Hi Fedec,

 

Here are my two cents as an owner of the ATH-ANC7b. They work great in airplanes, but for other everyday environments might be a bit overkill. For your needs, why don't you try some in-ear noise-cancelling buds?

 

For additional info, I also auditioned the Dr Dre Beats and the Bose Quiet Comfort 15 and two of my colleagues own them, so when we fly together we exchange cans for a while to check them out. I do not like the sound of the Beats at all. They are exciting, but emphasize the bass way too much and are very expensive. The Boses do a fine job on less dynamic stuff, but from your age, I'm guessing the Bose will struggle to match your music collection. They also generate a lot of pressure on the ears to create the noise-cancelling effect. Much more than the ANC7b. You should audition the Bose QC15 and then you'll know what i'm describing.

 

In conclusion, I can really recomment the ATH-ANC7b, but think you might want to give in-ear noise-cancelling buds a try. They also are probably better for studying, because all over the ear headphones get warm after a while. The ANC7b's are really comfy but get warm too and they do leak a noticeable amount of sound.

 

I tried to reply and the post got lost, so let's try that again

 

By overkill, I mean that the ATH-ANC7b could be much more than you actually require and cost more than you need to spend.

The Sennheiser CX300 is probably only noise-isolating, not noise-cancelling. Noise-cancelling earphones come with a plstic unit which houses the battery compartment and circuit which produces the noise-cancelling effect. Check out the

Audio-Technica ATH ANC23  and Pioneer SE-NC31C-K

The ATH-ANC23 is quite comfortable for me and I actually like in-ear buds, but the noise-cancelling on that  model is not great.

I'm not familiar with the two models you've listed - Sony MDR-NC60 and the Denon AHNC-800. - my suggestion is to find a store that allows you to audition them.

Sony noise-cancelling products can be very good or very mediocre.

 

Oh.....and never apologize for doing your own research :)

I forgot to tell you that no matter which NC headphone you choose, make sure that the ear pads surround your ears completely. If you have big ears, this might be a bit tricky.

The reason is that otherwise a bit of pressure is produced and listening to the cans for a long time can be a bit challenging. However, if they sit right, you can hear for extended periods in isolated bliss :)

 

I had Bose QC15 for a while (Birthday present from a friend) first I thought they sounded good, noise cancelling is great but later I realize they sound so tiny compare to other headphones, not work well with every genre of music, also gave me headache from pressure of active NC, I think it's not good for human ear to listing to it for long time with that much of pressure. So I sold it on eBay and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

just my .02 cents.

Edited by Tharbamar - 11/20/11 at 1:26am

I would suggest getting closed back headphones. I don't really think active noise canceling would help much in your situation.
You could look into the HD 25-1 II, a bit below your budget but still excellent cans in my opinion. They have quite a bit of isolation, and I use them to suppress the volume of other people's conversations all the time.
The only thing I'd be worried with these cans is that they can get a bit uncomfortable if you listen with them for long times. This might be less with the velour ear pads, but I haven't tried those.

You can get them for 172 euros over at bax-shop.
On a semi-related note: are you Flemish or Walloon?