Best In-Ear earphones with Active Noise Cancelling

[SJCT99]

I am only want to buy some in ear active noise cancellation earphones as I need them to be very portable and discreet when wearing them.

I had a home demo of the Bose QC20 (I have an android phone) and the active noise cancelling was excellent and enough for my needs (not as good as the QC15 but like I said I need an in-ear solution). But music wise didn't seem to justify the price.

So I would really appreciate some cheaper alternatives to Bose.

As I suffsuffer from migraines I will sometimes use them at work with NO music playing but just the active noise cancelling on to help reduce the head pain from the sometimes very noisy environments that I work in.

Any suggestions very gratefully received. Thanks

 

[bobshek]

In ear active noise cancelling ones are so so from my experience (tried Sony's and Panasonic's).

Get yourself a decent pair of IEMs using Comply tips or ones similar to Shure's olive tips. These will isolate very very well without the need for any form of artificial NC.

Ones from Shure, Ultimate Ears, Heir Audio, and many more will suit your needs if you don't mind their intrusive nature (they go deep into your ear canal).

Find ones with decent reviews and within your budget and you can't go too wrong.

Around the £150-£200 mark, the Shure SE425 are really good.

 

[JoelSim]

A couple of cheaper options would be the audio-technica ATH-ANC33iS and the Blackbox C20.

Joel

 

[SJCT99]

Does anyone have any experience with any of these?

I have found these prices available:

£34 Sony MDRNC13

£35 Blackbox C18

£41 pioneer se-nc31c-k

£47 Blackbox C20

£50 audio-technica ATH-ANC33iS

£80 denon ah-w400 Bluetooth

I am willing to pay more if needed

 

[bobshek]

Whoops..... based on the fact that you were looking at a few of the Bose ones.... thought your budget was in the £150 mark!

Down around the £50 mark, I would still always go for the Soundmagic E10s for musicality.

No 'active' noise cancelling, but the decent seal that they create makes up for it in isolation. They will also most likely sound better than the other options you have highlighted.

I've tried the more expensive versions of the Sony's you've mentioned and the sound is very very poor..... even more so when you switch the NC on.

Bose, and PSU are the only manufacturers that I know who have decent active NC whilst still remaining musical.... and they're over ear headphones which rule them based on your requirements.

Bad active NC normally makes music sound very flat or the other extreme bloated bass with shrill treble.

 

[SJCT99]

I am willing to pay up to £200 if the sound quality and noise reduction warrants the extra cost. But I am struggling to find any in the £100-200 bracket so far

 

[bobshek]

Bar the Bose QC15 and the PSB M4U2, all other 'active' noise cancelling headphones/earphones I've tried sucked..... and I've tried a few.

Noise isolation like the Shures etc where the best option for effectively keeping noise out and music in bar the 2 mentioned above.

By all means, go try the ones in your list...... but having been down that road before (sold them all on at a significant loss!) I'm just trying to save you the hassle of following in my footsteps.

 

[SJCT99]

Thanks for your input much appreciated. I did think the active noise cancelling on the Bose were very good just overpriced but maybe worth keeping an eye out for a used pair on ebay but so many fakes float around on there

 

[bobshek]

I've seen almost new QC15s go on Avforums classifieds for 160 to 200.

Bargain considering their rrp.

 

[SJCT99]

Anyone got any experience of Sennheiser CXC 700 Noise Canceling In-Ear Stereo Headphones ? £169.

 

[El Hefe]

Anyone got any experience of Sennheiser CXC 700 Noise Canceling In-Ear Stereo Headphones ? £169.

I have been using this for 1 year now....and I must say...I have opted to use this over my Bose QC15 on my flights now... especially for short flights... More convenient.

Noise cancellation ability is sufficient....sound quality ...although does not match QC15.... acceptable to me at that price... It provides lots of detail with no overwhelming bass.

 

[bigboss]

Get Bose from the US if you're planning to go there, or have a friend / relative there.

 

[SJCT99]

Ii have ruled out the any which don't have a monitor type function where you can turn off noise cancellation temporarily without needed to take them out of your ears to hear.

 

[SJCT99]

In the end no other in ear active noise cancellation headphones could come close to Bose QC20 and found a use for pair half price on ebay so I am happy with my choice as they work well when I have a migraine and the stay here tips are very comfortable and don't cause pressure like the types that you have to squash in your ear canal. Also I have got used to the Bose sound for music and are enjoying using them with music. So my quest is over