I recently had the opportunity to try my friend's noise cancelling headphones on a plane trip out west. I had often heard about the benefits of the sound isolating features of the headphones, but have had difficulty justifying spending the money as they can be a bit pricey. I also didn't want to carry around large headphones in my bag for fear that they would break.

I can say that after trying them out, they are definately amazing. The headphones that I tried had a lever on them to turn on and off the noise cancelling feature and when I did so when the plane was in the air, the difference was incredible. I could actually very clearly hear the music as well as the DVD I was watching without having to turn up the volume all the way.

If you're looking for a set of these types of headphones, Steven Jones recommends Sennheiser noise cancelling headphones. For earphones, check out Shure's line of sound isolating headphones pictured above.

Some other related threads:

Meri's experience with noise cancelling headphones at the Dentist

Matt Whitlock's Quick Tip on Upgrading Headphones

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