Originally Posted by kathnunley
You must not have ever worn these. Actually turned off they do 2 very important things:
1. somewhat reduce engine noise
2. tremendously reduce the chances of being next to a talkative seatmate when you really just want to rest.
There is another important reason for wearing headphones and/or ear protection and that is when you are seated under one of those "blow horn" excuses for speakers set to too high of a volume on the CRJs!!! Ouch, without ear protection I find myself covering my ears with my hands to cut down on the painfull noise. At least with the headphones (I just retired my Aiwa that lasted over 2 years and about 300K miles with a new pair of Sennheiser) you get some ear protection and even unplugged with noise canceling on, you can still hear the announcements. The sennheiser are very light weight, cut the sound great, are not as imposing or as obvious as the boise, and provide a great sound for the value. Recently I let one of the F/As try them (once above 10K feet) with and without noise cancel on (not plugged in), her comment was where to get them for her husband.
Bose are nice, however they are very obvious and known as noise cancelers and perhaps with an inappropriate reputation. If all else fails, go to your hardware store and buy some of the 3M or other manufacturers foam ear inserts. They even work to drown out the low talking person sitting behind you who covers the sound of the jet engines...
Hooverer