Best Noise Canceling Headphones for Use on an Airplane

Taking a trip on an airplane can be a fatiguing and exhausting ordeal. Bringing your music with you is a wonderful way to make the trip more enjoyable. Using earphones on an airplane often produces less than desirable results because airplanes can often be a very noisy environment. With the invention of noise canceling headphone technology you can now enjoy your music without having the sounds of the engines and cabin ruin your musical enjoyment. In this article we will take a look at the best noise canceling headphones for use on an airplane.

Most noise canceling headphones use some form of Active Noise Control (ANC). This technology involves using a small microphone placed on the outside of the ear phone, and some electronic circuity which will generate a sound wave with the opposite amplitude to the sound of the noise. The end result of this is a blocking of the noise, allowing you to enjoy your music uninterrupted.

Perhaps the best noise canceling headphone out there is the Bose Quiet Comfort. This top of the line headphone from Bose features advanced noise canceling technology with microphones both inside and outside of the ear cone area. The Bose Quiet Comfort headphones are the over the ear type which gives the best physical sound seal to block out as much outside noise as possible. The Bose headphones do tend to be on the more pricy side, but they are top quality.

If the Bose headphones are out of your price range, than another solid contender would be the Sony Mdrnc22 noise canceling headphones. The Sonys are a somewhat different design than the Bose as the Sony are an "in the ear" type. In addition to active noise canceling technology, the headphones will seal out unwanted noise physically by creating a seal with your ear canal. Because the Sonys are compact and easily fold they make excellent travel headphones when you don't want to carry around a lot of extra bulk.

A slightly more expensive option, but still cheaper than the Bose, would be the Sennheiser PXC 250 active noise canceling headphones. These are more bulky than the sony model, but they employ an innovative folding mechanism which allows you to fold them compactly for travel and transport. The Sennheiser PXC 250 also have the distinction of winning a CNET best buy award. Sound performance on the Sennheiser headphones tends to be excellent, with some hiss noticeable in some situations.

No matter what headphones you eventually settle on - make sure to pick up an aircraft headphone adapter, if you want to utilize the provided music tracks from the airlines. All the noise canceling headphones mentioned in this review come only with a standard micro jack, and for some inexplicable reason airlines still cling to the older style two prong jack.

Selecting headphones is a personal decision and there is no substitute for trying before you buy. Each set of headphones handles processing and sound reproduction differently. Using the list of recommended head phones above, you should be well on your way to selecting a headphone which you will be pleased with.