It depends on the price. But in general, I use them not so much to listen to music, but rather to nullify the otherwise constant drone of the jet engines.

I just recently bought the Bose II Headphone given all the rave reviews that I saw on this forum.. I also have the Sony NC Noise cancelling headset..

I tested both on the airplane, and I must say the Sony NC was just as good as the Bose II headphone in reducing noise.

In fact, if I had known, I would not have bought the Bose II because:
(1) A lot more expensive
(2) Pain inthe butt to carry around.. Even in the case, it is way too bulky compared to the Sony small portable size.
(3) Unfashionably big around the ears...

Given all of the above, I dont think I will be carrying the Bose around when I travel..and am considering selling it..

Now, how do I get earbud replacements for my Sony NC?

Note that the only difference between the Ex and the Exc is the colour. The "c" version is labeled as being "Consumer", as opposed to the Professional version. There is no difference in the audio characteristics and you get the same Shure Fit Kit and carry case with them. With the E3's the C version is white, while the "professional" E3 is grey, supposedly to make it less visible when used by musicians as in-ear monirors.
This is definately the case. The standard Fit Kit supplied by Shure with all new E-series earphones does not include the tripple flange moulds. These are available from Shure for $10.60 a set.

But for the best isolation and comfort, visit an audiologist and have them make a custom mold to fit your ears. Shure provide the specs for making custom mold for the E1 and E3 earphones. Professional musicians will often carry their own custom molds. I am tempted to have a set made for maximum isolation and comfort for flying :cool: .

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.

I would avoid the plane quiets.

I tried 2 different pairs and they did not work. I just got the Sony QCII's and I love them.

I also used the brookstone version. audio good, heating of my ears, bad.

BTW you can try using the $50 off at sharper image coupon from the entertainment book at a store and have them order them for you. Paid $250 plus tax and ~ $8 for shipping.
Worked for me

Try Radio Shack.
 

Based on a recommendation in this forum (the exact message I can no longer find), I bought the Radio Shack noise cancelling headphones (http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...t%5Fid=33-1218), supposedly a re-branded Sony set (MDR-NC5).

I fly a lot, and get tired of sticking ear plugs into my ears, and I don't like the ear-bud types. I used the RS phones this week LAX-DEN and return, and they worked just fine. Reviews aren't the greatest, but that seems to be mainly from folks who bought these as regular stereo headphones.

These phones provide some passive noise cancelling ability, but switched on, there is a significant reduction. Are they worth the cost? Absolutely. Aircraft audio is greatly improved, noise cancelling is very good, and they were all of 50 bucks. Thanks to this forum for the pointer.

Downside: RS sales people are beyond obnoxious... :mad:

I absolutely love the Bose QC II's. No complaints other than price, but you get what you pay for!

Sony NC-5's are back on sale for $32 for a couple of days at ecost.com (refurbs). They fit on-the-ears without a padded "muff" to surround the ear itself . The NC circuit does a good job on lower-pitched sounds like fans and engines (I used them the other night while running the weed wacker) but since there's no muff the higher-pitched sounds come through - this higher-pitch bleedthrough is what some people call "hiss" with these phones. When it's quiet there isn't any extraneous hiss.

I bought a pair during the previous sale and ordered another pair for the Mrs. today. We've got three red-eyes out of four flights to/from Africa in September & I hope this will make the flights a little less tiring.

I think soMany is correct - the NC phones I saw at Radio Shack looked like rebranded NC5's (but the eCost price is better).

Two things, first the comparison between Bose and Sony and others. I have a pair of NC20s and a pair of QC2s. I would not accept at all that with the Bose you are paying only for the name. The Bose are more comfortable, have a higher volume, better noise isolation and better features. On the other hand, they are nearly 3 times as much as the Sony NC20.

So I completely disagree with the point that the Bose are just selling the name. It is just that the cost/benefit curve on a product like this is almost never linear. The Sonys map on that curve at a much better place in terms of value as opposed to quality.

Okay, sorry, that was a bit off the point. As far as other options, the Sony NC20s are fantastic. Compact, good sound, reasonably comfortable. I bought mine at B&H Photo Video for a good price but I see that ecost.com has them for $107 new and $59 refurbished. I would go with the NC20s rather than the cheaper NC5s. They seem to be a lot nicer than the NC5s based on looking at the features. The NC20s are a bit below the Bose, but not much and at a much more attractive price.

Try Google's Froogle search :)

http://www.google.com/froogle?hl=en&...NC20&scoring=p

I searched with the Sony MDR-NC20's

sort by price and voila!

good luck

I love my Bose QC II's, even though they are expensive. I find they also work great at lowering the diesel drone on my boat while underway, without compromising my ability to hear conversation or the VHF radio.