Looking for noise cancelling headphones

[sud98]

Hi,

I have been doing some research on noise cancelling headphones and have narrowed down to the Audio Technica ATHANC7b. It is priced at around 120 USD and I think I can get someone from the US to bring it to me. But had a few questions as it will be a blind buy.

1. The primary use is for airplanes (long distance flights). Are there any other at cheaper or better quality? The Bose QC2 is far too expensive and so is the Sennheiser.
2. It does not have Volume control so the inflight entertainment system vol. control is good enough or does one need something else?
3. Is the noise leakage a serious issue as heard in some forums?
4. Periodically, one sees refurbished versions at 100 USD, since it actually has additional warranty is it worth it?

Lastly, is it worth going for a blind buy, I typically dont like IEM's and prefer the bigger ones. I have Creative IEM which does seem decent noise isolation but useless for airplane noise.

Any advise welcome

 

[sud98]

Any advise please?

 

[yuvaraki]

if you are ok with IEMs, then i believe Etymotic's passive isolotion is good enough or may be not! never been on a flight!

i use my ety HF5 during my daily 2+hrs commute within city in cabs and it works pretty gud in blocking-out external noise except the breaks and engine LF noise.

 

[sud98]

Thanks Yuvaraki. The ones you have are quite expensive. I was ideally looking at the 5000 Rs. range. The Ety MC5 seem to be in the price range, any ideas on the value of it. All the Ety's seem to have isolation from 32-40db, not sure how comfortable I will be in an IEM as I generally hate poking those deep in my ear.

 

[just4kix]

How about these? Sony MDR-NC200D Review - Headphones - CNET Reviews

One big + here:

What's also nice is that unlike the Bose models, you can actually listen to music or movies without the noise-cancellation engaged, which means that if the single AAA battery that powers the active noise cancellation dies, the music doesn't die with it.

 

[sud98]

Thanks but the ath anc7b also works without batteries and one can find the full (circumaural) one at the same price and the smaller like the sony at around 80 USD.

 

[yuvaraki]

Thanks Yuvaraki. The ones you have are quite expensive. I was ideally looking at the 5000 Rs. range. The Ety MC5 seem to be in the price range, any ideas on the value of it. All the Ety's seem to have isolation from 32-40db, not sure how comfortable I will be in an IEM as I generally hate poking those deep in my ear.

you can get any of the etys for their triflangles or buy any iem of your choice in your budget and buy the triflangle tips and replace the tips. Within 5k you could look at Shure Se 205 i guess, also klipsch s4 has got amazing following. Look at Velodyne iems, Thinksound and some other wooden based iem.
also look at soundmagic pl50, i got this one too and signature is similar to ETY hf5 albeit clarity is little less. you will get these at theitdepot for less than 3k.

You could get the sony series iems too but as far as my knowledge goes, these are not neutral. Even shure has bass tilt coz of the usage of dynamic drivers. However HF5 and PL50 are based on BA driver and hence they cant do as much bass as sony or shure but they produce accurate, fast and taut bass.

i heard of many reviewers mentioning that their custom IEMs are their fav. during the flights. I dont know in-flight requirements, otherwise i can suggest you more.

On a side-note, i got Grado Sr 80i. These are any day my favourite compared to the 2 IEMS i got for their bigger and luscious sound. Full-size is my preference as long as they work in the setting i listen to. Active noise cancelling is pretty expensive to implement and my main contention is if it works, you could a better IEM/headphone(in terms of clarity) at same price point.

 

[HTuser]

I am using Bose QC2 for the last 5 years and very happy with it.

The new model QC15 has got additional mic and will be good companion if you are using apple products.

If possible try to borrow the other lower cost models and try using them during flight. If they are doing the job for you go for it.

Three of my friends bought Bose QC2 after using my QC2. Recently one of my colleague bought QC15. He checked with me and other three whether we are interested in selling the QC2, but none of us agreed !!! Which means whoever bought is happy with it.

If you are ready to stretch you can consider bose, Sennheiser etc.
My suggestion is do not spend on 5k models if it is not going to serve the purpose.

 

[Audiodoc]

From an audiophile point of view a passive design like a good quality iem will be much better than
An active nose cancellation circumaural design.

 

[sud98]

Also wanted to add another variable. I suffer from a slight tinnitus in my right ear (an accident due to my love for football ) and had a rupture in the eardrum. This tends to get bad in very quiet rooms but is generally ok when there is music. So will these IEM's or the active ones be better for me?

 

[cha_indian]

I have used Andrea NC-250V and NC-185 and I can say that they are very good headphones and also very comfortable to wear. They are also very sensitive so no need for any headphone amps.

 

[Audiodoc]

Either will be good for tinnitus. Avid playing at very high volumes though.

 

[sud98]

Thanks guys. Went ahead and bought the ath anc7b at 80 USD which seemed a very good deal.

 

[yuvaraki]

Also wanted to add another variable. I suffer from a slight tinnitus in my right ear (an accident due to my love for football ) and had a rupture in the eardrum. This tends to get bad in very quiet rooms but is generally ok when there is music. So will these IEM's or the active ones be better for me?

depends on how deep the rupture is in your canal. Etys usually go much deep but definitely are still in safe zone for any human being as far as my reading goes. You could do one thing for now. Get this - Tekfusion - Twinwoofers In-Ear Headphones (Black Chrome) | Headphone | Flipkart.com. These are abt 1.3k and are very well acclaimed by its users. Use it for few days and see if IEMS work for you. Depending on the comfort level, you can shell out more later. A good replacement for tekfusions would be sound magic range.