Are Noise-Canceling headphones effective?

I work in a pretty noisy environment, lots of noise near me like the TV and people yelling and talking in really loud voices. It makes it really hard to concentrate and since I can't really move my PC to another part of the house I was thinking of getting a decent pair of noise-canceling headphones. I've never owned or used a pair before so I wanted to ask, do they block outside noise completely? As in, I'll hear nothing but silence as long as I'm wearing them?

Enrico Tuvera Jr

Posted 2010-02-28T16:49:24.257

Reputation: 1 051

Consider changing your requirements - I find "White Noise" to be more effective than striving for silence. Not distracting, drowns out other sounds, blends into the background after just a moment, and doesn't require any fancy hardware to work. – Phoshi – 2010-02-28T20:07:03.120

Noise is not good for your ears. – Svish – 2010-02-28T20:57:26.330

Depends how hard it is ;-) – Ivo Flipse – 2010-03-01T06:42:10.150

Answers

Like the other two posters said, the Noise Canceling headphones only work on constant noise. When I got mine, I thought they were defective, because I could still hear the TV. It wasn't until I took them off that I realized that they completely blocked the sound of the clothes dryer that was running. I love them on a plane as they block out 90% of the engine hum. If you want to block out variable sounds like people talking, TV's etc, you need to look at a headphone that goes into the ear, and functions like an earplug, while being a earphone as well. The cheap headphones like SkullCandy ($9 US) with the silicon seals do a better job of blocking voices than my Sony Noise Canceling over the ear headphones($50-$60 US).

BillN

Posted 2010-02-28T16:49:24.257

Reputation: 796

I'm getting a pair of SkullCandys. – Enrico Tuvera Jr – 2010-03-16T14:01:19.293

If you really want it to be effective, you can have custom made earplugs that are molded to your ear. I have never personally tried them, but I hear the noise protection is excellent.

Also, you can wear a pair of ear protectors over some types of in-ear headphones if you really want to block out background noise while listening to whatever you want. But proper ear protectors tend to be somewhat bulky. – TimothyAWiseman – 2011-12-21T22:33:08.257

To block all noise you want earplugs or ear-protectors. Any safety supply store will have them. You can probably pick them up at your local home store or lumberyard too. There are lots of kinds. Personally I prefer the compressible foam ones that re-expand to match the shape of your ears. Some people find them uncomfortable and prefer over the ear hearing protectors instead.

Check out the dB reduction rating. There are differences between brands.

The main advantages of earplugs are they work great and they are cheap. The main disadvantage is you look like a dweeb wearing them in your living room. Embrace your dweebdom and get your work done.

Wayne Johnston

Posted 2010-02-28T16:49:24.257

Reputation: 3 416

I used to wear Sennheiser PXC 250 ( http://reviews.cnet.com/headphones/sennheiser-pxc-250/4505-7877_7-21258924.html) noise canceling headphones for flights (am Elite on Air Canada, with about 60 flights a year). Switch about a year ago to Shure SE 115 noise isolation ear phones ( http://store.shure.com/store/shure/en_US/pd/productID.121026300).

The difference is amazing. With the Sennheisser's I could still hear people talk, and some of what was going on around me. With the Shure's, I am deaf to the world. As an added benefit, the Shure's don't require a battery, are smaller and more confortable.

cracked22

Posted 2010-02-28T16:49:24.257

Reputation: 91

Basically noise cancelling headphones work by analyzing the unwanted sound and then cancelling it in the phones.

Complete silence at your ear also depends on how good the headphones are at blocking ambient sound.

Xavierjazz

Posted 2010-02-28T16:49:24.257

Reputation: 7 993

1that is wrong: Noise cancelling headphones have a microphone and add the phase inverted microphone signal to cancel out incoming sounds. This only works consistently with constant signals like white noise and thus does not block comparatively transient signals like talking effectively. (Your answer is wrong in that the incoming sounds are not "analyzed", only phase inverted) – bastibe – 2010-02-28T23:19:25.987

1My goodness, I shall be SOOO much more careful. Thank goodness you were able to vote my answer down. – Xavierjazz – 2010-03-02T14:29:36.347

@Paperflyer, Xavierjazz's comment is good-enough for 99% of people who aren't into DSP, and just want to Suppress That Noise. – smci – 2011-10-21T18:10:26.420

I tried $400 and $200 Sony noise-canceling headphones at Best Buy. They were hooked up to rock tracks, and you pressed a button to broadcast the sound of a jet engine from an external speaker. They didn't kill the jet sound, only lowered it by maybe half. They were the style that covers the ears with a cushioned rim - which would've blocked out part of the external sound anyway, without the noise-canceling. I also tried 2 other sets with the jet sound playing, different makes, and they were also ineffective. Plus, I didn't like the tone of any of them. They tended to muddy up the sound with too much bass. There were many other models but you weren't allowed to listen to them!

So I don't recommend noise-canceling headphones, or Best Buy. I went to a pro music store (Long & McQuade in Toronto) and got a pair of Shure headphones for $60. Not noise-canceling, but covered the ears comfortably. So they lowered ambient noise, and most importantly sounded good,

PRG

Posted 2010-02-28T16:49:24.257

Reputation: 11

Get some earplugs. Then put the noise canceling earphones over them. It's what I do. complete silence. My Bose broke. So I can't recommend them.

mare

Posted 2010-02-28T16:49:24.257

Reputation: 11