of headphones that doesn't seem to have been posted about. After reading your message the deviant bit of me thought to start a new thread but I'm not feeling that evil today.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=2065
Creative HN-700 - about $50
Noise Cancelling Headphones (foldable)

Reviewed as a big step forward for cheapos like me who won't buy the boses (I'd rather get good in-ear phones I'll use with an iPod too). Ace noise cancelling and OK sound reproduction.

I love my Bose QC2. If you want to save some money, you can purchase a used QC1 off Ebay fairly cheap, then trade it in to Bose for the QC2 at a substantial discount.

Anyone know the details of the trade in? Is it offered only at the stores? I contacted customer service on the website and they said there is no trade in allowance. :(

Shure E2c/e3c: Great noise ISOLATING, not very comfortable

Shure e4c: Perfect noise ISOLATING, comfortable, expensive (>$250)


How do you figure a comfort/isolation difference between the e3 and e4? They've got basically the exact same shape/dimensions, and both use the exact same tips (translucent rubber, gray rubber, yellow foam, or silicone rubber tri-flange). You have to buy the tri-flange tips separately on the e3, but they are the exact same. I actually know a guy at Shure, and we arranged a product swap - I gave him Toblerones and Altoids, he gave me tri-flange tips. :) The e4's got better sound, certainly, but the exterior of the two is basically the same.

With the e2, I think you lose the gray rubber tips and the tri-flange, plus the housing is larger, which can be a problem for the small-eared.