Noise Cancelling Headphones

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I'd really love a pair, especially for under $60 USD. I've got really sensitive ears, so normal headphones kind of stink. Open-domes are entirely out of the question. Does anyone have any recommendations? Also, what are your experiences with them?

sennheisers low-end offering is pretty good. HD 201s. They aren't the best at cancelling sound but if you still want awesome sound quality they are a good choice.

link - google shops sennheiser hd 201 review


if you want a step or two higher, the 202s are good. $30 over amazon.
LINK - > http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-202-Dynamic-Headphones/dp/B000065BP9


If you are looking for a step higher I would suggest these. They maybe be a headset monitor but they are very good for just chilling to music as well. (I bought them for use with my guitar amp though. They have gone down in price since then by a fair amount however.)
I will warn that because they are meant for DJ/audio monitoring they do have an extremely long cord, so I don't suggest taking em for a jog.

two different links for the Sennheiser 203s

link 1 - > http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD203-DJ-Style-Lightweight-Headphones/dp/B003LRN53I

link 2 ->http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=sennheiser++HD203&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=9940935697769291955&ei=hh9YTdjbNMP38AajgL2NBw&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDAQ8wIwAg#

I would use Bose QC headphones, but if budget is a concern, I would agree with Demon.

Sensitive how? As in you can't stand them being touched, or you are hypersensitive to sound?

I'm the latter, and hear sounds all of the way into the dog-whistle range. If you're the same, try out a pair of noise canceling headphones first. Some brands, like Bose, may cancel out noise, but they also give off a high-pitched whine that bugs me more than any sound I'm trying to cancel out. I just use either a pair of Sony earbuds or my V-Moda Crossfade LP, both work great for drowning out the noise around me while remaining comfortable.

At $60, budget is obviously a concern.

As for suggestions, 'good' NC headphones at $60 is a bit tough, if not impossible. I don't think any of the models Demon mentioned are actually noise cancelling. Noise isolating, sure. Do you want noise cancelling headphones, or just a good pair of headphones?

not totally sure on the 201s and 202s, but from experience the 203s do cancel it out pretty well. cant hear anything other than the music without having to turn off the source.

I have Sony MDR-NC6 over-ear noise-cancelling headphones. They cut low-frequency sounds very well, especially noise with a consistent pattern. They are not nearly as effective as the Bose over-ear phones, but are 1/5 of the price. None of the over-ear headphones cancel high frequencies, including human speech, particularly effectively - in-ear buds are much more effective for that.

One feature I really like is that there is only one cable, to the left ear-phone, so no cable draped over your neck when you are lying down.

I have not tried wearing them outside because they are not at all discrete - I sometimes use in-ear buds outside.

if the supra-aural ones seal around your ear right, they are effective across the range. I don't care for earbuds, hate them in fact because 1) they fall out constantly. 2)You don't need discreetness, screw appearances. I rather care bout how they perform. 3) Earbuds, because of driver architecture, tend to have sub-par sound quality. 4)I really don't like having stuff in my ears.

I have a pair of Sennheiser eH150 headphones........the bass on them is amazing (to me anyways). I remember the first time I watched the first Gears of War 3 reveal trailor on my Xbox. At the end they have this massive reverberating bass that.............you just have to hear it. I'd never buy any other kind of headphones. EVER.

However those cost me 80USD. I think I may end up going for the 200 USD range next time now that I see what $80 gets me.

Sony MDR-NC6 as well. I love em.

My brother makes a lot of noise beside me when I am trying to concentrate at programming, and they knock most of that out. I used to get tired very quickly from overstimulation from his noise, but things are much better now.

When these die I will be looking hard at a 300 dollar pair. Perhaps some Sennheisers.

for those, either senns or Monsters. I refuse to get dre's though. most of the price tag on them is because4 he has his name all over them. Don't get me wrong, they are still a good set of cans, just they are more on par with the $150 - $200 ones than $300.

The Beats headphones? No way. Stick to Sennheiser or Bose QC 15s if noise cancelling is the goal. If you can live without noise cancelling, go Sennheiser or go home.

Anyone tried the Philips ones? They're a bit cheaper than the Bose and Senn but not as cheap as the Sony and Panasonic. I live alone because of NT noise pollution. I wonder if a set of these could cure that.

Senns it is then. I dont like Monsters racket with the high priced audio cables, so I wont buy their other stuff.

I tried some Philips ones a few years ago and they were both extremely uncomfortable and fairly ineffective. The Sony active noise cancelling, by contrast, is absolutely stunning on low frequency noise like aircraft engines and reasonably comfortable.

If human voices bother you, then around-ear cups ("circumaural") headphones like the active Bose and the passive Sennheiser models above will work much better than the on-ear cups like the Sony and the Philips, but high-frequencies are generally not cancelled well by any of these devices.

I see some really cheap (< 60 euro) circumaural active noise cancelling phones from Wharfdale (20 euro) and Panasonic (30 euro).

I would like to bleed in the ambient noise from a microphone, preferably with some equalisation and limiting - the iPhone application EarTrumpet sounds cool. That way, you would get to cancel out all the ambient noise and then re-insert the ambience as you would prefer to hear it - a bit like a selective hearing aid.

The Beats By Dre are also fairly fragile/cheaply built. I've yet to see a demo pair that wasn't broken. That was part of the reason I went with the V-Modas. They were cheaper, built stronger, sounded just as good, looked better, didn't require batteries, and are incredibly comfortable.