Need ANC Recommendations

[zeusthemoose]

Hi everyone,

 

I am looking for a pair of comfortable ANC headphones. Sound quality is of very little importance as all it will be used for is some video watching and the occasional online call. So as long as it sounds good enough, has a decent mic (not too important), and is comfortable, it’s good enough for me. I mainly need it for the noise canceling, so that must work very well. I have tried looking for a pair online, but all that comes up are the wh1000xms and a few bose pairs. All of which cost around $300+. 

So, I would like to know if anyone knows of anything that suits my needs. I do have the sony wh-ch700n and the noise canceling does not work at all, so i am willing to pay for something better than those. I am fine with spending in the $100-200 range but the cheaper the better. However, if you believe the wh1000xm3, xm4, or an equivalently priced pair is worth the extra $100 or so, i would be willing to wait until black friday or a good sale (hopefully prime day) to pick one of those up.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Entropy.]

32 minutes ago, zeusthemoose said:

Hi everyone,

 

I am looking for a pair of comfortable ANC headphones. Sound quality is of very little importance as all it will be used for is some video watching and the occasional online call. So as long as it sounds good enough, has a decent mic (not too important), and is comfortable, it’s good enough for me. I mainly need it for the noise canceling, so that must work very well. I have tried looking for a pair online, but all that comes up are the wh1000xms and a few bose pairs. All of which cost around $300+. 

So, I would like to know if anyone knows of anything that suits my needs. I do have the sony wh-ch700n and the noise canceling does not work at all, so i am willing to pay for something better than those. I am fine with spending in the $100-200 range but the cheaper the better. However, if you believe the wh1000xm3, xm4, or an equivalently priced pair is worth the extra $100 or so, i would be willing to wait until black friday or a good sale (hopefully prime day) to pick one of those up.

 

Thanks in advance!

Why anc? If you're using it at home it should be fairly quiet.... right? And do you want to have a mic integrated? Purchasing a seperate mic or something like a modmic could greatly improve sound quality from the mics, and they can cost >$60. Are you looking for any specific features? What's your budget (In USD- All prices I will list are in usd)? You could look at some sony hear.on.2/3's, but they do fit a little bit small on some ears (such as mine lol). You may be able to find the two's at sub-100 prices new. Taotronics and audiotechnica also sell some sub-$100 ANC headphones. Sony also sells some decent ANC headphones. Just some rough suggestions to give you ideas, I highly reccomend you do further research.

[zeusthemoose]

12 minutes ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

Why anc? If you're using it at home it should be fairly quiet.... right?

I wish... My house gets very loud and I need a pair of headphones that can block out the sound reliably.

 

12 minutes ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

And do you want to have a mic integrated? Purchasing a seperate mic or something like a modmic could greatly improve sound quality from the mics, and they can cost >$60.

A mic would be nice, but not necessary. It will only be used for 2-3 calls a month so if it has one built in it would be nice but if not, I can use the one built into my laptop.

 

14 minutes ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

Are you looking for any specific features? What's your budget (In USD- All prices I will list are in usd)?

Only specific features I am looking for are good noise canceling and ideally being over ear and not on ear. Budget is around $100-200 but it’s not really set so if something more expensive is worth it, I can do that and if something less expensive exists, I would prefer it.

 

15 minutes ago, Brok3n But who cares? said:

Just some rough suggestions to give you ideas, I highly reccomend you do further research.

Thanks for those suggestions, i will look into them. I have tried to research it more, but everything I find just shows the Sony wh1000s and Bose. Sorry if this is a stupid question, but what terms are commonly used with these kinds of headphones so I can do more research?

[Entropy.]

22 minutes ago, zeusthemoose said:

I wish... My house gets very loud and I need a pair of headphones that can block out the sound reliably.

 

A mic would be nice, but not necessary. It will only be used for 2-3 calls a month so if it has one built in it would be nice but if not, I can use the one built into my laptop.

 

Only specific features I am looking for are good noise canceling and ideally being over ear and not on ear. Budget is around $100-200 but it’s not really set so if something more expensive is worth it, I can do that and if something less expensive exists, I would prefer it.

 

Thanks for those suggestions, i will look into them. I have tried to research it more, but everything I find just shows the Sony wh1000s and Bose. Sorry if this is a stupid question, but what terms are commonly used with these kinds of headphones so I can do more research?

1. Alright, got it. Just know ANC is meant to block out mroe consistant sounds, such as wind, the sound of the road, or airplane engines, not suuden sounds such as say, creaking.

2. for $100-$200 a alright integrated mic would be standard

3. ah, okay.

4. I usually search by brand- Each company has it's own products, trademarks, and such. I'm not really that invested into specifically ANC headphones, so I can't say for certain, but I don't really use any specific terminology. I just either search by brand, or use basic wording such as "Wireless"/"bluetooth ANC headphones," or say, "Bose xxx xx headphones" I commonly look for 'taglines-' in some way, such as 30 hour playback time, ect. and I also consider reviews and such. Once I find some promising headphones, I'll look up deatailed reviews which provide, say the frequencey response range, drivers used, sound curves, connectivity types (such aptx [for andriod] or aac [for apple]), Ect. From a broader standpoint, I also look at just orverall verdicts, stregnths and weaknesses, and I try to make sure I use several "trusted-ish" sources, such as pcmag, and maybe some smaller review blogs, and I compare verdicts, and just make sure I know what's the general verdict about the headphone, and I make sure there's nothing shady going on with one or another site. 

 

5. (sorry for late edit) I'd reccomend going to offical websites- such as son, bose, skullcandy, ect. to find headphones as well, It can save some hassle by just going through an entire lineup and finding what you want

[Entropy.]

1 hour ago, zeusthemoose said:

I wish... My house gets very loud and I need a pair of headphones that can block out the sound reliably.

 

A mic would be nice, but not necessary. It will only be used for 2-3 calls a month so if it has one built in it would be nice but if not, I can use the one built into my laptop.

 

Only specific features I am looking for are good noise canceling and ideally being over ear and not on ear. Budget is around $100-200 but it’s not really set so if something more expensive is worth it, I can do that and if something less expensive exists, I would prefer it.

 

Thanks for those suggestions, i will look into them. I have tried to research it more, but everything I find just shows the Sony wh1000s and Bose. Sorry if this is a stupid question, but what terms are commonly used with these kinds of headphones so I can do more research?

5. I'd reccomend going to offical websites- such as sony, bose, skullcandy, ect. to find headphones as well, It can save some hassle by just going through an entire lineup and finding what you want

[soldier_ph]

I'm gonna get the Sony XM4s as my main Over Ears and the Sony WF3 as Wireless IEMs for on the go, I really like the ANC from Sony and IMO it's the best on the Market. I tried out the older XM3s in a Store once and was blown away by the amazing ANC they had. I have the WH-H900N right now and they are like basic first gen ANC so the upgrade will be huge for me. I am willing to pay for good quality because both pairs will be used for calls and listening to music with the Over Ears also being used for Gaming and will also have them with me on plane and longer train rides. The mic quality even on my crappy H900N is great actually but I will also get a Modmic Wireless with the XM4s for more professional sounding audio with RTX Voice on top of that. So my advice would be to definitely go Sony, they have the most modern Design, great Sound Quality, fantastic ANC, long Battery life on both Over and In Ears, they are all comfortable, the Companion app is amazing and gives you a ton of options and customization options.

[zeusthemoose]

Not actual solution, just marked it so it would be at the top. Thank you to anyone who responds.

 

So I have been holding off on getting a pair in hopes of finding a good deal and have found 3 potential options right now. The three I have found on amazon are:

Sony WH1000XM4/B for $280 (USD)

Sennheiser PCX 550-II for $200

Bose QuietComfort 35 II for $200

 

I believe I have tried on the QuietComforts before and enjoyed them but never even heard of this pair of Sennheisers before. So, is one better than the other? Also, I know that the XM4s are considered the best ANC but is it worth $80 more than the others?

[Roswell]

7 hours ago, zeusthemoose said:

Not actual solution, just marked it so it would be at the top. Thank you to anyone who responds.

 

So I have been holding off on getting a pair in hopes of finding a good deal and have found 3 potential options right now. The three I have found on amazon are:

Sony WH1000XM4/B for $280 (USD)

Sennheiser PCX 550-II for $200

Bose QuietComfort 35 II for $200

 

I believe I have tried on the QuietComforts before and enjoyed them but never even heard of this pair of Sennheisers before. So, is one better than the other? Also, I know that the XM4s are considered the best ANC but is it worth $80 more than the others?

So I’ve owned the Bose QC35, Bose NC 700 and most recently the XM4. 
 

The 35 just... aged. I had them for years and years and the battery was shot, Bose was a real bro and replaced them with the 700 for a $50 fee. Then I sat on them, yay. Ended up getting the XM4 a few weeks ago.

 

Anyways, don’t get the QC35 if the XM4 is an option. The QC35 has a LOT of cabin pressure with ANC on, inferior ANC in general and worse battery life.

 

DO consider the NC 700 if it’s an option for your price range. They are better built than the XM4, have slightly better ANC and have a more natural sound signature. On the other hand, the XM4 has longer battery life, more features and a much more customizable EQ.

[Ahoy Hoy]

I have sony mx3 and the active noise cancelling works a treat. I've used them in airports, planes, loud rooms etc works fine. I cant hear the fan of my laptop this very moment and if I lift my headphones off its very audible. These last few months Ive been wearing the mx3 for around 12 hours a day. I have no problems and the battery last a long time. Ive owned them for about two years now and from full battery a day of constant usage leaves them at around 40% battery and Ive easily done multiple days of near constant usage off one battery. They also charge quite quickly less then a hour to get over 15 hours of usage. The only downside I have is when switching devices you got to remember to disconnect them from the first device otherwise they wont pair up with a new device. (this pissed me off when my ipad was connect and in a overhead of a airplane and i wanted to play music off my phone and both devices some how paired but only the ipad would actually work)


Ive tried the QC35 and I personally didnt like them. I could feel the pressure of the noise cancelling and it started to give me a headache very quickly. Then I tried the Sony straight after and I basically bought them within that second of them going on my head. I tried them in a busy shopping centre and the noise just disappeared. (if your British PCWorlds/Currys has most ANC headphones as a display you can test them out there if your questioning what to get)

Id get the sony mx4 as they have improvements over the 3s but if budget really is a problem for you the older generation of the mx3 are still for sale and they've had a hefty price reduction and the improvements between the 3 and 4 are not major