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Comfortable noise cancelling headphones

flutteringwow said:
I have the Sonys XM4's, and had the Bose Quiet Comfort II's before them.

Sony - a better SQ and overall a better package, they are a much later product than the QCII's but the QC's were slightly more comfortable, and the SQ was very good with them also.

The later Bose 700's which were released as competition to the XM4's are utterly terrible.

I stuck with the Sonys.
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I had the QCs before and have the NCs now and they’re great. Better than the QCs and certainly not terrible..!!
 
I picked up some Sony 1000xm5 on a Black Friday offer, after a bit of a break in they sound amazing wired and pretty good over Bluetooth .The 5's aren't bass heavy at all but I did give the a 1 dB lift above 2 kHz. Highly recommended, great for late nights tv watching too.
 
BBC Sliced Bread podcast on noise cancelling headphones is worth a listen if you are not currently using and are curious about their benefits.
bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p08c7jfh
I am now looking to buy a pair in the new year so thanks for all the comments above
DMP
 
I had Sony WH-CH710N headphones, also noise cancelling. They switching off itself after not much time if not connected by Bluetooth to anything. That makes them useless if only noise cancelling is required. Maybe worth to checking if those 1000 series are the same or not. Bose QC35, QC45 do not do that.
 
I bought some Bose QC25's (the older, wired version, powered by a single AAA) a few years ago for travelling and use in the office (loud air con etc). I think if you want headphones for hifi listening, these are not the ones. They sound "good" but in a kind of "fun" way - not particularly natural sounding. For travelling, listening when there's noise around or the noise cancelling function, though, they are VERY good. The noise cancelling is lovely...a kind of "ahhhh" when you switch it on. They fold up fairly small and I find them extremely comfortable. The noise cancelling is noticeably better than any other noise cancelling I've tried (haven't tried the Sony, though). For flying I wear the QC25's over ear plugs and hear almost zero engine noise.
 
I have used Bose Quiet Comfort (can't remember the version), Senheisser PXC550 and now use B&W PX7 - in my experience the B&Ws are the most comfortable. B&W have just release the PX7s2 which replace the PX7, I would have no issue recommending them. I used mine multiple times this year on transatlantic flights this year and most days I use them on my morning walk (1-2 hours per day). In my view the Bose had better noise cancelling but the Senheisser sounded better since switching to the B&Ws I think they combine the two qualities. Hope this helps.
 
I remember when many were up in arms over the Airpods Max $550 price-tag.

Now we have:

T+A Solitaire T (€1300)
Mark Levinson No. 5909 (£999)
B&O Beoplay H95 (£779)
Focal Bathys (£699)
Bowers & Wilkins Px8 (£599)
Master & Dynamic MW75 (€599)

Still for pure ANC performance only Sony, Bose and Apple implement proprietary tech (as far as I know).
 
Momentum 4 seems a good shout also if one wants to trade some ANC performance (vs. XM4/5) for better overall sound quality. Double the battery life of most competitors.

 
The wife (and therefore I) compared some recently. She landed up with XM5 my son also has XM4. We tried the Apple ones. They sounded the best and the noise cancellation was other worldy, but they were admittedly desperately uncomfortable. Not really sure what apple were thinking there.
 
I feel XM5 have slightly better ANC over APM.

Airpods Pro 2 are really impressive both SQ and ANC for such a small package (with iOS device).
 
krenzler said:
Airpods Pro 2 are really impressive both SQ and ANC for such a small package (with iOS device).
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I got some on Black Friday and it's my first real experience of ANC. I wasn't expecting it to work so well - it pretty much cancels out London. Uncanny! Music doesn't sound too bad either.

I got some Sennheiser TW3 to compare but they'll be going back - the ANC isn't really close. SQ wise I have discovered that with buds (again a new thing for me) so much is about the fit and the EQ. Tweaking the Apple EQ in 'Headphone Options' in Settings made them better than the TW3, to my surprise.

I've gone for earbuds because I have a variety of closed over-ear headphones and I'm liking the throw in my pocket experience. Still, I have some wired Momentums and I wouldn't mind trying some Momentum 4.
 
Hmm, ok after a good listening sesh last night, a few conclusions: Comfort, the Sony XM5 clear winner over the Senns, less pressure over the ears. ANC, Sony wins by quite a margin but the Momentums are still good enough imho. Sound, the Momentum4 far less dark, less in your head, more articulate, more extended top end, less congested low frequencies which improved the mid clarity significantly and less grain to the presentation, I was really happy with the Sonys but the Momentum's are a breath of fresh air in comparison, quite a surprise.Wireless connectivity, Sonys by a mile, the Momentum's are pretty flakey tbh. Build, Sonys win with their more solid less plasticky feel, the Momentums straight out the box feel like £30 headphones.
On balance the Sonys are a no brainer but for me such is the improvement in sound quality I'm keeping the Sennheisers and returning the Sony WH1000xm5.
 
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cooky1257 said:
Hmm, ok after a good listening sesh last night, a few conclusions: Comfort, the Sony XM5 clear winner over the Senns, less pressure over the ears. Sound, the Momentum4 far less dark, less in your head, more articulate, more extended top end, less congested low frequencies which improved the mid clarity significantly and less grain to the presentation, I was really happy with the Sonys but the Momentum's are a breath of fresh air in comparison, quite a surprise.Wireless connectivity, Sonys by a mile, the Momentum's are pretty flakey tbh. Build, Sonys win with their more solid less plasticky feel, the Momentums straight out the box feel like £30 headphones.
On balance the Sonys are a no brainer but for me such is the improvement in sound quality I'm keeping the Sennheisers and returning the Sony WH1000xm5.
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That's very interesting. I've been looking at getting some wired (for a big head) in another thread but am now leaning towards wireless given what I've been reading and the Sony were in my top few list in part down to a reply of yours, along with the HiFiMan Sundara and AKG 702 which are both wired. I do have a dongle I that can use to 'convert' wired to to bluetooth that I've not used so while I have no idea how well it works it may mean I can use either type.
Comfort is my highest priority so I may try the Sony, but then again, amazon returns could mean I try all 3 at once.....!
 
cooky1257 said:
Hmm, ok after a good listening sesh last night, a few conclusions: Comfort, the Sony XM5 clear winner over the Senns, less pressure over the ears. Sound, the Momentum4 far less dark, less in your head, more articulate, more extended top end, less congested low frequencies which improved the mid clarity significantly and less grain to the presentation, I was really happy with the Sonys but the Momentum's are a breath of fresh air in comparison, quite a surprise.Wireless connectivity, Sonys by a mile, the Momentum's are pretty flakey tbh. Build, Sonys win with their more solid less plasticky feel, the Momentums straight out the box feel like £30 headphones.
On balance the Sonys are a no brainer but for me such is the improvement in sound quality I'm keeping the Sennheisers and returning the Sony WH1000xm5.
Click to expand...

I have Momentums and concur that SQ is superb. The ANC is good enough for me; I'd not be looking anywhere else were I in the market to replace.
 
Still very happily using Bose QC25's for travelling here. Use AAA batteries so no issues with battery life/charging/dying after a few years. Also bought a £25 made-to-fit bluetooth adaptor. Use cable if on a long flight or long train ride, bluetooth if moving about or just a few hours trip, and if the BT adaptor battery in that runs out just change back to cable. I thought about changing to newer model but can't really see any advantages and couldn't hear any difference when I listened to them. Find them very comfy and the noise cancelling is excellent.
 
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