Headphones etc

koolpc

koolpc

koolpc

Soldato
Joined
2 Dec 2004
Posts
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Location
Under The Desk, Wales
Friend is look for headphones or earphones/buds that are excellent at cancelling out outside noise. She lives next to students and it can be very loud, obviously! Thumping music etc..

Budget around £50 ideally, max £100..

Ta
 
Anker Soundcore Q35 or Q45 if she wants over ears but both high end of budget. 1more Sonoflow are good at £65.
 
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I had some Q35's and while they weren't fantastic their NC was actually okay. Not great, but it definitely diminished noise to a fair degree when I used them for walking around outside on busy roads.

I suspect they'd fit the bill pretty well for her needs.

Sound quality wise I found them boomy, even without the "bass boost" option tbh. If not for that they would have been a decent wireless budget headphone.

For reference I bought them mostly for listening to audiobooks while travelling/walking long distances, I found that I preferred IEM's for the task and sold them on OCUK's MM. My home setup is Audeze 2 + WA7, among others, so my expectations for sound quality might exceed those of the majority -- despite that I think I'm being fair in their assessment above.
 
koolpc said:
So, its possible to get them to cancel outside noise almost 100%?
Click to expand...
No. Even the best ANC consumer headphones won't get near to 100% of all noise. Its particularly good with mechanical/traffic sounds. Voices are harder to block, same with music as they're not repetitive, but it'll reduce it significantly.
 
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My daughter has some Creative Zen Hybrids. They're available for £50 a lot of the time direct from Creative.

I couldn't tell you exactly how good the noise cancelling is - except that I know she can never bloody hear me when I'm shouting her! :D
 
So annoying when you look at reviews. Hard to believe most of them...

So many different makes and models too! Baffling indeed.

I believe she is more leaning towards 'wired' earphones / headphones as she is against charging up headphones etc...
 
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koolpc said:
So annoying when you look at reviews. Hard to believe most of them...

So many different makes and models too! Baffling indeed.

I believe she is more leaning towards 'wired' earphones / headphones as she is against charging up headphones etc...
Click to expand...

You won't get noise cancelling without some form of power/charging as active noise cancellation needs power to run. There's probably a niche USB powered headset out there.

Closed back headphones can block a lot of noise passively but not to the extent of noise cancelling headphones - both are closed back so they can cause hot/sweaty ears for long periods of use.
 
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for the money the anker q35 are pretty decent
no the anc wont stop almost 100%
of the outside noise
tested them on a flight to australia
sitting right at the engines they did a decent job
even my sony wh1000mx4 or whatever the model number i
can never remember is
they couldnt block it all and they were 4x the price of the anker
but if you turn on anc and then have music playing too
thats a lot different from just wearing them with anc on

theres industrial grade ones
dont remember the details or what industry they were for
but the price of those is a mile over your budget

anker have regular sales i picked them up discounted to £65
 
What about headphones that are good at sealing the ear from outside noise without using special tech to do so?

Do they exist?
 
koolpc said:
What about headphones that are good at sealing the ear from outside noise without using special tech to do so?

Do they exist?
Click to expand...
Sort of. Closed back headphones and in ear monitors all reduce external sound passively but not to the extent of proper noise cancelling headphones.

headphonesaddict.com

10 Proven Best Noise Isolating Headphones (2023 list here)

These are the 10 best noise isolating headphones with amazing passive noise isolation that drown out the noise. Enjoy music without distractions.
headphonesaddict.com headphonesaddict.com
 
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That lists my Sony as right up with
The best anc
But you're looking at approximately 250 or so
And still might not do what they want
Sound wise the Sony are really good
Especially connected with a cable to a good source
The difference between over Bluetooth and wired was
Extremely noticeable

I mean personally I would be playing music
Whilst wearing them
Which would have a big impact
Compared to just wearing them as basically ear defenders
 
koolpc said:
It would be for playing music and watching films etc...
Click to expand...
Then yes if they're playing stuff through them
That will have a big impact on
How much outside sound would be heard
In addition to the anc

Edit
Another use I put mine to
I suffer with insomnia
My partner suffers with snoring like
A freight train sometimes
I have actually worn them in bed before
To block the snoring lol
 
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Mcnumpty2323 said:
Then yes if they're playing stuff through them
That will have a big impact on
How much outside sound would be heard
In addition to the anc

Edit
Another use I put mine to
I suffer with insomnia
My partner suffers with snoring like
A freight train sometimes
I have actually worn them in bed before
To block the snoring lol
Click to expand...

Ok, so i need to let her know and its a matter of deciding what to go for then!
 
koolpc said:
Ok, so i need to let her know and its a matter of deciding what to go for then!
Click to expand...
Now and then some bose quiet comfort also
Appear in MM
Got my stepson a pair from mm
Think I paid just over 100 for those
He's a railway guard pretty noisy environment
He loves them
Most of these headsets can last most of a day
On a single charge
And usually have a fast charge feature lot use usb-c
10 minutes charge gives you a good length of time
So you're not constantly having to charge them
My Sony lasted 17 hour flight to Australia
Though I may have taken them off now and again

Edit
Anker soundcore q35 quick look found some for 75
Q45 quick look found some at 95
The q35 I paid a bit less
But I still think for the money
They are very decent
Don't sound awful and think there might be
An equaliser app
The ANC works pretty well too
Build quality seemed good too
Made it to Australia and back nothing went wrong
no bits falling off or cracks in plastic parts etc
Yes my Sony might be better but given they cost 4x as much
Are they 4 x better no
 
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