Traveling with Active Noise Canceling Headphones and Earbuds?

[b1gsky]

I don't have noise cancelling anything. I've never felt it was necessary and to me it's just too much money and another item I need to lug around. I have small Beyerdynamics earbuds. The sound quality is pretty good, good enough to listen to music on the go in any case. And at the same time they don't take up much space and didn't cost me an arm and a leg. I usually take earplugs with me so that I have the option if I want to sleep and it's too noisy, but I rarely use them.

[KathyH]

I just took a 6-hour flight where I sat in the back of the plane. On the way out, I wore Beats earbuds without noise cancellation. I couldn’t hear my movie a lot of the time, even with the sound turned up so I stopped listening. I also just upgraded the iOS on my Apple Watch and now have a sound measurement app that showed the dB in the mid- to high-80s for the whole trip — and into the 90s at take-off and landing.

End result — By the end of this flight, my ears hurt and I felt the effects the rest of the night. Might be an age thing where I’m more sensitive.

My solution was to purchase Bose QC35 II headphones (over the ear with great noise cancellation). These headphones have 3 levels of noise cancellation - high, low, and no. For the return flight, I went with high. Wow! The engine noise was cut waaaaaaay back. I was able to hear my movie but at a much lower volume.

And oh yeah....the sound is incredible.

I wince at the idea of schleping headphones for my commute, instead of earbuds, but will probably do it because of sound quality and noise cancellation options. And I’ll definitely take headphones when I fly from now on.


P.S. One of the flight attendants wore a fancy set of earplugs during the flight.

[b1gsky]

I have to add that I'm not a super frequent flyer and don't take long flights very often. That said, I was fine flying from Europe to New Zealand/Australia and back without noise cancelling headphones.

[b1gsky]

Edit: Double post, sorry. I'm sitting in a train right now and the connection is patchy.

[carrot]

I just took a 6-hour flight where I sat in the back of the plane. On the way out, I wore Beats earbuds without noise cancellation. I couldn’t hear my movie a lot of the time, even with the sound turned up so I stopped listening. I also just upgraded the iOS on my Apple Watch and now have a sound measurement app that showed the dB in the mid- to high-80s for the whole trip — and into the 90s at take-off and landing.

I had this experience too on my last flight. The plane noise was *much* more loud than other flights I've taken and I found the QC35s to be a life-saver since it was a redeye flight both ways. Because of this I'm re-evaluating my stance on not traveling with bulky and expensive ANC headphones.

[imperator]

Most airlines put their newest planes on long-haul flights, and they tend to be quieter. The regional/older jets are where you'll be fighting the volume more. It also depends on where you sit on the plane, you're always going to have more trouble near or behind the engines.

You can get a good pair of used QC20 earbuds for the price difference between a main cabin and basic economy fare; they'll make your inevitable seat at the back of the plane more comfortable!

[LordAnubis]

I fly a lot and with turbo prop plane so noise is excessive. The noise isolating ones are the best. They work much better than active noise cancelling. As already suggested I use Etymotic. I have two pairs. The cheaper pair and the top of the line expensive pair. Both work flawlessly for noise isolation in combination with complyfoam tips. They used to do an agreement for custom moulded tips as well and they are super comfortable ofcourse.

Active noise cancelling is good for the constant buzz of an engine noise but you’ll hear every baby cry and person talking. With the passive noise isolation you just don’t hear anything.


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[Generic Industries]

My go-to recommendation is Etymotic, an Illinois-based company that makes in-ear canalphones known for their accuracy.

Great points! I have a pair of Sennheiser 280s that I like quite a lot but they are quite big in the bag. I've never heard of Etymotic, I'll check them out.

[BihnFan2019]

For ease the buds work good. I have the Jabra Elites and they work for pocket carry and convenience.

However, for traveling my goto used to be the QC35 ii but now I use the Sony 1000X m3. Both are amazing but I tend to like the functions and sound on the Sony better. I also only use it paired with my iPhone, so the Sony single pairing is fine. If I used my iPad or PC with the headphones more, the Bose is more convenient.

The only thing that is a pain is the size of the cases. But for ANC and sound quality, you can beat either.


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[carrot]

I saw a great deal for refurbished QC30 earbuds so I thought I’d give them a shot. I’ll be sure to let you guys know!

[Tony G]

I have a pair of Bose QC15s that I don't use for anything except flying. I still remember the first time I used them - I couldn't believe how much fresher I felt at the other end.

Now, I won't board a plane with a flight longer than around 90mins without them. I'll find the space in my bag (they do sit perfectly in the front of my Tristar).

[KathyH]

Once I decided to get premium headphones/earbuds, I've been on a tear trying different brands. The biggest takeaway is to buy a few options and try them in action. The specs only go so far and many factors can influence your wearing enjoyment. Here's my results of my one-person testing.


BOSE QC35 ii headphones
Love these headphones. I'm not an audiophile but to me the sound is excellent. The most comfortable I've found. I wore these for 6 hours on the plane and didn't suffer from headphone fatigue. Great noise cancelling!

The Bose QC35 ii use buttons for volume, pausing, jumping to noise cancelling. Having tried touchpad changing with Bose 700, I really prefer the buttons because I fumble less with settings than with the 700. These fold up so you can have a lower case profile.

The only real con to me is the QC35 ii uses Bluetooth 4.0.


BOSE 700 headphones
For headphones, these are the ones I elected to keep. The sound and noise cancelling is the same to my ears as the Bose QC35 ii, with the one caveat that you can set your 3 favorite noise cancellation options over 11 gradations. The comfort is a little lower than the QC35 but still good.

The biggest selling point for me though is the Bose 700 is on Bluetooth 5.0. I want headphones I can hang onto for while so B5.0 is a better option.

The con is these headphones don't fold up so they have a bigger case. The 700 also uses a touchpad for volume control and such but I really prefer the QC35's buttons.

The 700 is about US$50 more expensive so unless B5.0 is important to you, go with the QC35 ii if you want a Bose option.


SONY WH-1000XM3
These had incredible sound and beats the Bose! Pro reviewers wrote these headphones have superior noise cancellation over Bose but I disgree. Both the Bose QC35 and 700 beat out Sony's noise cancelling.

The biggest con, though, is these headphones were uncomfortable. I couldn't imagine wearing them for 2 hours much less a coast-to-coast or international flight.


BOSE QC30 EARBUDS
Bose has the most comfortable earbuds I've found. It's because there's a little fin on the buds that help the buds seal the ear without discomfort.

The sound is good for earbuds (which will never beat headphones). The noise cancellation on my commuter train is great. Using the Bose Connect app, you can select your level of noise cancellation over a sliding scale from none to high. I can't speak about flying as I haven't flown since purchasing the earbuds. However, given my train results, I'm hopeful. My plan for longer flights is to cart headphones but for shorter flights, these will probably work great.

The con for some folks will be these have a neckband style (and the battery is in the neckband). I don't find the neckband uncomfortable but some folks complained in reviews. Another negative is a lot of folks complain about durability issues with the neckband splitting. I wonder if some of them tried to use the QC30s for sports and their sweat is the source of the problem. I purchased a Best Buy warranty so I can avoid problems.

These earbuds have been comfortable for my walking commute and I wear them during Tai Chi. The cord connecting the buds to the neckband don't get in my way at all.

Bose is expected to release a 700 earbud model in 2020 that will be true wireless and have Bose noise cancelling. I'm looking forward to those -- but bought the QC30s for now.


BOSE SOUNDSPORTS FREE (true wireless)
Being true wireless, these are bigger earbuds than the QC30 but they're comfortable to wear (it's the fin) -- as long as you don't wear a winter hat. These buds stick way out of your ears and anything other than a lose hat will be uncomfortable.

Highly rated for sports. These babies will not fly out of your ears if you insert them correctly into your ears (and it's easy to get right). However, they have no noise cancelling so back they went to Best Buy.

Bose is supposed to be coming out with their 500 earbuds in 2020 (postponed from late 2019) that are expected to replace the Soundsports. They'll have a much smaller profile and will likely not have noise cancelling.


SONY WF-1000XM3 TRUE WIRELESS EARBUDS
I really, really wanted to love these guys. They have a good sound for earbuds and, hey, true wireless with a smaller profile than the Bose Soundsports. However, after testing them, I returned them.

The buds are not as comfortable as the QC30s. I could wear the latter for hours but not the former. That's not entirely Sony's fault as true wireless buds have their batteries in the bud so they're always going to be heavier than buds connected with a cord.

However, the noise cancelling of these Sony buds is inferior to the QC30s, which is one of the main deciding factors for me. Also, the Sony buds don't have a volume control on the buds. You have to use your phone. Ugh!

Also, for sports enthusiasts, the Sony WF-1000XM3 are not rated for sweating activities. Keep your activities to walking around town.


POWERBEATS PRO 3
The cord connecting the over-ear buds is annoying. More importantly, the sound is inferior to both the Bose and Sony earbuds. The sound is missing base.


AMAZON ECHO BUDS (true wireless)
These are coming out in early Nov and will use Bose noise suppression algorithms (not full noise cancelling though). They're cheaper than the Bose. Since they haven't been released, I have no comments other than do some googling among pro reviewers and give some thought to them if you want a cheaper set of true wireless buds than Bose or Sony (just remember noise suppression and not cancelling).

[GrussGott]

I fly a lot and with turbo prop plane so noise is excessive. The noise isolating ones are the best.
Active noise cancelling is good for the constant buzz of an engine noise but you’ll hear every baby cry and person talking. With the passive noise isolation you just don’t hear anything.

^this.

I'm a frequent flyer and auditioned everything out there and determined that ANC is worse than good passive headphones which also have the benefit of sounding WAY better than ANC headphones. Everytime the new batch comes out (e.g., sony 1000XM3, Q35II, etc) I try them, and every time they lose to my good ole B&W P7Ws. Bowers has a version just releasing with ANC, but I'm sure they'll lose : )

For me, ANC amplifies the stuff I don't want to hear (babies, talking, glasses tinking, etc), and makes the stuff I do want to hear (music, movies) sound worse so thus far I just haven't found a better alternative to the B&W P7Ws ... that said, they're bulky - which is not a concern for me - so if you're looking for light definitely go with the Etymotics.

Update: Crutchfield has them for $250 - I think I might buy a spare pair!

[tebnewyork]

I use AirPods for everyday. Usually wear one when out and about and stream something in one ear. I'm somewhat afraid of getting jostled on and airplane with one going flying off. So, on flights I use Beats X. These aren't noise cancelling but on an airplane they do a pretty darn good job of blocking out noise even when not playing music.

[operator]

I travel all the time. I've used BOSE and SONY. Just google their top of the line NC headphones. They even have earbuds that NC as well. I've basically tried everything from the QC25 to the QC35s and the relatively new SONY WH-1000XM3.

If you are going to spend those prices, I'd rather you go and them out before buying. Just find like 30 minutes and stroll to your nearest Best Buy. I find that the BOSE earcups are bigger - at least compared to the SONYs. And I like that. The QC35s are a bit behind on the tech, but their new NC700 have updated tech specs but I'm not sure about the look. I think either way, you can't really go wrong with either in terms of NC but fit is very important to me because sometimes I have 5-6 hour flights and for the entire flight, 99% of the time I'm using my NC headphones.