Short version: what active hearing protection/noise cancelling in ear headphones do you use or recommend, and why?
One of the things i struggle with, without really realizing it, is sound. Theres specific sounds that are really upsetting and make me want to claw my spinal cord out of my neck, namely the sound of metal scraping ceramic. But other “normal” noise also puts a huge drain on my system, and i often dont realize this and just end up feeling exhausted and overwhelmed for no reason. Then when i plug my ears for some reason or another theres instant relief.
So im looking for some sort of (preferably in ear) solution to this issue. I dont really know where to start. I would like to have active protection against everything, that also lets voices through, but letting voices through should be togglable. Ive looked at active hearing protection and it seems to be divided into constant low thrumming sounds like machinery or short high amplitude sounds like gunshots.
I look at noise cancelling in-ear headphones and see a whole range of stuff but have no idea how to evaluate it. Given how expensive everything is, i would really rather buy one thing than try many different products.
My home has the following characteristics: constant construction from across the way, a roommate who listens to really loud music on her speakers and wont turn it down, dealing with hearing people having shouting arguments, traffic noises, etc.
Ideally these would also work for being out and about, but if i could just have some respite from these sounds in my home it would be really nice.
So, if you have used any active hearing protection or noise cancelling headphones you really like, could you tell me what they are and why you like them?
airpods pro are pog both in sound and anc, but very expensive (tried from a friend). i think, all very good cancellation earbuds sit around 200 :(
heard good things about anker a40 when i was thinking of getting something for winter (dunno if they have voice mode though). you can checkout rtings (, they have somewhat reasonable review process, you want 20-30 db below 200hz/above 12k sounds like (they have graphs of anc of earbuds, and you can try filtering out by noise cancelling score, and then checking out attractive options for graphs)
(also concert ear plugs, if you just want quiet tbh)
I have anker a40s but don’t have anything else to compare them against. They definitely achieve a noticeable reduction of engine noise that I’m exposed to at work and have good sound quality. I don’t use any other features or even the buttons so can’t comment on that side.
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Just a heads up that ANC cannot be worn eternally.
I wear over-the-ear ANC headphones during nearly all my waking hours (and sometimes my sleeping ones, if I forget to take them off), but admittedly I’m a bit of an odd bird.
What over ears do you use? (Also i have big ears… Would they work for big ears?) having something that is usable all day would be wonderful
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Nothing Ear. Really good noise cancelling for $100
Another vote for these, love mine. Also the voice call quality is excellent, or so I’m told.
My gf has the CMF buds by Nothing Ear and loves them too
If you’re able to go to an electronics shop, you could try out a variety of different ones in person and see what works best + what feels most comfortable on your head + what sounds the best to play music through.
If you end up going with Sony’s line, XM4 sounds significantly better than XM5, and can be EQ’d to sound even better. I never tried earbuds.
