Noise cancelling headphones! Oh Joy! (and other ways to block sound)

@Yann04 just to say sound is by far my biggest problem also. And the lack of control over it is so distressing too, when people can, in effect, assault you just by going about their lives in a normal way.

I am in charge of how much light &I get, but everyone else controls sound & smell.

it’s awful

but those plugs plus Howard Leight maximum ear defenders or Bose noise cancellers depending on the type of sound & whether I can tolerate the pain of the clamping of the ear defenders , I have found reasonably helpful.

FWIW… someone mentioned the Sony mx5. I got them I don’t find them nearly as good as Bose.

I should say though that I think my ear canals are about med sized so those plugs go quite far in
 
Yann04 said:
but i can’t sleep with earmuffs on because I can’t sleep on my back for some reason.
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did you try…
  • getting a cheap foam pillow,
  • lying on it on yr side with the muff on,
  • drawing round the outline of the muff- so you know its position

  • then gouging out a hole in the pillow for the muff to fit in

I did that it worked ok but a bit fiddly and messy I just made a little slit then pinched it out in lumps with my fingers.

I also have tried it with a large square feather pillow making a ‘well’ in the feathers for the muff to sit in.

actually as Im writing Im wondering if a haemorrhoid cushion might work.

I have one I will check it out.


 
I think part of the issue is frequency of the sound. I find low frequencies like engine or lawn mowers are almost eradicated by Bose nc700 or QC ultra noise cancellers, (I have tried other cheaper ones but found them nigh on useless).
but they almost useless on voices. Plugs are better for that/high frequency sound.

But I find no ear plugs work for low frequencies esp the ones that come by vibration/comduction -which are hellish.

I think what is helpful does depend though on whether a person’s problem is sensitivity to certain types of sound, or whether it’s just sound itself as it is for us. Some people use white noise machines for example. Which just makes no sense to me whatsoever.

sorry to rabbit on but no one outside here understands.
 
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JemPD said:
did you try…
  • getting a cheap foam pillow,
  • lying on it on yr side with the muff on,
  • drawing round the outline of the muff- so you know its position

  • then gouging out a hole in the pillow for the muff to fit in
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I actually have one of those neck pillows which works pretty well. But I can’t sleep long on the same side or my side gets super sore since I’m bedridden all day so I have to kind of move around and thats impossible with that pillow.
 
JemPD said:
I think part of the issue is frequency of the sound. I find low frequencies like engine or lawn mowers are almost eradicated by Bose nc700 or QC ultra noise cancellers, (I have tried other cheaper ones but found them nigh on useless).
but they almost useless on voices. Plugs are better for that/high frequency sound.

But I find no ear plugs work for low frequencies esp the ones that come by vibration/comduction -which are hellish.

I think what is helpful does depend though on whether a person’s problem is sensitivity to certain types of sound, or whether it’s just sound itself as it is for us. Some people use white noise machines for example. Which just makes no sense to me whatsoever.

sorry to rabbit on but no one outside here understands.
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Yeah. All sounds are terrible. To me a hum is less bad than acute blips, so if i could I wouldn’t mind having whitenoise just for caregiver visits to drown out their sound.
 
Utsikt said:
Saw this recommendation in another group: industrial earmuffs!
33-34 dB reduction, and very cheap compared to headsets.

https://www.3m.co.uk/3M/en_GB/p/d/b00037383/
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yes I have some of those 2 they're the ones i've got hanging on the wall downstairs for if someone starts drilling unexpeectedly or the neighbours start yelling at each other - Mine are in a rather splendid lime green colour :D

That said the ear plugs i linked to upthread are 33dB reduction, so no better, & I hate these industrial ear defnders. With the wholey passive noise reduction they have to be really tight to stop air getting in so the pain of wearing them if i have a headache already, its only slightly better than the noise they're blocking.

My howard leights are even worse for the 'head in vice' experience, although they have changed shape more recently so might be more comfortable.
 
JemPD said:
That said the ear plugs i linked to upthread are 33dB reduction, so no better, & I hate these industrial ear defnders. With the wholey passive noise reduction they have to be really tight to stop air getting in so the pain of wearing them if i have a headache already, its only slightly better than the noise they're blocking.
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I had not considered the pressure! Might still be worth trying them due to the low cost - maybe they are of use in a niche scenario..
 
Same, I had that exact pair then upgraded to the newer X series and they’re great, I now have X3A from a few years ago and X5A just bought


I also tried some Bose noise cancelling headphones last week. Which cancelled the noise brilliantly… but immediately induced a weird feeling that turned into intense nausea and vertigo like feelings which persist after. It’s like having labyrinthitis. Which is unpleasant but an interesting side effect, I wonder if others have experienced this?
 
hotblack said:
Which is unpleasant but an interesting side effect, I wonder if others have experienced this?
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Yes they do. I have definitely read that some people cant use because of it. I think it's due to the pressure or something?
Pretty sure there are comments on this thread saying so, I think I remember Ravn having that issue, you might try searching the thread for their posts? I dont want to tag them in case I misremembering.

Edited to add: now I think of it, some yrs ago i bought their wired in-ear ones (very old model) & they did make me feel dizzy & nauseated so i had to send them back. But I've had several other pairs from various brands & none of them had that effect. Were the ones you tried in ear or over ear?
 
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hotblack said:
I also tried some Bose noise cancelling headphones last week. Which cancelled the noise brilliantly
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I am interested in Boise noise cancelling headphones, but I don’t understand how they work. Do they have batteries? Or do I have to charge them? Do I simply turn them on and then they cancel all noise for as long as they are on, even if I am not listening to music (which I cannot)?

I find your experience about vertigo very interesting. Somehow that’s what I fear, I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the idea of having a ”device” turned on, on my head, when I am so sensitive. Sadly I am unable to go to a store and try a pair, and they are expensive.
 
CorAnd said:
Do they have batteries? Or do I have to charge them?
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USB charger but the battery life is long (my NC700 pair last 17hrs I think)
CorAnd said:
Do I simply turn them on and then they cancel all noise for as long as they are on, even if I am not listening to music (which I cannot)?
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Yes they work even when not listening to music, but the term 'noise cancelling' is a bit misleading because it gives the impression that they get rid of all sound, but they dont. They were developed originally for cockpit headphones for pilots & at cancelling *continuous* lower frequency sounds like lawn mowers, they border on miraculous. But for higher fre & more intermittent sound - like voices for example - they are less successful.

This is in part because they have to pick up the sound & send the alternate 'cancelling' sound, & often there simply isnt time.

That said, all the NC headphones have come on in leaps & bounds in recent years & are better at mid range & higher frequency sound amelioration.

PErsonally I have found the Bose to be the best, most effective & comfortable but its a very personal thing.

They do do different ones though. The in-ear ones are never as good at blocking out simply because they dont have the same level of passive cancellation. I use the over-ear ones with ear plugs as well.

They do make different ones, and it's been my experience that you get what you pay for. I have some QC ULTRA in-ear buds (i bolded the ultra word because there are QC & QC ultra ones & the ultra cancel way more sound in my experience), which i use if i need to cancel neighbours hot tub humming sound through the summer with the window open, as they more comfy to sleep in (i find ear plugs useless for that sound as it's too low).

And NC700s over-ear kind.

They unexpected joy of them now i finally got a smart phone is that I can block out most background sound & still make a phone call (they connect to phone via bluetooth so can use their mic & hear the call through the headphones)

In terms of sensitivity I have not experienced any issues with having a 'device' near my head - I cant tell. Having said that, now I think of it, some yrs ago i bought their wired in-ear ones (very old model) & they did make me feel nauseated so i had to send them back.

CorAnd said:
Sadly I am unable to go to a store and try a pair, and they are expensive.
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If you buy direct from Bose there is a 90day money back satisfaction guarantee - which I have tested, twice (1st as mentioned above & 2nd time when i bought their original quiet comfort ones but found them to be no better than than my NC700s).

So you can buy them use them for several wks & as long as you send them back within the 90days, you will get a full refund regardless of the reason - ie they dont need to have a fault you can just say you didnt like them.
 
CorAnd said:
Wow thank you so much for taking the time to write this for me! I really appreciate it. I finally understand how these things work and what are the pros and cons. Really kind of you, JemPD ❤️
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My pleasure, nice to feel i am doing something useful :hug:
If you want to know more about how they actually work there is a link to a good explanation here
Simbindi said:
https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/audio-music/noise-canceling-headphone3.htm
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And a final thing to be aware of is that when noise cancelling headphones get reviewed, they usually do so based on the overall headphones (sound quality for listening etc) not usually just on the NC alone as most users dont need silence in the way we do, they want background sound to interfere less.

I find a youtube reviewer called 'Aaron Loud & wireless' to be very helpful.

this video review of his at the 4.50 minute mark, it actually shows you what it sounds like without the headphones on, with the noise cancelling on & what the NC is like with the sony noise cancellers as well. Its a real life example of what it cuts out but you need to listen through headphones to get a proper sense of it.
But I realise you might be too ill to tolerate videos. Put it on mute at the beginning because it opens quite loud cafe sound.

(the vid also compares other aspects but lol i dont care about them!)
 
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