Looking for a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones

[gino_76ph]

Hi there! i love my music and i consider myself an audiophile. i am currently looking for a pair of really good noise-cancelling headphones to complement my music collection which i listen from my Dolby-powered mobile phone.

My maximum budget is £200, one that are wired and one that has clear solid treble + bass and a solid surround sound / noise-cancelling experience and also one that has good reviews.

So far my top 3 choices are Sony, Bose and Sennheiser.

any other advice and suggestions please....?


Thanks.

[Cheapy]

Goldring NS1000 could be another option to look at but I have never heard them.

[gino_76ph]

More questions.....

What's the difference between a closed back and an open back?
Does it have to active or passive-type of noise cancelling? (Sony's cans have no indication of being either)
does having sensors on the outside of the cans make it "better"? (like that of Bose's?)

You know I always consider Sony on top of my list of noise-cancelling headphones. second is Bose but when i went out to try-out their NC cans on Regeant Street i wasn't too convinced for some reason; NC is very good and very solid bass + treble but the surround sound aspect left me wanting more/feeling a bit disappointed.

Never had Sennheiser in my life but so far the reviews i read are more than average.

I will use my headphones mainly whilst going to work (so it has to be compact, rigid yet flexible and easily-foldable) and whilst travelling abroad. that would translate to 90% noise from busses/trains/tube/odd taxi and less than 10% from planes. (if you get what i mean)

£200 max. is my budget.


any advice?

[Cheapy]

I dont know much about headphones but ill just try to pass on what I can to answer your questions. Prepare for a wall of text.

First have a quick read of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headpho..._of_headphones
Gives you a rough overview of the differences bewteen closed vs open, Supra-aural vs Circumaural etc.

From what I understand active noise cancelling uses a microphone on the outside to find the ambient noise and then uses interferance to in effect "block" it out. They are normally bettery powered.
You can use the headphones without the noise cancelling but then they will isolate just as well as a normal closed back can. While passive is just how well they isolate you from outside noise while
not being pwered or using fancy circuitry. In general a lot of how well they isolate comes down to how good they fit your ears for passive.

The goldrings are active noise cancelling.

As your looking at being out and about with them you want closed headphones over open as open will let in a lot more noise and leak whatever you listen to. Another option is to look at in ear monitor's (IEM's)
as they are a lot more portable than headphones and isolate a lot better than closed headphones but may take awhile to get use to sticking them in your ears.

A lot of "audiophiles" dont like noise cancelling headphones as it "ruins" the sound quality hence there isnt a huge choice compared to normal headphones when you start spending serious money.
With active noise cancelling I think it only works well with continuous background noises e.g. jet engines, train tracks, wind and tyre noise etc not at blocking out people talking, car doors and so on.

Probally worth looking at spending less and getting some good IEM's like the Phonak Audeo 012 or 112, Shure 215, soundmagic E10 and E30 etc the list is endless. Your out and about in them so your not going to hear everything in your music so no need for super high end stuff.
IEM's also insulate really well compared to headphones and are a lot less bulky and not as noticeable.

As to picking a headphone its best to listen to as many as you can, like you have, to see if you like how they sound as web reviews can only tell you so much but in the UK there arnt really any places that have a large selection to try out.

Hope that some of this was helpful.

[gino_76ph]

But, how would i know if a NC headphones is active or passive?

I prefer "branded" ones like Sony, Sennheiser or Bose actually but heard stuff about Audio Technica and Bayer Dynamics.

Dunno which ones to choose.....:-(

[TheAnimus]

Don't buy the Sennhiesers, I have them and they are ****e.

[gino_76ph]

Why you say that?

Any active + closed + supra-aural noise-cancelling types please...?

[g8ina]

In my (ex pro audio engineer) opinion, active noise cancelling has a VERY long way to go before it doesn't also remove wanted sounds too.

Ive auditioned Bose and one other (name escapes me for now) and felt very uncomfortable, audio-wise.

My option would be to go for some decent in ear buds, they are *effectively* noise cancelling by virtue of audio isolation, and wont damage the signal quality.

Sony in ear buds then...

[g8ina]

Also -

From what I understand active noise cancelling uses a microphone on the outside to find the ambient noise and then uses interferance to in effect "block" it out. They are normally bettery powered.

Yes, it effectively produces a sound out of phase to the measured noise outide the cans

A lot of "audiophiles" dont like noise cancelling headphones as it "ruins" the sound quality hence there isnt a huge choice compared to normal headphones when you start spending serious money.
With active noise cancelling I think it only works well with continuous background noises e.g. jet engines, train tracks, wind and tyre noise etc not at blocking out people talking, car doors and so on.

Not so, active noise cancelling will cancel any external noises, see my note above.

[gino_76ph]

Been to HMV and tried for myself the Bose and the Sennheisers. both are almost equally good and they sort of feel like the music is coming from inside your head. but i don't know why i feel like wanting more.

My source is my Android phone but i'm using a paid (premium-ish) music player app that had very good reviews, has a 10-level equalizer, preset EQ's and Dolby Mobile built-in.

after trying around 6 headphones i went back to use my current in-ear Sony earphones and i feel my own sounds still slightly better...

[Cheapy]

g8ina thanks for putting me back on the right track there.

gino_76ph at least you found out what you dont like. Did you try any of the other non noise cancelling headphones they may have out to see if any of them sounded better? Like g8ina said your best route seems to be a new pair of IEM's.

[pooley]

I use a pair of the Goldring NS1000's and I love them, they do seem to fit the criteria you are looking for.

Here's a review of them form a chap over on AVforums.
http://www.avforums.com/forums/headp...ni-review.html

Superfi sell the for £60. They have a branch in London, maybe you could go in an try a pair.
http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-2397-gold...source=froogle

[gino_76ph]

IEM's aside is it true that noise-cancelling cans tend to take the sound aspect in the backseat? i.e. they cancel-pout noise but the sound quality is slightly compromised.

is it true?

[TooNice]

I've never bought an active cancelling headphones. I've demoed two (one from Boss, another from Sony), but not side by side or even around the same time so I can't comment.

If you want something portable, then IEM may be the way to go. In my opinion, anything that blocks noise will make compromises (including IEMs, which I am not a big fan of, but still carry them when I am travelling).

For the same price, I usually prefer the sound of an open back headphone (those leak sound and do not block sound). For the same price, I also tend to prefer closed-back headphones (e.g. Audio Technica A500 is pretty good value) to IEMs. Best thing would be to try a couple side by side.

[balsaq]

Beyerdynamic DT770 PRO closed back headphones may suit you too. Two different impedance choices depending if you have an amp or not.