I’m really needing new headphones to drown out the noise when I’m out on Public transit or just at home during panic attacks.
Very small requirements for anybody that has some they enjoy.
Bluetooth and works with android devices (preferably without a app aka natively). Has good noise cancelling and can block out most sounds but doesn’t have horrible ringing in them (I’m using from the super cheap kinda noise cancelling?) doesn’t have to be good with music but preferred though.
In ear or over idc about that
Has to be under 100.
If anybody has recommendations it would be awesome.
Fyi new to Lemmy so forgive me if I don’t do some proper “etiquette”. Also autism :p
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So, just to ignore your budget, I have the Sony XM4 headphones (over ear), and… they are okay. In the heat, they get very sweaty, and there are annoying sounds you can’t turn off (on/off beep, and a voice which tells you when it has connected). The noise cancellation is good for constant noises but not sudden ones. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend/buy them again, as they are just fine.
I have tried some in ear ones from Xiaomi (not sure which exactly) which I bought for my partner, and they are, in my limited experience, just fine too, especially for the price (<$50). I don’t know about any long-term idiosyncrasies though, so take that with a pinch of salt. These ones look a bit better: Redmi Buds 5 Pro. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Xiaomi-Redmi-Buds-Black-BHR7660GL/dp/B0CQKHK626/
The noise cancellation is good for constant noises but not sudden ones.
This is kinda the nature of active noise cancellation, unfortunately. Blocking out sudden noise is just technically very challenging. Works great for airplane noise, not so much for crying babies.
Sony’s XM line is in my opinion just about the best ANC headphones money can buy, in terms of noise cancelling and sound quality combo. I can understand your point about them getting sweaty. Part one of blocking noise is good sound insulation, which tends to hold in heat as well. I live in a colder climate so that works out well for me. You could get in-ear ones, although obviously they don’t block out noise as well.
Active hearing protection is better for sudden noises and some of them have connections for aux cables but the speakers are low quality and they’re designed only to understand someone talking and that’s it.
OP, did you settle on any specific headphones you would recommend?
I went with the Sony WH-CH720N only because it was 56% off on Amazon. So far it’s pretty decent besides the shit Sony does by gatekeeping things behind a login in order for noise cancelling. And the noise canceling isn’t the best but its good enough for me. Very long battery life and good audio at least for me.
Have you tried earplugs? They’re cheap and pretty effective, I use them a bunch. Mack’s is my favorite brand
To add on to this, noise reducing earplugs are also a thing - search for “concert earplugs” or something like that.
Using them I was able to watch Godzilla in a movie theater without constantly wincing as well as go to a concert at a bar and actually have a decent time. Highly recommend for general use, I carry them everywhere now.
Aka “musicians earplugs” … which can be premade, or if you actually want the best fidelity, custom molded to fit your actual ear canal! Had a gf who was a post-punk musician once, she absolutely swore by her custom pair.
Good noise canceling + no ringing for under 100 is a really tough category, but I think Anker makes some ok ones with hybrid active noise cancellation (generally less ringing) right at $100: Soundcore Life Q20.
One thing I can’t recommend is a used pair of Sony XM3s, because they caused incredible pressure in my ears when the noise cancellation came on. They worked phenomenally well at blocking noise, but they effing hurt.
Sony’s current cheap models are a lot better than the XM3s. I know that pressure sensation, I’d given up on all noise canceling headphones because I hate it, but tried a pair of (cheap!) Sony WH-CH720N and that sensation is 98% reduced, it only appears a little if there’s a ton of bass noise in the environment. But even then, it’s not nearly as bad as most other (older) NC headphones I’ve tried.
I don’t know if this is an option, I didn’t see you explicitly mention that it wasn’t so I thought I would mention something a little different that I have personally done when I wanted what you are talking about on the cheap.
Have you considered combining over the ear hearing protection ear muffs with a pair of standard (non-ANC) ear buds? A pair of earmuffs with a noise reduction of 30dB (which I believe is better than ANC can achieve can generally be had for $25-$35 leaving you with $70 to spend on a pair of ear buds where the only consideration is audio quality and fit at that price point.
Having sensory issues myself I think it’s worth noting that these types of ear muffs are designed to apply more pressure around your ears than standard head phones. It’s usually not an issue for me, but there are those who do not like it for long periods of time.
Though they are double the price you mentioned as a limit, I want to recommend the ones I’m using for other people in need of really good NC headphones coming to this thread.
I got myself refurbished Bose Quiet Comfort 45 and in my opinion they are perfect. I use them to blend out noise in public transport, museums, shopping malls, the office and so on. I can wear them for hours without my ears hurting or the battery running out. They really improved my quality of life.
Also the Bose NC700 are recommendable.
(Hint: Half the noise cancelling happens passively within the cushion foam, so - it turned out that third party cushions sometimes are not be as good as the original replacement kit.)
