Right, getting really fed up of other peoples phone calls / inane chatter, general noise of the daily train commute, so really tempted to invest in some noise cancelling headphones. It would seem that Bose NC15’s are the best according to what I’ve read, but are they?

Anybody recommend them / think they are rubbish or have anything to say about other NC headphones?

I’m out for a ride now, back in a few hours or so. Enlighten me please!

I have some I use when flying, in ear jobs so I can sleep in them. I think they are made by panasonic.

They are very good at removing the drone of the aeroplane which means I can listen to music or films at lower volume and have near silence when I want to sleep.

I don’t think they are that good at removing voices etc, they block noise because they are a rubber bung in your ear but I don’t feel the noise cancelling works well in the situation you describe.

See if you can get a demo in a busy shop, I suspect you would be better off looking at a set of isolating ear phones that plug your ear.

Maybe the Bose ones are better at cancelling the type of noise that is bothering you but I would want a demo before paying their prices.

My brother has the the Bose in-ear ones, I can’t compare them with anything else but WOW! Outrageously good sound and even a low volume very little/no background noise.

I’ve got a set of QC3s and am quite an audiophile, I’ve so far heard nothing that compares to them. I also find the QC3s more comfortable than the QC 15s.

It won’t help your wallet, but I hope it helps non the less. 😕

Don’t bother with anything that uses electronics, it’s just another set of batteries that you have to change. A quality pair of canalphones with good eartips is all you need. Having tried various pairs of Ultimate Ears phones, including a couple with replaceable cables for my iPhone, and been frustrated by the stupid fragile inline plug breaking, I bought a pair of Shure’s new SE215’s, with an extra iPhone cable and three pairs of triple flanged eartips from earphonesolutions.com for $160. They’re fantastic, honestly, the sound quality is outstanding, and they’re very comfortable for extended periods. To clarify, I run very noisy machinery, around 88dB average, and ear protection is highly recommended. The SE215’s attenuate by around 26dB, and things like conversations and average background noise get blocked completely when playing music. They are very good for phone calls, too, as I regularly get calls from our other site for me to get stuff ready. The plugs are 90/45 degree, and much, much better when the phone’s sitting in my pocket. If all you want is an iPod lead, that would be less than $110 with the eartips.

Here’s a pic of them along with my old customised Etymotics.
Can’t recommend them highly enough.

I got me some cheapy Sennheiser CX300 IIs, (now superseded with Sennheiser Eco) I’m no audiophile, and can quite happily listen to music on any quality equipment. I like them, they fit me well, and the sound is good. They do a pretty good job of overcoming ambient noise, so I generally only have one in when walking down the road. And they were cheap as chips.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-Eco-Ear-Canal-Headphones/dp/B000S8EUNM/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

I’ve used the CX300’s, along with quite a few other makes, Denon, UE, etc. The Shure’s are easily as good as my UE TripleFi 10 Pro’s which are usually £260, although mine came from eBay and were a lot cheaper. Until you get a really good pair of ‘phones with well-fitting eartips like the triple flange or custom fit ones, you can’t believe just how good they can be, the seal in the ear canal brings out the bass, and allows all the detail to show as well, in a properly balanced, neutral manner. The Shure’s are outstanding, considering higher up models are $299/399.

I’m a happy bunny

Got myself a lovely set of Shure SE315s and some Comply foams. Stunning sound from them and blocks out pretty much all external sound completely 😀