[sorrick]

IEM's are no problem on flights. I have been using them for over 4 years, travelling internationally (Asia, Europe, S. America, Australia) and I've never had any pressure issues due to the in-ears. They aren't air tight after all. Airlines will make you take them off for take off and landing as they do with any headphones (this is a safety issue so if there are any problems you can hear cabin crew instructions). However, the nice thing about IEMs is that they are small and relatively inconspicuous so if the stewardess is not paying attention they will not see you have anything in your ears. I have landed on many-a-flights with my IEM's in my ears (not intentionally, rather I just didn't hear the announcement to take them out and nobody asked me to do so).

The IEM's actually work much better than the bose because they block out alot more sound. However, as is always the case with the IEM's if someone next to you need to get your attention and you aren't looking at them, they need to tap you on your shoulder because you're not gonna hear what they have to say (this could be a positive or a negative...it depends on who is sitting next to you

)

 

[Stu Pitt]

My first post here, but I've been reading and researching here for a little while now. It's a great site and it seems like everyone has very good insight. Now for my opinions here...

I'm an athletic trainer for an NCAA Div I school, and therefore do a lot of travelling by plane and charter bus. In my experience, IEMs are far better at rejecting noise than noise cancelling HPs. Noise cancelling HPs only cover low frequencies, whereas IEMs cover the whole spectrum. I use a pair of ER6i, and they work great out of the heaphone out of my iPod. I really don't have any problems with air pressure bothering my ears without the ER6i in, but at times I can feel it a little more with them in. If your friend is pretty sensitive to air pressure, IEMs may make it a little worse. I think his best bet would be to try a pair from a place that has a good return policy if he's not happy with them.

As to the Bose noise cancelling headphones... I had a demo of them in a Bose store. They've got a pair hooked up in front of a TV screen, and have simulated jet engine noise while you listen to music and their sales pitch. Funny thing is I couldn't hear the jet noise, but I could hear a conversation word for word between two cashiers about 50 feet away. Whe the salesman asked me what I though about the demo, I told him I could hear the cashiers talking. He looked at me like I was making it up. When he asked me if I heard him talking to me during the demo, I repeated the conversation between the cashiers. He didn't like that too much. Then he told me that any more noise cancellation was unsafe and therefore illegal. When I asked him what law states that and how much the law requires, he walked away from me.

 

[Febs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by breseler /img/forum/go_quote.gif Every time I have flown the cabin crew have insisted that all headphones, your own and the airline supplied ones, are removed. Maybe I draw the short straw and get jobsworths on every flight but I assure you it is done for safety reasons - a)so you can hear any instructions and b) so if you have to evacuate the aircraft in a hurry you're not tethered to your seat by your cable....

My experience has been the opposite. I have never had a flight attendant insist that I remove headphones once I show them that the headphones are unplugged.

Incidentally, when no music is playing, I can hear cabin instructions perfectly even with the E4s in.

 

[Bones13]

I used to own the original bose noise cancelling headphones. I found them great at reducing the headache and general uneasiness I usually associated with flying, or long driving trips with the kids in the back of the van.

I did graduate to HeadFi and now use UE-10pros while travelling. The noise attenuation seems a lot better to me. I have never had troubles with pressure differentials going up or down.

Usually I will show the stewardess passing by that my iPod is OFF and they let me keep the ear plugs in.

 

[fureshi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jinp6301 /img/forum/go_quote.gif well the fact of the matter is that the bose noise canceling does a great job of getting rid of low freq sounds, such as airplane hum. IEMs work better across the spectrum but not was well as noise canceling headphones for deep sounds.

i disagree with that. i travel extensively for work, especially on long trips to asia, where the isolation that an iem is an advantage. iems work across the spectrum, even on low frequencies. the fact that all sounds are blocked out, really allows me to enjoy my music or movie. of course all iems are made differently and so far, the best isolating ones that i've tried are the er4p. i've also tried using bose on the plane but was disappointed at how much other sounds they let in.

if your friend is a bosehead then let him be but of course it doesn't hurt to give him suggestions on better products.

 

[Stu Pitt]

As to flight attendants insisting on removing headphones, in my travels some have and some haven't. A few insisted that I remove them and store them in my carry on as per FAA regulations. Some don't bother anyone with headphones on. I guess it depends on how much of a power trip they're on.

 

[warpdriver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jinp6301 /img/forum/go_quote.gif IEMs work better across the spectrum but not was well as noise canceling headphones for deep sounds.

Like the guy two posts above, I disagree with that too. if you look at the claimed specs of most noise cancelling phone, most of the NC type headphones only cancel at most 15dB in the lower frequency ranges. Good IEM's pretty match or beat that in the same frequency ranges.

 

[ldj325]

I appreciate everyones posts. By the sounds of it, a lot of folks report that pressure changes aren't a big issue. I'll report that to my friend. I think he might like the potion of an even more compact system. But I won't forcefully wake him from his Bose slumbers.

 

[flamerz]

Saturday I'll be IEMless on a 6 hour plane trip... My father will have his Quiet Comfort 3's

. Why'd they have to need repair

 

[roastpuff]

IEM's are a Godsend for travel. Plane trips, bus trips, boat trips... road trips!

Summer vacation '06: family decides to go on a guided tour of the Canadian Rockies. It's a bus tour. My seat is RIGHT IN FRONT OF A 10-MONTH OLD, who is quite vocally expressing his unhappiness at the crappy service and his parents who forced him to come along.

ER4P's saved me from the noise, but not from the seat-kicking.

 

[teardrop3d]

Yeah.... I'm leaning towards the IEM side. Just finished a 13+8 hour trip London>Melbourne. But found it quite ok with my brand new Shure E4c. I also had a Sennheiser PXC150 (which is noise canceling) and to be honest the Shure had better isolation (and sounded much better). The problem was I couldn't hear the host/ess speak so it is quite a hassle to remove the plugs.

Also, I think this is just me, but I find that most noise cancelling gives me a headache after using it for about 10mins. Then after about and hour it subsides.... I'm thinking of binnin my pxc150's.

 

[urabus]

Last year I flew 93,700 miles (missed the 100,000 elite status by 7,300 miles, crap

) and I always carry my ER-4P & PX-100. Flights are international and are 12 to 15 hours long and I've had no discomfort falling asleep or having IEMs left in for 5 or 6 hours. When I want to give my ears a breather I put on the PX-100.

Flight attendants do ask to have headphones removed during takeoff/landing even when no source is connected to it.

 

[jinp6301]

Quote:

Originally Posted by warpdriver /img/forum/go_quote.gif Like the guy two posts above, I disagree with that too. if you look at the claimed specs of most noise cancelling phone, most of the NC type headphones only cancel at most 15dB in the lower frequency ranges. Good IEM's pretty match or beat that in the same frequency ranges.

hmm maybe I read the specs wrong. I seem to remember that it was a significant reduction compared to IEMs

 

[ronmtorres]

bose sucks in this forum

joke

 

[breseler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by urabus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Last year I flew 93,700 miles...

Thats one hell of a carbon footprint.....