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Re:Ask HN: Best Noise Canceling Headphones by alberth on Monday November 18, 2019 @11:56AM (#21565864)
Everyone seems to talk about noise cancellation as it relates to wearing them on an airplane.

Airplanes are an easy problem to solve for because the engine noise is loud and of a constant tone.

The problem I need to solve for is random noises found in the workplace like people talking, printers printing, and other inconsistent tones that’s happen throughout the day.

Has anyone found a good pair of noise cancelling headphones that work in an office environment?

Re:Ask HN: Best Noise Canceling Headphones by superhuzza on Monday November 18, 2019 @12:14PM (#21566039)
I'm not sure if any products like that exist. The problem is twofold:

1. Noise cancellation works best for consistent noises

2. Noise cancellation doesn't really work for high frequencies (in headphones, at least)

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-2/graph#678/2090

Your best bet is just to get some closed-back headphones with good noise isolation, like the:

* Sennheiser HD280 Pros

* Beyerdynamic DT770 Pros.

Re:Ask HN: Best Noise Canceling Headphones by CallidaVorhis on Monday November 18, 2019 @01:22PM (#21566718)
I second the Beyerdynamic DT770 Pros. I've been using them for the past 3 years in the workplace and they work wonders. If you really want to go overboard with them, and care about excellent sound quality, I suggest getting a DAC and tube eventually.
Re:Ask HN: Best Noise Canceling Headphones by el_benhameen on Monday November 18, 2019 @01:19PM (#21566668)
I have the Sennheiser HD380 Pros for this purpose (originally worked in an open office with hard ceilings and floors, now work in a home office with kids). They work quite well. I haven't compared them to active noise cancelling, but I'm pretty satisfied. If I need total isolation, I put in foam earplugs, then put on the headphones, then play white noise over them.

One thing I would recommend is getting an aftermarket set of earpads, as they're far more comfortable and they do a better job of sound isolation. I just got some pads by Brainwavz because the originals wore out, but I wish I'd done it a while ago because of how much better the isolation is.

Re:Ask HN: Best Noise Canceling Headphones by petra on Monday November 18, 2019 @01:09PM (#21566568)
I use noise cancellation in-ear earphones to reduce the sound of the radio.

it works decently well for the low and some mid frequencies. It helps.

Probably your best bet is headphones or earphones with both noise-cancelling and good noise-isolation.

Re:Ask HN: Best Noise Canceling Headphones by matt_the_bass on Monday November 18, 2019 @02:01PM (#21567072)
Well, I did specifically state that was my target use case.