Noise cancelling headphones...???

Post Reply New Topic

Okay, I have bad bad sensitive hearing, and i wear headphones everywhere i go, but their just my ipod headphones so they don't cancel a lot out. When I go to places with a lot of ppl, and a lot of noise thats when I go from high functioning to low functioning, nonverbal, mostly sign, and ten times more stimming . I want to help myself as much as I can. I tried ear plugs, but even the soft ones hurt, don't like anything in my ear. So I recently came across noise cancelling headphones designed for autistics. So I was thinking, their 35 dollars, do you think its worth the investment? Their not very small, bulky looking sometimes, so it might be weird to look at.

Does anybody know of smaller less noticable noise cancelling headphones I might be able to get under the 50 dollar range? My second question is do they work? Has anybody had any experience with noise cancelling headphones?

i dont really know but my guess is they block ALL noise exsept music

haha, yea see i would buy the 70 dollar headphones for the ipod that keep my music in my ears, so nobody else can hear it, but it doesnt cancel the outside noise as good. It also has this long cord that bothers me...

If you have very sensitive hearing, noise canceling headphones can often exacerbate the problem. At least, they did for me. The circuit noise of active noise canceling headphones emits this incredibly irritating high-pitched whine, and did not create a sufficient barrier of sound (I could still hear what was going on around me).

If you were more comfortable with putting something in your ear, I would suggest the er6i from Etymotic Research. They are basically earplugs, and do not need noise canceling technology because they isolate the sound by creating an airtight seal in your ear canal. I bought some a few months ago, and practically fell over in awe. My sister was standing next to me and yelling, and I was oblivious.

Unfortunately, that company does not make headphones, and their products are expensive. Sorry, I'm not much help

Nah u are actually, gave me an insight about what they might be like. Ugh, it sucks that i cant wear anything in my ear, the noise is the biggest thing for me. hmmmmm...

I used to have a pair I used all the time, but they were rather large. I also have sensitive hearing, and they didn't bother me. Unfortunately that was a few years ago, so I can't help you with sizes or prices, I'm not sure what they are now. The pair I had were fairly expensive, so maybe the cheaper ones have the high pitched whine. Maybe it just varies by brand or even by the pair, I'm not sure.

Anyways, if you can find a good pair, they should be fine. The hard part is knowing which ones will work for you and which ones won't. Sorry I can't help you more.

noise cancelling headphones use noise to block noise,some autistics or NTs with accute hearing might be able to put up with them
but the fact they use noise put am off the idea immediately,either see if can try a pair at a specialist headphone shop or have a look for a decent pair of ear defenders instead,such as from a builders shop,am can understand not liking things in ears as it took am years to get used to earplugs.

Am not sure if the cups on both noise cancelling headphones and ear defenders will get smaller,as they seem to relie on making the tight vaccum around the ear as well.
There are some professional noise cancelling in-the-ear-phones that people who work in noisy music studios wear but that would have same problem as earplugs.

I hear my noise cancelling headphones. It is a sort of white noise, it varies sometimes it is really out of sync and you need to switch it off and on. Weird thing is I get white noise if I put earplugs in my right ear.

Personally I don't know about the compact ones. I believe the Sony does them. They need somewhere for the cancelling circuit so it is not in the headphone it will be off the wires. I've got the audio-technica ones. The have nice cushioned cans and are quite light.

Nothing will cancel out everything; they just cancel some background noises. That doesn't include conversation and general sounds.

It is only if you are in a completely sound isolated room will you not hear much. They had one in my university where they developed a briefcase sized device that is commonly used to test babies hearing. Trust me you don’t want it. It was nauseating enough even with the door slightly ajar. If they closed it I probably would have lost my balance and thrown up.

You can’t really win. I can’t filter out any sound, it all get jumbled up in my thoughts.

i got the audio technica noise canceling headphones from amazon, and i love them. they're not small, and they were a bit over $100, but everything thing i read about them made them seem like the best value for quality performance. i've never tried any others - all the reviews i read made it seem like the cheaper ones were far less effective. if you use them without playing music most background noise turns to a soft white noise which i like, and with music the white noise and background noises disappear and the music sounds better than it ever has. they don't cancel out all noise, just most repetitive background noise - but it's still impossible to hear things like someone talking to you from the next room over. before i had them i would only run the dishwasher when i was ready to shut myself off in my room to avoid the sound - now i always wear them for housework. they're also great for the horrible whine of computer fans. totally recommended if noise is an issue for you.

I suggest trying different brands of foam earplugs. Longer ones, wider ones, narrower ones. Short ones are more uncomfortable to use, because of how much you have to push on them to get them working.

The way to use foam earplugs is to first compress them narrower by rolling them, before putting them in your ears. Make them so narrow that they easily fit in your ear. Then they gradually expand to the shape of your ear canal. Give yourself the chance to get accustomed to wearing them.

The best solution for the noise problem of course, for someone living in NJ, would be to move to someplace more rural.

I had good luck with a pair of [relatively expensive] iPod-type earbuds that are noise-isolating (not cancelling). If you get a more pricey pair, you can get different sizes of earbud, or even custom-formed ones to your ears, which help a lot. When I put them in, I can still hear what's going on around me for safety, but it reduces the volume to a level that I can handle. I have them in almost all the time that I am not at home or in a small classroom (large ones I keep them in because the profs use mics and I can hear them).
Also, when I wear them (and am not in class), I tend to have my mp3 player going, because focusing on the music lets me kind of ignore the sounds that are coming from outside - very helpful. And they don't do active noise cancellation, so they don't have that staticky whine I can't stand.

Can you show us a link or something to the headphones you found?

Go to walmart go to the gun section and get the headphones there..thats where i got mine only 19 bucks!
they work great bulky kind of funny to look at and people give you a double take look but it works!

I agree with GizmoGirl--I use the headphone things people use when shooting guns, and I find them the most effective (I can still hear some sounds, but it works on most things). Probably won't wanna wear 'em when you're going outside, but uh... for inside your house or something, they work.

I often have to wear them when going to sleep. Uncomfortable, to say the least. >>;

I've never tried on noise cancelling earphones myself, but I'm curious...wouldn't utter silence be a distraction in itself?

Utter silence distracts me only in that my mind starts screaming my thoughts instead of, yaknow, the normal pleasant-sounding thoughts. And sometimes I hear that beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep sound. *shrugs* Waaaay preferable to hearing all those banging noises.

Sheel out a lot of money and buy a pair of Bose headphones. They work great and I love them.