[U2Joshua]

At my current stage of life, my music listening opportunities are fewer and further between. 90% + of my music listening happens in one of two places, neither of which are conducive to audiophile-listening conditions: 1.) my car, 2.) on commercial airliners, as I travel a lot for work.

I do not have extensive history with multiple variations of high-end listening gear. My current DAP is a Sony NW-ZX300 and I listen with the WH-1000XM3 noise-canceling headphones. I have a relatively large library of high-res audio including FLAC/ALAC (16/44 - 24/192), DSD and MQA audio. I realize I am far from an audiophile's dream setup, but it's what I've got / where I'm at, to date.

If I want to up my game, what are people doing to maximize current technology for best listening on a plane? Are noise-canceling headphones the way to go - i.e. Sony, Bose, the new Dali IO-6? Or, is noise-canceling antithetical to audiophile listening in that it introduces artifactual noise / removes frequencies from the listening spectrum? Even still, preceding being true, does it still benefit to use noise-canceling in order to enjoy the minimization of the ambient noise of the plane? Are IEMs the way to go in that they inherently limit noise by sealing the ear canal ("noise isolation")? Are closed-back high-end headphones (non-noise canceling) the way to go in that they provide the most pristine audio listening, while blocking out sufficient levels of external noise?

Lastly, I'm open to any criticism of my DAP, assuming it relates to a better experience for air travel. I realize there is a world of Sony haters. I don't necessarily love Sony. After years of tire-kicking, I just finally broke down and bought something in my budget range from a company that has decades of experience and reputation behind it.

Thanks in advance~

 

[airwhale]

I do like my IEMs for flying, despite a bit higher external noise than when using noise cancelling cans. After take-off, I think it is worth using IEMs for the vastly better sound compared to my aging Bose QC25. (Which are still great for podcasts / audio books btw.) Newer and better have come along since, so current offerings may be worth exploring.

I am using Comply tips for passive isolation and improved bass response.

My setup is Tidal on iPhone via Dragonfly Red to AKG N40. I mainly download 44.1/16 as I am not yet convinced on MQA. Sure, it sounds slightly different, but is it better? I don't think I could reliably identity the MQA track in an AB test, at least not on my current gear.

Another plus is that my mobile setup fits in a really small box.

Good luck!

 

[Raketen]

IMO noise cancelling provides the best overall experience in spite of compromises in fidelity, though IEMs might be worth trying out to see what best suits you

Personally use IEMs as I find ANC a bit irksome (best experience has been with low profle narrow bore IEMs fitted with the dense Westone foam tips)- but the background noise of airplanes is such a detriment to listening that I think it essentially nullifies the gains in fidelity that are possible with IEMs (and non anc over-ears) even with good isolation.

I don't think you're missing out on anything w/ the Walkman either (unless you want Android apps or switch to difficult to drive wired headphones). Anyway for a bluetooth ANC setup, the only practical advantage of a DAP is for battery life and user interface, areas in which Sony has little competition.

 

[leftside]

I've tried many different types of headphones/IEMs/etc on the plane - and as from above - I already think you have the best "experience" with the Sony WH-1000XM3. I took my expensive Stellia closed-back once to try them out, and it wasn't a pleasurable experience. I really missed the noise cancelling.

I have the iBasso DX220 that I've been really happy with.

 

[kenkuan]

I find custom IEM a good choice during flights, probably blocks 90% of noise. When the music plays I don't get distracted by external noise.

 

[surfgeorge]

Brilliant question.
It is also an important use case for me and I am currently using IEMs.
for me personally it's a matter of many different factors: SQ, size, comfort, secure fit and seal (with IEMs), compatibility with a neck pillow, noise cancelling, heat (with FS HP), battery life.

I tried full size HPs and stopped, due to size, lack of comfort, heat with leather pads
I used to have ANC HP (Bose Quiet Comfort 35) andsold them as SQ was not up to scratch after I got into higher quality Audio

So now I use my general portable audio setup: HiBy R3/Chord Mojo Stack with my own design 3D printed case and transport box (the box is brilliant for protection) and a selection of IEMs.
With IEMs being so small I bring several and use as I like. The Astell & Kern T8iE gets the most listening time, because of SQ and COMFORT!
I found out that noise cancelling is not that important to me, I turn up the volume a bit and I am good. I still want to get a little bit of what is going on around me.

I am very intrigued about the Dan Clark Audio Aeon 2 though, these look interesting for travelling...

My source, here still with the NightOwl which I took on the plane in the past - not recommended

 

[ProtegeManiac]

If I want to up my game, what are people doing to maximize current technology for best listening on a plane? Are noise-canceling headphones the way to go - i.e. Sony, Bose, the new Dali IO-6? Or, is noise-canceling antithetical to audiophile listening in that it introduces artifactual noise / removes frequencies from the listening spectrum? Even still, preceding being true, does it still benefit to use noise-canceling in order to enjoy the minimization of the ambient noise of the plane? Are IEMs the way to go in that they inherently limit noise by sealing the ear canal ("noise isolation")? Are closed-back high-end headphones (non-noise canceling) the way to go in that they provide the most pristine audio listening, yet block out sufficient levels of external noise?

Active noise-cancelling adds a signal to cancel out ambient noise and I'm personally not a fan. Not to mention it requires another battery and the headphones will have to run its own built in headphone amp. If for ultimate convenience, it has its uses, but certainly more for mainstream users on a smartphone, not necessarily those really serious about their music considering that if you don't like the sound otherwise, well, it still sounds like that once you get to a quiet place, like your hotel room.

On to passive noise cancelling...well...that depends. IEM eartip fit can be more finicky than adjusting a headband clamp. If you're willing to experiment with what comes with an IEM or trying third party tips in case you need to go that far to get a better fit - or better, getting a custom IEM but understand that there's always a chance that the first fit might not be correct or the earshape you have makes it problematic to get them in there and at best make squeezing them in a bit less smoothly than for others - then go right ahead. The better part is an IEM fits into a tinier, pocketable case vs a headphone that has to squeeze into a larger space and if you hang it on your neck you have to toss it onto the bin bare or can fall out of the coat you wrapped it in.

Note that as much as even I might tend to prefer circumaurals once in a hotel room, I'd still much rather have the IEM's isolation on the plane where I'm more likely to have fewer options to entertain myself while not being able to work anyway (unless I always fly first class but no chance of that).

 

[Redcarmoose]

I’m a Sony nut. I’ve admired Sony stuff forever, though later in life I’ve upped the intensity to a special place. So I’d say never apologize for liking Sony, especially if you’ve had good luck. But still finding IEMs can be a precarious journey. I’d say use IEMs, but also closed IEMs. Yep.....they come two way, with small variations too. Simply stated “closed” balanced armatures get a better noise isolated experience. Typically hybrids or DD IEMs have small sound ports which let sound in!

Yet.....every IEM is different. And........finding your desired tone is probably more important than just exactly how much isolation there is. The 2014 hybrid XBA-Z5 does bad isolation. Though maybe check out the new M7 and M9, haven’t heard them, but they could work? It really is an individual one of a kind thing, as there is this shape, and depending on how it interfaces with your actual ear, the sound occlusion will vary. Of what I own, the Fearless S6Rui blocks out noise well, the qdc Anole V3 the best, but it’s not really the best sounding I own. The Noble Encore does well, and it’s one of my favorites for planes, totally sealed.

But keep in mind there are new semi custom designs now. They have been available since about 2018...maybe earlier? Funny the DM6 is a semi-custom universal but offers very little sound blocking. qdc makes the semi-custom and the Anole V3 totally blocks. So even with the special fit of a semi-custom universal it’s still hit or miss.

But the thing with IEMs is fit is everything, meaning if fit is good at home then sound will be the best, also noise canceling in planes.......BUT.....your sound signature preferences are top priority no matter what. So you have to try a bunch till you can lock onto one.

Good-luck.

 

[corygrapher]

I use both Bose wireless noise-canceling headphones and IEMs. The Bose is very comfortable and provides decent active noise-canceling. IEMs, on the other hand, can be better sounding than Bose, but the cable of iems can be annoying especially when the seating area is limited, when you have your jacket/blanket on your laps, and after you fell asleep. The fit of universal iems is always not perfect, leading to bad isolation or they can be occasionally pulled out of your ear when you try to move around on a plane (that's a reason why ppl hate about cables). CIEMs have better isolation and fit more secure so that the cables will not be a serious problem, but they are always more expensive and require an amount of lead time and effort (looking for the right ones, making custom ear impressions, etc) before you can lay your hands on the right ones.

Regarding the DAPs, I do not use DAPs at all. I only use my cellphone. The fewer things I carry on board, the less I will be worrying about.

 

[regawdless]

I like IEMs for travel in public spaces or when I walk through the city / stores. Just ordered the ISN H40, so can't say anything about them yet.

But on the train or airplane, I prefer closed back headphones. Took me a long time to find the perfect headphone, it's not that easy to find foldable high-end cans. I ended up buying and using the Ultrasone Signature Pro. Foldable, very durable and crazy good sound.

 

[The Torrent]

At my current stage of life, my music listening opportunities are fewer and further between. 90% + of my music listening happens in one of two places, neither of which are conducive to audiophile-listening conditions: 1.) my car, 2.) on commercial airliners, as I travel a lot for work.

I do not have extensive history with multiple variations of high-end listening gear. My current DAP is a Sony NW-ZX300 and I listen with the WH-1000XM3 noise-canceling headphones. I have a relatively large library of high-res audio including FLAC/ALAC (16/44 - 24/192), DSD and MQA audio. I realize I am far from an audiophile's dream setup, but it's what I've got / where I'm at, to date.

If I want to up my game, what are people doing to maximize current technology for best listening on a plane? Are noise-canceling headphones the way to go - i.e. Sony, Bose, the new Dali IO-6? Or, is noise-canceling antithetical to audiophile listening in that it introduces artifactual noise / removes frequencies from the listening spectrum? Even still, preceding being true, does it still benefit to use noise-canceling in order to enjoy the minimization of the ambient noise of the plane? Are IEMs the way to go in that they inherently limit noise by sealing the ear canal ("noise isolation")? Are closed-back high-end headphones (non-noise canceling) the way to go in that they provide the most pristine audio listening, while blocking out sufficient levels of external noise?

Lastly, I'm open to any criticism of my DAP, assuming it relates to a better experience for air travel. I realize there is a world of Sony haters. I don't necessarily love Sony. After years of tire-kicking, I just finally broke down and bought something in my budget range from a company that has decades of experience and reputation behind it.

Thanks in advance~

I personally use audeze el-8’s titanium’s with cipher cable and it’s superb

 

[PaganDL]

Hi @U2Joshua,

I second @ProtegeManiac on using IEMs for overall best isolation & fit for travelling.
I also agree eartip fit can be tricky but not impossible...just takes time to get right.

Depending on your budget, here are some IEMs with good isolation in no particular order to consider which are also relatively easy to fit :

Audio Technica E70
iBasso IT 04
iBasso IT 01s
iBasso IT 01
Sony IER M7

Also, if you don't need Bluetooth or wifi, I suggest looking into the Cowon Plenue D, hard to beat in sound quality & battery life as well as good portable form factor.

Hope this is useful, feel free to ask more when you need.

Hope you have a great day !

 

[castleofargh]

Frequency response and ambient noises are going to be the overwhelming enemies of fidelity on a plane. Under reasonable circumstances the achieved fidelity is going to be settled by noise and how well you fight it IMO.
The frequency response should fit your own hearing. So beyond going for very generic trends for average human heads, you're the one who should judge when you get to feel a fairly well balanced response.
Noise isolation is a more complicated matter. Avoiding the back of the plane and window sits can probably save you from a handful of dB most of the time(I read some paper on that years ago, no idea how more modern planes handle the all noise isolation thingy. Only heard that airbus was planing to use bigger fans on new models, so they apparently reached PC gamers' knowledge ^_^).
Noise cancelling has one sure advantage over a thin material obstructing the path, it can in principle deal with very low frequencies. The ability of the driver used will obviously impact what can be done there and usually the results are a little disappointing compared to theory because a driver would need an open back to freely move around without too much rooll off and distortions at low freqs.
For various reasons, NC headphones are often not doing much for high frequencies beyond what they already block passively. And because ear plugs or some IEMs tend to passively isolate better than headphones, the result is that overall we often do get more attenuation with well isolating IEMs and a good seal. The dreadful unknown for NC headphones IMO, are babies. The few headphones I've tried on a plane were honestly doing a great job in regard to the turbines. But against screaming kids, I still trust my etymotic IEMs more. But even then, they don't magically remove the kids from the plane and those little guys can out-scream a jet engine although maybe not for the whole trip. So more than an objective metric such as fidelity or in this case, SNR, I would call it as a psychological metric. And add it to comfort as some important aspects of enjoying music.

 

[SilverEars]

At my current stage of life, my music listening opportunities are fewer and further between. 90% + of my music listening happens in one of two places, neither of which are conducive to audiophile-listening conditions: 1.) my car, 2.) on commercial airliners, as I travel a lot for work.

I do not have extensive history with multiple variations of high-end listening gear. My current DAP is a Sony NW-ZX300 and I listen with the WH-1000XM3 noise-canceling headphones. I have a relatively large library of high-res audio including FLAC/ALAC (16/44 - 24/192), DSD and MQA audio. I realize I am far from an audiophile's dream setup, but it's what I've got / where I'm at, to date.

If I want to up my game, what are people doing to maximize current technology for best listening on a plane? Are noise-canceling headphones the way to go - i.e. Sony, Bose, the new Dali IO-6? Or, is noise-canceling antithetical to audiophile listening in that it introduces artifactual noise / removes frequencies from the listening spectrum? Even still, preceding being true, does it still benefit to use noise-canceling in order to enjoy the minimization of the ambient noise of the plane? Are IEMs the way to go in that they inherently limit noise by sealing the ear canal ("noise isolation")? Are closed-back high-end headphones (non-noise canceling) the way to go in that they provide the most pristine audio listening, while blocking out sufficient levels of external noise?

Lastly, I'm open to any criticism of my DAP, assuming it relates to a better experience for air travel. I realize there is a world of Sony haters. I don't necessarily love Sony. After years of tire-kicking, I just finally broke down and bought something in my budget range from a company that has decades of experience and reputation behind it.

Thanks in advance~

In airplanes forget about passive isolation, your XM3 is the best ANC performer there is, and is more effective at reducing overall noise for coherency over passive isolation. ANC is better than passive isolation in environments like airplanes. It's really simple. There are differences with ANC performers. The ones to use are Bose, Apple Airpods Pro, or Sony XM3. I use APP and they do a fantastic job at ANC in airplanes.

 

[go_vtec]

I travel by air quite frequently and I was in similar situations! I too have Sony noise cancelling headphones and also Sony wireless earbuds. Their sound qualities are adequate for air travel and general to-go uses, but still lacking and leave much to desire. Quality IEMs do offer certain advantages, but they are also significantly less convenient and the fitment can be very user dependent for non-custom IEMs. Full-sized cans can be used on longer flights, but the usability/practicality are depends on how long is the flight, what type of airplanes (noise-level, air pressure change/fluctuation), and where will you seat (front of the plane, near the wings, or behind the wings/engines) can alter your choices of how much you need to seal out the noise.

I have a couple questions for you or a couple things for you to consider.
1. Do you know if you will be OK with IEMs regarding fitment and tolerance-wise? In other words, have you ever use any IEMs prolonged time (several hours) and do you have average/common ear shape and ear canal shape that can accommodate most of IEMs?
2. Do you know what kind of sound signatures or tonal balance you want in your IEMs or your headphones?

The first question is just want to make sure that IEMs can be a viable option for you. I was quite surprised by many of my friends and my own family members cannot wear IEMs prolong time due to fitment and tolerance issues. if yes, a pair of good IEMs and DAP can be the answer to your question! If no, you may need to consider either custom IEMs or full sized cans.

The second question is more to do with “is IEM what you are really looking for?” Closed full size headphones can provide pretty decent seals and good sound quality at a fraction of highend IEMs. Full-sized cans often sound more dynamic and more “fuller” than most of IEMs.

If I travel for a shorter duration over many short connections, I just take a pair of noise canceling headphones/earphones and a pair of IEMs. If I stay longer and/or have longer flights, I take a pair of IEM, DAP or Fiio/Chord Mojo/Dragonfly DAC-AMP and a pair of full size headphones. Thanks to modern music streaming services like Tidal and ability to store CD quality Songs on your mobile devices or stream master quality to your tablet/notebook, a life of headphone junkie has never been better. This way, I can actually listen to good sounding musics in my flight/hotel if I have time trading between convenience and sound quality.