[Riordan]

a friend of mine can't use iems because of a medical condition (some past ear infection) but needs extra isolation because of another medical condition (tinitus) combined with yet another condition (audiophilia mobilis).

so... closed phones don't provide enough isolation for him, he can't use iems... that leaves noise-cancellers.
he has already tried one sennheiser and akg model each (don't know which ones) and damned them because they don't cover his ears, hence only lower the outside noise floor a bit. the noise-cancelling phones of his choice are
TADA!
bose.

can that be? is there no way out for him?

 

[Box Cutter]

well, it's easy to knock bose, but they do have the best noise cancelling (at least from the reviews that I read). Its just too bad they sound like a tin can full of wasps.

 

[kwkarth]

Yup, what he said.

 

[Riordan]

so their secret is to cancel outside noise by providing noise inside - instead of music?

thanks, guys... i guess there's no hope for him then

 

[Jonathan Griffin]

Hi,
I've got both Bose QC2 and Sennheiser PXC-250. The Bose are more comfortable, cover your ears entirely, and are much less fiddly. I think they cancel more noise, but it's hard to be sure because the Senn's generate so much hiss.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riordan so their secret is to cancel outside noise by providing noise inside - instead of music?

It's not quite that bad.

Some level of hiss is a side-effect of the cancellation process, I think, but the Sennheiser hiss is much louder than the Bose hiss. OTOH, if your friend suffers from tinnitus, the hiss may or may not bother him. The Bose sound quality might, though.

Cheers,
Jonathan.

 

[VicAjax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riordan ...combined with yet another condition (audiophilia mobilis).

i hear there's a shot that'll clear that right up.