Noise cancelling headphones

[OFSO]

We use Thompson noise-cancelling phones either with own sound (HTC or MP-3) or without, still mutes most of the dross.

But post #11 says it all. We switched to the TGV years ago on the Spain-London route. Slightly longer journey, slightly more expensive, infinitely more comfortable.

[jabird]

Is Ryanair really that bad?

I must have counted 5 long-ish announcements on a relatively short TRS-BHX sector last week, I suspect 4 of them were flogging stuff.

1. I personally don't find it safe to have something that disables me from hearing Cabin Crew announcement as you never know when a emergency could happen.

Err, in the (very) unlikely event that something goes wrong mid-flight, surely you are going to hear a bang or a jerking sensation that more than over-rides the diversion even the best headphones could provide?

2. I find it removes the best part of the flight, that being the sound of the engine throttle up for take-off, then throttle down for flight and finally throttle up again when put in reverse mode (love the sound of GE90 reversing ).

Totally agree, but you can't wear them during these periods anyway.

I used to have Bose QC3, but got caught out about to board a long flight ex LGW and realised I'd either left batter behind or it was dead with no charger.

Back then I had money to burn, so I got a pair of Senheisers (PXC250).

They are certainly not as good, but (a) they fold and (b) they use "normal" batteries + can still be used when they die. In the end, the Bose just got too worn down, although I admit they are missed.

Of course, as already pointed out, no headphone is going to kill all the background noise, so if that is your expectation, given the claims in the ads, even the Bose will disappoint.

For me, the question is - can I listen to my music to the point where I'm enjoying the music, not the screaming kid behind or the announcements. This means enough music coming through so that anything else is a mumble, not a sound my ears lock onto.

So in this respect, the Senheisers still pass the test, even if I have to crank them up a bit. That might not be good for my long term hearing, but I don't make enough flights or regular train journeys for that to be a big worry.

[LondonPax]

Sometimes noise cancelling headphones actually filter out the background noise (engine rumble) but not the noise (yakking fellow pax, rug rats etc) that you want to avoid, thus making the unwanted noise even more obnoxious. I always carry some basic foam earplugs, as you can use them while you're trying to get some sleep. They're not perfect, but they can make the ubearable just about bearable. You can also use earplugs during takeoff and landing, when you can't wear headphones, though personally I don't as I prefer to be able to hear any announcements.

[SLFAussie]

After regularly travelling between Australia and the UK, I use Sennheiser CX 300-II ear-canal phones (about £45) to great effect, they work like ear plugs, but let your choice of noise through. No batteries required, and very compact. On long haul flights I use it with an Aircraft Headphone Adaptor (£3.50 at Maplin) to listen to IFE, or a cheap AAA-battery powered MP3 player that I bought specifically for flights (AU$30). On Ryanair flights I used it with my phone.

I chose them because compared to active noise cancelling headphones they're much cheaper, more compact and don't require batteries. The criticism that they might be unsafe can equally applied to earplugs, which are also going to filter out all sound.

But if all you want is quiet, you're probably better off going to Boots and getting foam earplugs - that's what I use for sleeping on long-haul flights