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Originally Posted by philsmove Off on my hols soon 
And think of buying some new headphones for the ipod
Has anyone used these? Do they work?
Is the battery pack a big nuisance  |
I bought Philips "full ear" noise cancelling-head phones. They look like I am wearing a pair of aluminium coconuts over my ears - not trendy at all. I use them on the underground and they cancel a lot of the low frequency rumble - so I don't have to have the volume on my mp3 brick (aka iRiver) turned up so high. They do not cancel ALL external noise. They become tiring to wear, just under the earlobe, after 1 hour of wear. The battery is in the "coconut" so no heavy battery. Poor design of the lead lead to a split in the sheathing where the wires from the "cans" meet in a "Y" junction . I repaired with super glue but don't think it will be a permanent fix. Overall I am pleased I bought them for use on tube journeys - although I look a twit wearing them. Cost c. £50 .
I feel the "closed ear" design helps in blocking some noise. The open ear sony and panasonic must be more comfortable to wear than my Philips phones but I can't think how they can be effective against ambient noise.
A friend of mine bought the Bose. He thinks they are great - I haven't tried them to compare against the performance of my Philips cans. The Bose are expensive c. £200 ?? Much cheaper in the US - but you need a US mailing address to get the price benefit.
Another alternative is the "in ear" Shure (and now other makers) type. I think these work by forming a really close fit to your ear canal - a sort of ear plug effect. Some people think they are brilliant (online reviews). Others worry abut a sound source so close to one's ear drum.
I saw loads of other models - AudioTecnic and others I can't remember - so you won't be spoiled for choice.
Hope you get something satisfactory.
Clive