Originally Posted by tokyotraveler
Are noise cancelling headphones really worth the big price tag? I would imagine a good ol' plan set would suffice but I am a bit of an audiophil and plus, being a Dave Matthews Band fan, i'd like to hear all the intruments -- every detail and not have the engines providing a unpleasant background sound and disrupting my listening enjoyment.
Being in the same situation, my solution was a set of high-quality in-ear 'phones wrapped by a pair of NC over-the-ear phones. Since I tend to lose things, I stayed with the $100 Etymotic ER-6's, but you could go up to the ER-4's or new high-end Shure's with custom ear molds for the best fit/sound/ambient noise blocking. I found the PlaneQuiets and Bose to be equal in NC ability, so I stayed cheap and bought the PQ's. The net is about 20-25dB of reduction across the spectrum with the in-ears, just due to the barrier effect, and another 15-20dB of cancellation at the specific low frequencies in an aircraft with the PQ's. I haven't tried the Shure's but the Ety's are close enough to my home HD-600's, given their size, that I can be happy.
There is always the option of carrying around HD-600's, a battery-powered Headroom amp, etc., but light weight is important to me when travelling and I'm happy with what I can fit inside a little pouch inside my laptop bag.