Noise cancelling devices for sleep?

T

Tia

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Unfortunately, I'm being woken up a lot in the night by a house mate getting up to go to toilet/ go downstairs and it's really impacting my symptoms badly.

I wonder if anyone has found any ear plugs or noise cancelling headphones/head bands that are comfortable for wearing at night? I'm a side sleeper and foam or silicone ear plugs have proven to be too uncomfortable. Just wondering if anything new has been developed since I last researched five years or so ago!

Thanks in advance for any insights.
 
The only ear plugs I am able to use is 3M 1100. They look similar but act differently than any other foam plugs I have tried, much less “pressure”. Sadly, 3M recently discontinued production of all air plugs, but it is still available. Hopefully, someone will buy the rights and take over the production.

It might also be worth researching white noice sleep devices.
 
An alternate suggestion that we have been using to help with noise from other flats is a white noise generator. Lots of options out there, and perhaps might not be suitable for your situation, but we have found that it definitely helps to make noise from elsewhere less disturbing to us.
 
I've been experimenting a lot with this lately, and have had to sleep with plugs for a few weeks.

For the day I can't find anything better than noise-cancelling ear plugs, the sort like AirPods. There are many cheaper options. Works wonderfully for the outside, much better than ear defenders.

I tried the SoundCore Life P3 and the EarFun Air Pro 3. both about $80 CAD. They're mostly equivalent, although the EarFun have this annoying voice instead of a chime that says "Connected" or "Pairing" when they're activated.

But for sleep I've only been able to tolerate soft silicon plugs. They work very well and are by far the most comfortable option to me.

They're pretty cheap but last for 1-2 weeks. Maybe there are better ways to take care of them but after a while them seem to lose their plasticity and pop out of the ears easier.

Basically they block the ear canal, instead of stuffing it. So you mold them on top like a capstone. So they are way more comfortable.

I found that they're usually a bit too bulky and cut out a bit of them. It makes them more comfortable when sleeping on the side, which I do a lot. I cut about a quarter of the plugs, and they're easy enough to mold that you can use the extra to make an addition one so the cut out pieces aren't lost.
 
InitialConditions said:
Check out Bose Sleepbuds—headphones made for sleep.
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they dont make them anymore.

rvallee said:
For the day I can't find anything better than noise-cancelling ear plugs, the sort like AirPods. There are many cheaper options. Works wonderfully for the outside, much better than ear defenders.
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which ones do you use? I dont know what 'airpods' are. I have Bose noise cancelling headphones which are brilliant but they are too heavy to wear for any length of time
 
JemPD said:
which ones do you use? I dont know what 'airpods' are. I have Bose noise cancelling headphones which are brilliant but they are too heavy to wear for any length of time
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I switch back-and-forth between Bose QuietComfort and either of the SoundCore P3 or EarFun 3, they're pretty equivalent.

I can't handle having plugs in the ears all the time, so I keep the Bose around for that, especially lately with having to sleep with ear plugs.

AirPods (just mentioned them because they're the most well-known of this type, but like all Apple products they're overpriced):
MQD83
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JemPD said:
thats interesting @rvallee thanks

are the ones you mentioned as good at noise cancelling as the bose? they seem really cheap in comparison
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I find that the ear plug types are better at noise cancelling, but at the cost of being a bit uncomfortable to wear over a long time. They're also easier to carry around as they easily fit in pockets, so much smaller, whereas the headphones have a much bigger case.

The main issue I have with the Bose is that wearing glasses makes the noise isolation a lot less effective than it would normally be, leaves a gap. And it eventually hurts a bit, so having both options is really great. It's a game of choose your pain.

But the $80 CAD ear plug types are really good, game changer for me. It seems too cheap but that's technological progress, can't be stopped.
 
Thanks everyone. I had another go with my silicone ear plugs last night but used a 'new' piece so it was soft and pulled off smaller bits as suggested. It worked quite well and was comfortable. Only problem is that I'm so strung out from lack of sleep these days I can only actually get to sleep by listening to podcasts, which isn't really compatible with ear plugs! I'll have to get used to it.

I think I'm going to order some loop ones too to give those a go, thanks @Keela Too
 
JemPD said:
well @rvallee you made my day with that information!

which of the 2 you use would you say are the best for ANC?
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I bought the EarFun after the SoundCore because they had such raving reviews, featuring a newer chip technology, but frankly I can't tell much of a difference in most of my tests.

I'd say whichever is cheaper will probably be good enough. The technology behind products like this tend to be pretty standardized where it counts.
 
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