No More Noise

If you’re tired of turning up the music to maximum volume to drown out the noise around you, it’s time to get a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. They work by creating an antinoise, which greatly reduces the noise in your ear.

If you’ve ever tried to listen to music on a plane or in another noisy environment, you know how hard it can be to hear anything. You try to compensate by turning up the music extra loud, damaging your ears in the process.

One solution is to get a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. There are many different kinds to choose from ranging from tiny earbuds to large over-the-ear headphones. They work not by blocking the external noise, but by generating an “anti-noise” that is supposed to eliminate the noise in your ear. Unfortunately, no headphones actually succeed in eliminating the noise completely, but some models do a very good job of reducing it.

Bose are renowned for beautiful sound. They produce a range of premium home theater systems and music accessories. The Bose QuietComfort 3 acoustic noise-cancelling headphones are one of the best you can buy. Priced at $350, these headphones are far from cheap, but they really do work. You would expect a pair of large over-ear headphones to be heavy and uncomfortable, but the Bose QuietComforts are surprisingly light. They fold up neatly into a compact case, making them ideal for travel. The only real downside (besides the price) is that battery life isn’t what it should be.

The Sony MDR-NC500D digital noise canceling headphones ($399) are even more expensive than the Bose model. Unfortunately, they are also not quite as good. Advertised as the world’s first digital noise-cancelling headphones, they do work quite well on a plane. The headphones come with a battery pack, so you can use them on extended flights. Unlike the Bose, they can only be used when the noise-cancelling feature is switched off.

If the Bose and Sony models are outside of your budget, consider the Sennheiser PXC-300 ($98). They are significantly smaller and lighter than the other two models. These headphones fit on the ear, rather than over it. Some people find this more comfortable. The noise-cancelling technology is very good for the price. The headphones fold up small enough to fit in your pocket.