Originally Posted by
deniah
Active noise cancellation works by playing an inverse wave to the recorded noise in order to cancel it out. For many people that will result in a sensation of pressure-induced discomfort, if music is not played atop it. Myself included. Just playing very light background music - classical, jazz, whatever your flavor is - will alleviate it.
I fix this issue by playing some white or pink noise in the background. I use this free app:
White Noise
PS -- My vote is for ANY of the following for ANC: Bose 700/QC35 II, Sony XM3/4. For music, I can't tear myself away from the MW65s, but the ANC isn't as good. The Bose products, by far, are the most comfortable, but all ANC headphones make my ears itch. And I dislike the capacitive controls of the 700 and XM3/4
PS (part II) -- I suspect you can get a decent pair of used QC35 I's for $100 or less. The QC35 series I would meet your needs at a minimal cost.
PS (part III) -- Didn't like the PX7s and sold'em. And the ANC is *definitely* not as good as Bose/Sony.
PS (part IV) -- If you are thinking of using these for video conferencing, the microphones on the Bose products perform much better than the competition.