Noise cancelling headphones

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Hi,

I am looking into purchasing noise-cancelling headphones for myself to cope when my son is in the throes of one of his epic meltdowns. I am horribly noise sensitive, and the screaming and yelling physically hurts my ears. I've heard of these headphones, although what I understand is that they do not make the entire room deathly silent, but rather filter out the noise, and only allows the sound ("signal" ?) to pass through.

Has anyone here used noise-cancelling headphones ? If so, were they any good in helping you cope in an extremely noisy surrounding ? Any brand of headphones that you'd recommend for me ?

If these did not help, are there any options / alternatives that you found useful in reducing noise level in your environment / cope better in EXTREMELY noisy surroundings ?

Thanks !

I use earplugs quite a bit.

This, is on my Wish list. I want the blue one!

I'm interested in the answers to these questions myself, as I will soon have to work in an open-plan office.

Noise-cancelling headphones are pretty mainstream, and can probably be found in most major electronics stores.

Be aware, though, that they can be quite pricey.

I recently went to a store and tried out the "Bose Quietcomfort 25" headphones, which have gotten rave reviews for their noise-cancelling abilities.

Turns out... they are very, very quiet... and very, very comfortable... Exactly what it says on the tin.

It's basically an oasis when you put them on. You get a crystal clear sound from the music (or audio-book or whatever you are listening to) and basically nothing else from the outside. As such, tit would probably be quite dangerous to wear them when walking around in public, as you would be oblivious to many risks from traffic etc.

The only reason I didn't buy them on the spot was the $ 300 price tag .

Mine aren't technically noise-cancelling in that they have a counteractive white noise system in them, but they are construction-grade headphones, and they help me enormously with things like crowded restaurants, vacuuming the floor, open public spaces, etc. I wore them to a fireworks show last fourth of July, and they kept me from having a panic attack and/or meltdown at the constant sudden shotgun-like popping. I've attached a link to where I got them below.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017Y ... ge_o04_s00

If someone were to sit next to you and talk to you, though (in a normal volume of speech), would you be able to hear them (assuming you weren't listening to music / audio book / something else) ?




Wow, this is $11 compared to the $$$$$$ for the Bose system, so the El-Cheapo in me would want to try this first. What % of noise reduction do you estimate they produce ? Can you still hear everyone / everything, but quietened down, or it is all just blessed silence ?

The reason I ask this is to see if I could also use this for my son who is very, very distractable. Could this - potentially - help him focus on just the voice of the person sitting next to him and talking to him, while canceling out everything else ?

They block out up to 25 decibels of sound, which is a lot, but you can still hear most of what's going on around you, just at a lower level. I find it far easier to hear other people talking to me over a lot of noise when I have them on, because it's as if they filter out the background noise, but still pick up (at a comfortable volume) sound that's right in front of me. I have a severe startle reflex to any loud or sudden sound, and these headphones reduce that significantly, because sudden noises, although unexpected, are no longer loud or sharp, but softened into a less abrupt and upsetting background noise. I feel safe and protected when wearing them, a little like being inside a house with a storm raging outside. You know it's really bad out there, but you're secure in the knowledge that you're safe inside, it's like they create an invisible barrier between me and the sensory experiences of the rest of the world, and I find that very helpful.

I have a horrible startle reflex. I used to work in room with two to four other people, where the door was habitually kept shut. I did a lot of mouse work and every time the latch clicked and the door was opened, without fail I would jump so vigorously I couldn't even guess where the cursor would end up. Not so good when I was trying to do something delicate. Listening to music via earbuds didn't help.

Are these earmuffs comfortable to wear, StarTrekker? I have had trouble with headphones that felt like they were putting my skull in a clamp.

I think noise cancelling is too much for me.. I don't want to hear the inside of my intestines. I have no idea what goes on in there and I don't want to know..

Eh ????

I've tried noise cancelling headphones before and i can hear the insides of me ha,
I can't be the only one..?

They are a little tight, as they must be to keep out the noise, but I can wear them for at least an hour before my temples start to ache. They don't adjust sizes though, so they might be problematic if you have a bigger head.

Those Bose noise canceling headphones are terrible. They emit a high pitch noise that drives me crazy. not to mention, they are very expensive. I refer good-old fashion ear muffs. They do the best job at blocking out sound and if I want to listen to music. All I have to do is put my ear buds on and put the muffs over them and that's it. A whole lot cheaper and better then those Bose headphones.

LOL! Sometimes I get that feeling with earplugs. However, if I'm already calm I find that it doesn't bother me too much. I like these sorts of things when I'm studying and when I'm doing special interest type things.

Price-wise these are amazing!
I HATE sounds like I can't even begin to describe @___@
Noise drives me crazy.
Have your tried and would recommend any other brands?
I would get these, but I would be afraid that the bright yellow would stick out too much and I would get weird stares from people...
I get really stressed out when people stare at me excessively.
However, sounds stress me out more than people staring so, I would in the long run choose the sound protection over the people stares but just curious if they come in other colors that you know of. I didn't really see an option for it on Amazon..