Noise isolation vs noise cancelling headphones

[dt97583]

So I'm considering:

Noise isolation:

- Sony MDR-1AM2 (updated version of the much suggested Sony MDR-1A)

Noise cancelling:

- Sony WH-1000XM2

For use in an office with the source being Spotify on my mobile (LDAC compatible). I've read conflicting things about noise cancelling for office use, some say more appropriate for the hum of an plane engine, the tube etc and less for the office whilst others say it does reduce the overall noise down a bit. Admittedly it won't be silent by any stretch of the imagination.

But it may be that closed back noise isolation headphones would do similar? I've read there's a very slight amount of white noise from the noise cancelling headphones albeit undetectable when music is playing. I wonder for office use if closed back will get me the same results as IEMs / noise cancelling but a better sounding?

Budget is £250-300.

Cheers!

 

[dt97583]

I'm reading good things about these...

https://nerdtechy.com/sony-mdr-1am2-review

What’s the difference between a $300 pair of headphones, and a $1,200 pair of headphones? It depends on about a dozen different factors. High quality audio isn’t just a matter of having good headphones and lossless audio file formats. Great headphones have quality levels which allow you to hear the characteristics of the amplifier and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that process your sound signals. In other words, after you’ve got a strong pair of headphones, the quality if the sound you get will begin to depend on the rest of your audio setup.

And that’s what makes Sony’s latest pair of circumaural headphones, the MDR-1AM2, stand out so well in an otherwise crowded market. After you push headphone quality to a certain point, the only way to improve it is to start adding additional devices. You’d need to get a new DAC, a better or more powerful amplifier, and to take advantage of any of it you’d need lossless audio quality media files. The MDR-1AM2 is as far as you can push headphone quality without requiring people to start making upgrades elsewhere, and that’s what makes it special.

If you’re doing 100% of your listening inside an environment that’s always completely quiet, and there’s no risk of your sound annoying another person, then these aren’t for you. You’d be better off with headphones using an open-design. And if you’re willing to spend a few hundred more dollars, then the 1AM2 isn’t the right choice. You’d be better off getting high impedance headphones and an aftermarket amplifier.

The 1AM2 is for people who want the best sound quality you can achieve without getting a second mortgage, and without involving a bunch of secondary devices. It’s for people who plan on doing most of their listening through laptops, smartphones, and other low-powered equipment. And it’s for people who plan on wearing their headphones for hours on end. For those people, Sony’s MDR-1AM2 is may be the least expensive way to access audiophile-quality sound.