I've had Bose QC2s for about 4-5 years now and it might be the $300 I've ever spent. I worked for several years in an office with an open floorplan and without my headphones, any time someone in the office had a conversation it would distract me. With them, I could completely zone out and get stuff done. The active noise canceling was only part of it, just the fact that they completely wrap around your ears makes a difference. There are obviously cheaper ones that do that, but I don't think they are as comfortable as the QC2.