Originally Posted by
WilcoRoger
I have to agree with you on Bose being a good compromise. They have a very good (best?) active NC and, let's admit, mediocre sound quality. But an airplane is not a listening room, so mediocre SQ might be good enough. But once you leave the plane the SQ is not good enough, you'll start to hear the noise introduced by the ANC, etc. I have the QC15 which only works with ANC on.
I prefer noise isolating - Etymotic. I have had their medium range products for many years (er6, er6i, hf3, hf5) No issues with bass (just insert correctly), with the right tips they are comfy and the outside world just disappears (which is why I rarely dare to use them while biking). Pair this with top of the class SQ, minuscule size, no batteries...
I use my hf5's for daily listening while walking between my car and office and some times while at work. They don't sound as open and marvelous as a $600 Sennseiser headphone but that sound better than mediocre headphones. And it's amazing how much less stressful a doctor's waiting room is when you listen to music instead of the inane babble of the television they have blaring.
These inexpensive Audio Technica noise cancelling 'phones aren't remotely in the same league. But they're not quite as oddball sounding as Boss tends to make their products. None of the NC products are going to hold a candle to even the mid-fi Ety range which are designed as best as possible to sound like honest music reproduction.