Need cheap noise cancellation headphones

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Capn Stabby

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Hello CAGs,
I'm living in an apartment which appears to be a central meeting place for a crapload of people. I'm the type of guy who needs quiet to study..even classical music is distracting.

I've decided to invest in some noise cancellation headphones/ear budsto serve a few purposes:

1) Even without music turned on, I would like these headphones/ear budsto block out all the outside noise

2) I wouldn't mind some nice sound for occasional nighttime gaming while everyone else is asleep.

Speaking of my budget, I'm not too sure on the price, but preferably under $20 but I can stretch upwards as needed.
Again, my main thing is cancelling out noise with the ability to be able to get some quality sound for gaming purposes.

Oh, and the cheap disposable earplugs don't really work too well for me.

Thanks!
 
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The best site for headphone information is head-fi.org, but they tend to lean more towards "audiophile" purposes. I warn you--that site is addictive.

I also warn you that you're not going to find anything that blocks out "all" noise and gives you complete silence. I assume that you're referring to headphones that have active noise cancelling (like the Bose ones) and not the passive noise cancelling ones (like the disposable earplugs). The active noise cancelling headphones are best for lowering the sound of lower frequencies...like that of a train or plane. It's still really easy to hear the sound of people talking with those on. I write out of sympathy...I also need near quiet to study.

My cheapest recommendation are the Shure e2 earcanalphones. They're going to give you the best noise blocking for your buck, and they're passive noise cancelling (like earplugs). They're also amazing headphones. They're not cheap, unfortunately. There are other canalphones that are more expensive. I've found that this type of headphone is the best for having my quiet time. But they work the best when they have music piping through them.

I don't know if my post actually helped you make a decision, but just sharing my experience with headphones.
 
Koss has some passive ones that work great even while mowing the lawn. Half volume on an ipod, you can hear perfectly. Not sure which ones, they're on amazon. they look like earplugs and that's what they are, earbuds with earplugs. they run about 15 bucks i think.

i have some phillips noise canceling, not the best headphone as far as sound or comfort but they cancel noise and they were on sale.

The Plug are the what the Koss ones are called. and i did not see the phillips pair on amazon, it is an older model, hence the fact they were cheaper.
 
There was another thread about this, but I'm too lazy to link. I can vouch for PlaneQuiet NC-6s. They are not the cheapest of the cheap, but they compare favorably to the considerably more expensive Bose models.

The one that most CAGs liked, IIRC, was some Sennheiser deal from Amazon.
 
i recently bought sennheiser cx-300s off ebay for $17 shipped.....they work very well....i listen to my iriver on volume 15 now

they should be in your range if you ebay them, just make sure you are buying legit ones and not rebranded ones.
 
I use a pair of philips earbud style from walmart. They are 30$ and have active sound cancelation. They work well. I work in a factory and its very quiet with them on, better than earplugs.
 
Target had some on their clearance end-caps this week, though I don't remember which brand. They looked pretty decent, though. And maybe about $20.
 
The cheap Koss ones are called "The Plug". They're ok quality, but a step up would be the Sony EX51's, $21.99 @ Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-EX51LP-WHI-Fontopia-Headphones/dp/B000095SB6/sr=8-1/qid=1159549964/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-0546236-4125622?ie=UTF8&s=electronics

Active noise cancelling is more expensive and worse on the ears. For total silence w/o music, the best bet is always old-school earplugs. There's no point in having wires attached if you're not jacked in...and they're only about $2.
 
[quote name='invinceable104']Hello CAGs,
I'm living in an apartment which appears to be a central meeting place for a crapload of people. I'm the type of guy who needs quiet to study..even classical music is distracting.

I've decided to invest in some noise cancellation headphones/ear budsto serve a few purposes:

1) Even without music turned on, I would like these headphones/ear budsto block out all the outside noise

2) I wouldn't mind some nice sound for occasional nighttime gaming while everyone else is asleep.

Speaking of my budget, I'm not too sure on the price, but preferably under $20 but I can stretch upwards as needed.
Again, my main thing is cancelling out noise with the ability to be able to get some quality sound for gaming purposes.

Oh, and the cheap disposable earplugs don't really work too well for me.

Thanks![/QUOTE]

You get what you pay for when it comes to noise-cancelling headphones. The reason there are models upwards of $200 is because they work a hell of a lot better than the $30 jobs. I bought a pair of Sennheiser HDC 451s for about $200 a few years back, and they were well worth the money. Hell, just being able to use them on a pair of plane trips to/from Japan had them pay for themselves.

You may want to put your cheapness aside on this one. Scoping Amazon, you can find a good pair like these or these. If you ever plan on trying to talk to someone with them on, I suggest the open-ear kind. If that doesn't matter, obviously enveloping the ear will keep out more noise.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD...s_1/104-9672088-5780724?ie=UTF8&s=electronics

I bought these a few months ago. They're great and they'll most likely block out noise better than any of the battery-operated "noise cancelling" headphones you're looking at. Plus, the sound quality is probably going to be better than any headphones you had previously.

I believe they are a bit cheaper now then when I bought them; either way they're a great pair of headphones for the price.
 
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