Most ‘noise cancelling’ devises work, but the fact there is another power supply required makes them really a bit of a nuisance. I used a pair of I think it was Phillips ones, and they lasted about a month before they broke. Now I use in-ear phones, which do vary in effectiveness. The size of the little ‘bulb’ that goes into the ear is crucial, and the best sort have alternative flanged ones. I’ve recently got a pair of Ultimate Ears phones for my iPhone, because they are one of the few makes that have voice versions through most of the range, starting from around $25. Mine are Superfi.4vi, which were $124, and are frankly astonishing. The sound quality is the best I’ve ever heard, and they need no EQ. There are flanged eartips available, which I’m going to order, as I wear them using very noisy machinery, but the ones supplied fit pretty well, and there are also a couple of pairs of foam ones supplied, which would probably do the job just as well. I tend to find foam ones irritate after a while. Get a pair of UE’s, mine came from earphonesolutions.com, who’s service was superb, and I really don’t think you’ll regret it for a second, they really are bloody marvelous, and make all those microprocessor jobbies redundant.