I’m really needing new headphones to drown out the noise when I’m out on Public transit or just at home during panic attacks.
Very small requirements for anybody that has some they enjoy.
Bluetooth and works with android devices (preferably without a app aka natively). Has good noise cancelling and can block out most sounds but doesn’t have horrible ringing in them (I’m using from the super cheap kinda noise cancelling?) doesn’t have to be good with music but preferred though.
In ear or over idc about that
Has to be under 100.
If anybody has recommendations it would be awesome.
Fyi new to Lemmy so forgive me if I don’t do some proper “etiquette”. Also autism :p
Though they are double the price you mentioned as a limit, I want to recommend the ones I’m using for other people in need of really good NC headphones coming to this thread.
I got myself refurbished Bose Quiet Comfort 45 and in my opinion they are perfect. I use them to blend out noise in public transport, museums, shopping malls, the office and so on. I can wear them for hours without my ears hurting or the battery running out. They really improved my quality of life.
I have the QC 35 and QC 45. I prefer the 35 though they are likely harder to find. The 45s have different software and the headphones remind me to pair intermittently when I am not connected to a device, which is annoying because I usually don’t listen to anything, I just want the noise cancelling. The 45s also allow more of certain sounds in, like wind and other things that, in my opinion, should have been canceled out.
Bose does make really good NC headphones, but as you mentioned, they can be pricy. I got my NC 700s on Facebook marketplace for half the price brand new. Someone was given them from work, but already had Sony noise cancelling headphones and were selling the Bose ones. I see used QC45s on there all the time too.
Have you tried earplugs? They’re cheap and pretty effective, I use them a bunch. Mack’s is my favorite brand
To add on to this, noise reducing earplugs are also a thing - search for “concert earplugs” or something like that.
Using them I was able to watch Godzilla in a movie theater without constantly wincing as well as go to a concert at a bar and actually have a decent time. Highly recommend for general use, I carry them everywhere now.
Good noise canceling + no ringing for under 100 is a really tough category, but I think Anker makes some ok ones with hybrid active noise cancellation (generally less ringing) right at $100: Soundcore Life Q20.
One thing I can’t recommend is a used pair of Sony XM3s, because they caused incredible pressure in my ears when the noise cancellation came on. They worked phenomenally well at blocking noise, but they effing hurt.
Sony’s current cheap models are a lot better than the XM3s. I know that pressure sensation, I’d given up on all noise canceling headphones because I hate it, but tried a pair of (cheap!) Sony WH-CH720N and that sensation is 98% reduced, it only appears a little if there’s a ton of bass noise in the environment. But even then, it’s not nearly as bad as most other (older) NC headphones I’ve tried.
I don’t know if this is an option, I didn’t see you explicitly mention that it wasn’t so I thought I would mention something a little different that I have personally done when I wanted what you are talking about on the cheap.
Have you considered combining over the ear hearing protection ear muffs with a pair of standard (non-ANC) ear buds? A pair of earmuffs with a noise reduction of 30dB (which I believe is better than ANC can achieve can generally be had for $25-$35 leaving you with $70 to spend on a pair of ear buds where the only consideration is audio quality and fit at that price point.
Having sensory issues myself I think it’s worth noting that these types of ear muffs are designed to apply more pressure around your ears than standard head phones. It’s usually not an issue for me, but there are those who do not like it for long periods of time.
So, just to ignore your budget, I have the Sony XM4 headphones (over ear), and… they are okay. In the heat, they get very sweaty, and there are annoying sounds you can’t turn off (on/off beep, and a voice which tells you when it has connected). The noise cancellation is good for constant noises but not sudden ones. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend/buy them again, as they are just fine.
I have tried some in ear ones from Xiaomi (not sure which exactly) which I bought for my partner, and they are, in my limited experience, just fine too, especially for the price (<$50). I don’t know about any long-term idiosyncrasies though, so take that with a pinch of salt. These ones look a bit better: Redmi Buds 5 Pro. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Xiaomi-Redmi-Buds-Black-BHR7660GL/dp/B0CQKHK626/
Have a pair of MX4s too. I haven’t experienced any other kind of NC headphones so nothing to compare to, but the voice is seriously annoying. What I often do is interrupt it by tapping the side to play/pause media twice.
While they work OotB without the app, there is a bunch of functionality and tweaks locked behind the official app, such as EQ, wind-reduction, and voice-passthru.
I told them as much, and they just said tough shit, essentially. The quality of the voice is also piss poor; why have ‘premium’ headphones yet you have such low quality (and pointless) sounds? The beeping is also harsh on my ears.
I turned off the touch features as I kept pressing them unintentionally. I won’t get the XM5s (or 6, whatever comes next), least of all as they stopped them from being folded up, strangely.
I also turned off the talk-to-speak thing as I just don’t need it. If I want to talk, I’ll pause my music or take them off. The ‘smart’ features are really not that clever nor useful. I don’t want my music to pause just because I’m wiping sweating off one of the ears.
The noise cancellation is good for constant noises but not sudden ones.
This is kinda the nature of active noise cancellation, unfortunately. Blocking out sudden noise is just technically very challenging. Works great for airplane noise, not so much for crying babies.
Sony’s XM line is in my opinion just about the best ANC headphones money can buy, in terms of noise cancelling and sound quality combo. I can understand your point about them getting sweaty. Part one of blocking noise is good sound insulation, which tends to hold in heat as well. I live in a colder climate so that works out well for me. You could get in-ear ones, although obviously they don’t block out noise as well.
Edit: See sushibowl’s explanation below why this is incorrect
What do you mean that blocking sudden noise in technically very challenging? I might be wrong, but from what I have gathered is that ANC is based on playing a “negative” of a pressure wave picked by the microphones in phase with the original wave. Thus it has to react to all sounds in the time that the pressure wave travels from the microphone to the ear, so it shouldn’t matter whether the noise is constant (airplane) or sudden (gunshot).
Of course if the headphones have some kind of pass-through active, then it might take a while until software decides to activate ANC, but that is not a limitation of ANC itself
ANC is based on playing a “negative” of a pressure wave picked by the microphones in phase with the original wave.
That’s the theory, but it’s almost impossible to do in practice. Your microphone and speaker are imperfect at capturing and reproducing sounds. The phase timing is incredibly sensitive. You only have milliseconds to do the processing and generation.
That’s why practical noise cancelling relies on feedback loops. A second microphone inside captures the result of the cancellation, and based on that adjustments can be made to the negative signal. This allows you to correct for lots of sources of error and achieve quite a good result. Of course, for a sudden noise like a gunshot, by the time the feedback loop can really kick in, the noise is already over.
Have you tried the Bose ones mentioned in this thread, or Apple’s crazy expensive ones?
Yeah, if I lived somewhere where it went under 20 degrees celsius I can see the appeal. It has been 40+ lately which has made using them pretty horrid, so I’ve stuck to earplugs when cycling instead.
Bose also makes really nice ones. It’s been a while since I tried a Bose but the QuietComfort 35 II were really solid headphones. Little bit less bassy than the Sony (which is a question of taste), very comfortable, and the noise cancelling is quite good.
I haven’t tried the apple ones. Knowing apple products, it’s probably really good but way overpriced.
Check out wicked cushions to replace your ear cups. Super easy and only like 30 bucks instead of double that sony will charge.
Ive found them to be better for long listens (not perfect but more comfortable for longer ive found… and its fun to customize.)
Green bit is 3d printed replacement hinge. Ive slept with these on many nights in my hammock
I have these and AirPod pros. The Pros are much better. The only reason I use the XM4s is to plug in with AUX.
