TBH, active noise cancelling 'phones are a waste of time unless you get really expensive ones. A good pair of canalphones will block a lot of background sound; I use them when operating noisy machinery. I prefer Ultimate Ears 'phones because of the sound quality, but I've had issues with several pairs of SuperFi 4 and 5's with the wires fracturing in the plugs on three pairs. A pair of MetroFi 220vi's recently broke and I persuaded the Apple Store in Bristol to exchange them but they only had the Klipsch Image S4 phones which block a huge amount of noise if you use the dual flange eartips supplied, but I'm not so keen on the sound quality, they sound a bit 'hollow'in the vocals. Denon do some superb canalphones, and if you get some dual flange eartips from sensorcom.com they are very effective at blocking background noise. Denons start around £50 for quality 'phones. I now have a pair of Ultimate Ears SuperFi 3 Studio Pro's which I got off the 'bay brand new for £40 including postage. They have replacable cables which is great, and means I can use an alternative iPhone cable with remote and mic.
The trick with canalphones is to moisten the silicon bud before putting it into your ear to help the phone slide in and seal, and you pull the earlobe up and out to open up the canal as well which gives a better fit.