Thanks to Richard for the suggestion of the Etymotics.  Does anyone else have any recommendations for travel headphones with a "noice-cancelling" facility?   I have a rather extreme "road-test" for them, as I sometimes fly on very noisy planes...  Yesterday I was on a Tupolev-154 (a plane which no longer meets the noise regulations for EU airports, and is thus relegated to routes like Ulaanbaatar-Moscow).  I'd lost my noise-cancelling headphones a month earlier, and was using a pair of Sony in-ear headphones I'd bought for $11 in Ulaanbaatar airport (the only ones on sale there).  Of course, I couldn't hear a thing with them, 5.5 hours went up the spout, so my new resolve is to treat myself to a decent pair.  Am I just imagining that a "closed-back" pair would be better (although more clobber to cart around)?  (It seems like I might be going on more Tupolev flights for a while yet).

I have a quick trip to London in two weeks (on a rather less noisy Airbus), so I was hoping to grab a new pair whilst there...

Reiner, I have SHURE E2c Sound Isolating Earphones for use on the train. I find the sound very good and it certainly cuts out the cries of "I'm on the train!" from mobile phone users. They took a while to get used to, but I find them comfortable. I can't walk around with them in, however - you get a very weird feeling as your footsteps pound into your eardrum(!) but for train journeys or late night listening when you don't want to upset the neighbours, they're ideal.

Muchos gracias for all the above input

I think Stuart's point about the dangers of listening at high volume on board planes is very appposite - it's worrying when you hear "on the ground" the level you were using "in the air".

Impulse Purchase


I notice that I posted nearly 6 months ago about getting some new headphones and I finally got round to buying some HD595s from Richer Sounds earlier this afternoon. They cost £99-95 but they're the same price from Amazon now, should have got them last July

I use Sennheiser MX550. I find them useful when out walking etc as the volume control means I don't have to advertise to everyone that I have an ipod. With black 'things' in my ear I think people will also expect an old lady to be listening to a cassette recorder walkman - so I feel a little safer.

I like the headphones too, although obviously they don't completely exclude external sound... but enough for me I find.

A

Sitting here at the computer hearing the stereo drifting in from the living room I'm starting to think some cordless headphones might be useful for using around the house at those times of day when I'm flitting from room to room. Anyone have any pointers? I can imagine an open model making sense - I'm not looking for isolation from the outside world, just for a more practical approximation of having speakers in each room.