Do I expect to much from (activ)e noise canceling?

[admin_exported]

Hi all.

A couple of days ago I posted a topic about a used Beyerdynamics T50P and in the end I decided not to do it.

So today I went to a electronics shop and tried 3 headphones

- Bose Quiet comfort 15

- Monster beats pro

- Monster beats pro detox.

All have got active noise cancelling.

When turned on the background murmer and noise did go away, but I stil could hear people talk next to me. And that is just the thing that annoys me...

The thing what I was expecting was total total quietness.

Am I expecting to much? I don't think there are headphones around with better noise cancelling?

 

[Ryan92]

Personally, I think if you have some decent in ears or some over ears which make a good seal, and listen to your music at a reasonable volume, then you should be fine without. I think it's only real use is for planes etc where there is a consistent noise which is pretty loud. Or for those who like to listen to music at low volumes without being able to hear others. I've tried the Bose and Beats and found the bose to have the best noise cancellation. Were you listening to them not playing anything and just turned on or with an actual track?

 

[Andrew17321]

I found that both Bose noise cancelling earphones did a good job of cancelling extraneous noise, but they seemed to muddle the bass of the music. I was disappointed by this, but maybe I too was expecting too much.

John Lewis had a pair of Panasonic noise cancelling over-ear phones which were better with bass, and half the price of the Bose, but were not so good at cancelling unwanted noises.

I'm sticking to my Shure noise blocking in-ear phones. Better than spending more on a compromise.

Andrew

 

[Che1]

Active noise cancelling tends to only eliminate lower frequencies. For example on a plane, I find it's often a lot easier to hear the in-flight announcements with NC on as the engine sound is largely gone, but voices are not.

If you're looking to cancel out more random, general noise, I would probably look at either a hybrid solution - i.e. earphones with silicon tips and active noise cancellation built in or an in-ear monitor with foam tips giving passive isolation (Shure SE range for example). Some people like the comply tips for monitors (as you can buy separately) but I find the denser Shure foamies to be the best for noise reduction. Even with these, or even custom monitors, you will still hear people speaking if you're not playing music. Once music is playing at a reasonable, not loud, level though, then you should be in your own world. Etymotic earphones with their triple flanges are meant to have the best sound isolation of them all, if you can deal with the depth of inseration that is.

 

[bigboss]

Hi all.

A couple of days ago I posted a topic about a used Beyerdynamics T50P and in the end I decided not to do it.

So today I went to a electronics shop and tried 3 headphones

- Bose Quiet comfort 15

- Monster beats pro

- Monster beats pro detox.

All have got active noise cancelling.

When turned on the background murmer and noise did go away, but I stil could hear people talk next to me. And that is just the thing that annoys me...

The thing what I was expecting was total total quietness.

Am I expecting to much? I don't think there are headphones around with better noise cancelling?

I'm not aware of any noise cancelling headphones which offers 100% noise cancellation. It's normal to hear people talk in the background. It's probably also a safety feature. Bose QuietComfort 15 offers 90% NC & is the best around in my opinion & I've tried a few. I didn't find the bass muddy at all. It has also been consistently winning the best noise cancelling headphone award from What Hi-Fi for a few years now:

http://www.whathifi.com/review/bose-quietcomfort-15

 

[dalethorn]

I'm not aware of any noise cancelling headphones which offers 100% noise cancellation. It's normal to hear people talk in the background. It's probably also a safety feature. Bose QuietComfort 15 offers 90% NC & is the best around in my opinion & I've tried a few. I didn't find the bass muddy at all. It has also been consistently winning the best noise cancelling headphone award from What Hi-Fi for a few years now:

http://www.whathifi.com/review/bose-quietcomfort-15

This is the same as my experience - good bass, proper noise cancellation.