[ale] [OT] Noise cancelling headphones?

[mhw at WittsEnd.com (Michael H. Warfield)]

Hey all!

On Tue, 2014-10-14 at 10:09 -0400, leam hall wrote:
> This article is spot on:

> http://www.inc.com/karl-and-bill/the-modern-workplace-introverts-need-not-apply.html

> Any recommendations on really good Noise Cancelling headphones? I have
> some JVC but the were DOA and I never sent them back.

Interesting timing.

Years ago, I looked into the Bose active noise canceling headsets (over
the ear models) and compared them to the Sennheiser (on the ear) units.
Reviews ranked the Sennheisers nicely and comparably at about half the
price ($300 for the Bose and $150 for the Sennheiser 250).

I bought a set of the Sennheiser 250 and loved them.  Flip of a switch
and you go from active noise canceling to simple headset.  Difference in
audio noise level is astounding, especially on aircraft!  My wife, June,
fell in love with my pair so I bought her a Sennheiser 300 a year or so
later (we do some pretty extensive traveling with at least one
International trip a year).

We have both worn our units out.  We've had them for years and they've
been with us to and from several continents.  Mine, the foam pads and
head band cushions in my 250 are totally shot and she lost a channel in
her 300 (broken wire).  I had replaced my foam pads with generic pads
once already and had replaced a broken battery cover (Sennheiser support
is great - sent me a battery cover for free when I called).

She loves the "on the ear" style.  I actually prefer the "over the ear"
style even though they are not "technically" acoustically "correct" for
me.  Both of us can and do use the "in the ear" style earbuds from time
to time with no problem.  It's all about personal preference.

As a result, I just (a couple of weeks ago) purchased new units for
myself and June.  The old original Sennheiser 250 and 300 units are no
longer made but they have a PCX-250 II model that's still a comparable
"on the ear" unit.  That I got for June.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00375MWE2

ITMT, I had read a review of this Plantronics Backbeat Pro bluetooth
headset, which is "over the ear".  That's a $250 active noise canceling
headset with bluetooth and wired capability and various noise canceling
and passthrough modes.  Has a micro USB rechargable battery with a
respectable lifetime.  Wired mode does not require powering up the whole
unit and passive audio isolation is also impressive even without the
active noise cancellation.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MBWIL0G