Best noise cancelling headphones?
Jun 21, 2021 at 4:06 PM Post #18 of 30
I used the ANC earphones: SONY 1000XM3, AirPods Max and AirPods Pro. If you need to wear all day, AirPods Pro are most comfortable, it is light. AirPods Max and 1000XM3 are more durable since they have larger batteries. Airpods Max sounds batter than 1000XM3, but it is much more expensive.

If you want a comfortable one: Airpods Pro
If you need a better sound quality and live in Apple ecosystem: Airpods max
If you need a cost-effective one: SONY 1000XM4
 
Oct 12, 2021 at 8:05 AM Post #21 of 30
Think about what 'audiophile' audiences are. They are 50-70 year olds looking for boosted treble, and willing to pay big bucks for that experience. If you still have good hearing, stay the hell away from audiophile crap.
A quite strange and unique - if I may - definition of being audiophile…
 
Oct 12, 2021 at 2:52 PM Post #23 of 30
What is going on with your computer that it is so loud and can't be fixed? Especially while listening to music. Most computers should basically be in idle mode while playing back music. It isn't that much stress on a computer. Your fans shouldn't even be ramping up. I would try to figure out why your computer is making so much noise or running so hot when it shouldn't be honestly. Might be cheaper than buying new headphones. And if you are talking about gaming then you really don't need audiophile quality headphones for that. Hyperx cloud II headphones are not NC but they isolate very well and sound pretty good too if you wanted a gaming a headset. And you can get them for sub 100 bucks. Good NC headphones are going to cost you 3 or 4 hundred bucks. You can do some pretty radical cooling solutions for that kind of money.

Are you running a server rack with a bank of 90mm 5000 rpm delta fans or something? My 3900x with a 2070 super and 8 fans (not including the video card) runs quiet enough I can use open back headphones with it. It gets a little loud when I game or do something intensive with it but otherwise the fans barely turn on.

Another option if you are really concerned with music is to find a different way to listen to music that takes your computer out of the chain. Like a music streamer of some sort and a headphone amp/dac. There are many smart devices like tvs, blue ray players and what not that will stream music. My LG tv will stream tidal and I would bet it will do other platforms too, I never bothered to check since I don't use them. And my blue ray player will stream music as well as play cd's and has a usb input if you wanted to load music files to a thumb drive. Or there are any number of portable streamers/players on the market that work well. So as an example you could use your tv to stream music, hook it up to a schiit magni/modi combo and get some AKG K371's or something and the whole thing would cost less than 4 or 5 hundred bucks.

As for NC headphones I have the bose quiet comfort 35II's and I like them. Can be ran wired or wireless.

And wireless does not cause cancer, just don't even worry about that conspiracy crap. If that was a real thing one we would all already be dead and two the government would have outlawed and banned it by now. And if you don't trust our country or yours (I don't know where you are) trust that every country uses it and none of them have said its bad or gotten rid of it.

And if you are new to the audio game don't worry so much about what others say or reviewers think you need to have. Go by what you think sounds good and just go listen some stuff if you can. The difference between some 100 dollar headphones and some 1000 dollar headphones isn't that large. And for some they can't even tell the difference. I have headphones ranging from 30 dollars or so up to 500 bucks. None of them sound "bad". Different yes, but not really bad. At least not to my ears. I do have some cheap ear buds that sound horrid though.

I am still more concerned that your computer is that noisy and your fans are running that fast when they probably don't need to be. That tells me something isn't right somewhere and should be looked into. It may shorten the life span of your computer or some of the parts in it. Unless its one of those micro computers, an all in one or a laptop. Then there isn't a lot you can do with it. Still shouldn't be getting that hot just listening to music and browsing the internet though.
 
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Oct 12, 2021 at 3:00 PM Post #24 of 30
Do you really think they can be not-counterfeit?
350 dollar retail headphones for 70 bucks off ali express. I agree, sounds like a big gamble to me lol. It might take you a month to get them, if you even get them. And when/if they do arrive it will probably not be what is advertised or it will be an emtpy box. I would stay away from ali, wish, ebay and even amazon if the price looks too good to be real. Depending on where you live you should be able to walk into a store and buy Bose headphones and walk out. They will be real, they will be backed by both companies and you can return them if you don't like them.
 
Oct 12, 2021 at 3:41 PM Post #25 of 30
What is going on with your computer that it is so loud and can't be fixed? Especially while listening to music. Most computers should basically be in idle mode while playing back music. It isn't that much stress on a computer. Your fans shouldn't even be ramping up. I would try to figure out why your computer is making so much noise or running so hot when it shouldn't be honestly. Might be cheaper than buying new headphones. And if you are talking about gaming then you really don't need audiophile quality headphones for that. Hyperx cloud II headphones are not NC but they isolate very well and sound pretty good too if you wanted a gaming a headset. And you can get them for sub 100 bucks. Good NC headphones are going to cost you 3 or 4 hundred bucks. You can do some pretty radical cooling solutions for that kind of money.

Given OPs user name I'm gonna guess their fans are ramping up because they're gaming (though they could also be doing processor intensive work)
 
Oct 12, 2021 at 5:21 PM Post #26 of 30
The best isolating Noise canceling headphones I've heard - and still use daily are the Beats Studio 3's... seriously, these things totally cut out the sound of the computer next to me with 100% GPU and CPU fans. I've connected to them with Android / PC / Nintendo devices only. Apple/Beats sent me a replacement control cable for Android.

The Beat's Studio 3's aren't "audiophile", no boosted highs, but they don't sound lacking until I compare them to my Hifiman Ananda or HE6SE V2, and the Beats Studio 3's Wireless can be connected Wired as well for better sound.

The next best are the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC900BT, which are just a tad less blocking than the Studio 3's, but sound better - especially Wired.

And, they are both reliable, running daily - swapping one for the other when the battery runs out, both get around 15-20 hours +/-, for several years.

I tried the Sony XM3 for almost a month, and they ran great for 3 weeks with ANC that was about the same as the Beats Studio 3's - but right at the 3 week mark they developed that Whistle in the Left Cup - I could get rid of the Whistle by reducing the ANC strength 1 bar, but then noise came through, kinda defeats their purpose, so I returned them.

I found the XM3's construction plastics flimsy-floppy like all Sony headphones at pretty much any price range. I've had several Sony headphones about 1.5-2 years old fall apart, the plastics can't take the flex stresses over time and the headbands or cup attachment points fail. So I've stopped buying Sony headphones. I made an exception with the XM3, but I'm glad the ANC failed within the return period so I didn't have to suffer with the inevitable failed plastic parts. I wear ANC headphones often for many hours to block fan noise, perhaps if you don't wear them as much as I do the Sony plastics won't fail like they do for me. :)

The price for the ATH-ANC900BT have dropped to around $150 - they were $299 MSRP originally a few years ago, @$227.99 from Amazon Shipped/Sold by Amazon Prime. The Beats Studio 3's get small upgrades to stay current so the new ones out today might be different so get them from somewhere you can return them easily (Amazon/Amazon sourced/shipped). The Beat's Studio 3 list price is $349, I bought mine for $180 during a Bestbuy Holiday sale, if you can wait that long :)

Fitment of the cups over your ears will determine whether a particular make/model of ANC headphones will work for you. For me these two models work great, but YMMV. :)
 
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Oct 12, 2021 at 5:47 PM Post #27 of 30
The best isolating Noise canceling headphones I've heard - and still use daily are the Beats Studio 3's... seriously, these things totally cut out the sound of the computer next to me with 100% GPU and CPU fans. I've used them with Android / PC devices only, Beats sent me a replacement control cable for Android.

They aren't audiophile, but they don't sound bad until I compare to my Hifiman Ananda or HE6SE V2, and you can run the Beats Wireless Studio 3's Wired as well.

The next best are the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC900BT, which are just a tad less blocking than the Studio 3's, but sound better - especially Wired.

And, they are both reliable, running daily - swapping one for the other when the battery runs out, both get around 15-20 hours +/-.

I tried the Sony XM3 for almost a month, and they ran great for 3 weeks with ANC that was about the same as the Beats Studio 3's - but right at the 3 week mark they developed that Whistle in the Left Cup - I could get rid of the Whistle by reducing the ANC strength 1 bar, but then noise came through, kinda defeats their purpose, so I returned them.

I found the XM3's construction plastics flimsy-floppy like all Sony headphones at pretty much any price range. I've had several Sony headphones of recent vintage (about 2 years old) fall apart, the plastics can't take the flex stresses over time and the headbands or cup attachment points fail. So I've stopped buying Sony headphones. I made an exception with the XM3, but I'm glad the ANC failed within the return period so I didn't have to suffer with the inevitable failed plastic parts. I wear ANC headphones often for many hours to block fan noise, perhaps if you don't wear them as much as I do the Sony plastics won't fail like they do for me. :)

The price for the ATH-ANC900BT have dropped to around $150 - they were over $200 MSRP originally a few years ago. The Beats Studio 3's get small upgrades to stay current so the new ones out today might be different so get them from somewhere you can return them easily (Amazon/Amazon sourced/shipped). The list price is $349, I bought mine for $180 during Bestbuy Holiday sales, if you can wait that long :)

Fitment of the cups over your ears will determine whether a particular make/model of ANC headphones will work for you. For me these two models work great, but YMMV. :)
I know beats gets joked on a whole bunch but as a standard headphone with decent anc, studio 3's and their later stuff gets the job done and work real nice. Not a fan of their design but they do work nice for it. Ive used them a few times and surprisngly wasnt repulsed by how they are lol.
 
Oct 13, 2021 at 6:16 AM Post #28 of 30
I know beats gets joked on a whole bunch but as a standard headphone with decent anc, studio 3's and their later stuff gets the job done and work real nice. Not a fan of their design but they do work nice for it. Ive used them a few times and surprisngly wasnt repulsed by how they are lol.
Yes, we must be brave to share the joys of Beats Studio 3's :)

They are sturdy and reliable, the battery still holds it's charge lasting more than a day even with ANC on.

I have a few open back headphones and I really enjoy them, but when I need to be near computers - office / Datacenter - yes it cuts a lot of the noise in the Datacenter too, not as much as the head gear designed to block out all sound, but enough where the sound isn't wearing on me over the hours in the DC, and they keep my ears warm too.

I'll probably pick up another pair on sale this holiday season - if there is enough inventory to have a sale this year! I've got the Grey all over Color scheme that matches my hair, and doesn't stand out as the more radical colors do, maybe I'll change it up and get one of the bright 2-tone colors this time.

I wish Audio-Technica would come out with an upgrade to their ATH-ANC900BT's, they've had it as the top model for a number of years, but at the current 1/2 price $150 sales price I might get a backup pair of those too. :)
 
Oct 13, 2021 at 10:23 AM Post #30 of 30
One of the best PASSIVE noise cancelling headphones is the Sennheiser HD280 Pro. I find it has better Passive Noise Cancelling than many headphones with Active Noise Cancelling. You also will get far superior sound compared to almost nearly every, if not all, NC headphones. Nothing ever to charge as well! No ear pressure!!
 

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