Is your music listening pleasure or time to think being constantly compromised by the daily background sounds in your living environment? If the answer is yes then we have a solution for you.
Just because you take the subway to work, fly often or have construction going on next door each day does not mean you can’t enjoy good music or some peaceful time to think.
That is where noise isolating headphones come into play. They give you the best all-natural chance of not having bothersome background noise significantly impact you when listening to music.
We are here to tell you a little bit more about how noise isolating headphones work. In this article we will also review some of the best noise isolating headphones there is in the marketplace.
If you have never tried on a pair of noise isolating headphones on, people who have will tell you they are a wonderful piece of audio equipment to own.
Top 5 Noise Isolating Headphone Models Comparison Chart
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Best Noise Isolating Headphone Reviews
1. Edifier H840 Audiophile Over-the-ear Noise-Isolating Headphones:
Excellent for listening to music on everything from mobile phones to smart tablets
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Here's a very nicely designed over the ear type headphone. They do a nice job of cutting out background noise as you listen to your favorite music or movies. Edifier has a very good reputation when it comes to making great headphone products and this pair
The sound quality you get with these is exceptional. Part of that is the fact these earpieces use a large 40mm sound driver. The sound that is reproduced by these headphones is very rich and clear. There is no better experience when listening to music when the sound is good and the background noises don’t affect it.
One of the best things about these headphones is how very comfortable people say they are when on. They are not super rigid like some other headsets. There is a lot of flexibility built into them and its soft comfortable leather that helps make the noise reducing seal around your ear.
These headphones have a little bit of style to them also. They have a sleek design to them and they are available in your choice of three different colors. The manufacturer will also back them up with a full one year warranty.
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2. Audio-Technica ATH-M30x Professional Studio Monitor Headphones: Perfect for home and studio use
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If you like to listen to quality music at home without that sound being interfered with by background noises, then these quality headphones may be just right for you. They are of a high enough quality that they will even work well in a studio environment. Everything from the cabling to the earpieces on these headphones is well-designed.
These headphones are widely popular because of their reputation for producing superior sound. The tones that are produced by this headset are clear and crisp. This is especially true for the midrange tones. They also feature a high quality speaker and speaker driver built into each individual earpiece.
The noise isolation capability on these headphones is better than many others in its class. These headphones have what can best be termed as a medium-high noise isolation ability. When the noise isolation factor is combined with the superior sound quality produced by these headphones it makes for a great listening experience for those who use them.
These headphones also feature specially contoured ear cups to help make them comfortable when they are being used. They have what Audio-Technica describes as a ‘circumaural’ fit. Only quality parts went into making these headphones so they should last you a very long period of time too.
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3. Edifier H650 Hi-Fi On-Ear Headphones - Noise-isolating: Great headphones to take with you when traveling
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Here is a great pair of noise isolating headphones that can be used by any member of the family. This includes your children too. They produce a very good quality sound and are great headphones to use as you travel. Don’t be fooled by their simple looks because they are a very well-designed set of headphones.
These headphones are extremely lightweight and comfortable. They even fold up for convenient compact storage. These are the most portable pair of headphones on our top review list. You will not find a quality set of headphones that is as easy to travel with as these are.
Their light weight also makes them very comfortable to wear for longer periods of time. They do not start to feel bulky after a few hours like some headsets tend to do. These headphones weigh an incredibly light 8.8 ounces. For a lighter pair of headphones they do a decent job of noise isolation also.
The Edifier H650 Hi-Fi on-ear headphones are built using all quality parts too. They feature such things in their construction as soft leather ear cups, a highly flexible stainless steel headband and durable polymer plastics. These headphones should definitely last you a long time.
Edifier backs up these headphones with a full one year warranty also.
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4. V-MODA Crossfade LP2 Noise-Isolating Metal Headphone: Great bass and an interesting design
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Here is a very unique pair of noise isolating headphones. They are different because the outer shell of the ear pieces is made out of metal. These pieces are even interchangeable so they will go with the style of the day you are wearing. Best of all your music sounds great when you are wearing these too.
They produce high quality sound thanks to their large size 50mm speaker drivers and the high quality speakers embedded in each earpiece. You will really like these headphones if you play music that has a lot of bass in it. They simply do a better job than most head phones when it comes to playing music with heavy bass beats.
One of the really neat features of these well designed headphones is that the cable connection on them is detachable. It makes for easy packing and storing when travelling with them. Detaching the cable also allows you to isolate your ears from outside sounds while reading or doing homework too.
Not only is the cable detachable but it is Kevlar coated to help it hold up for a long period of time. There is also a microphone feature embedded into the cable too. This makes it convenient for answering your smart phone or when chatting to others on social media.
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5. Status Audio HD One On-Ear Noise Isolating Headset: Simply stated design and high quality sound
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These are a very nice pair of noise isolating headphones. Status audio believes in building their products with a simple design and no logos but they never compromise on quality. The very clear and crisp audio you get with these is proof of that.
The sound quality is helped by the large speaker drivers in each earpiece. The speakers themselves produce sound that is pretty good across every range. Users that like deep bass sounds will especially enjoy listening to music with these headphones.
The comfort level of these headphones is not bad at all. They have a design that sits right on the ear as opposed to covering it. This is also what helps them do a good job of keeping background noises from interfering with your listening pleasure.
These headphones are lightweight and have a very compact design too. They also can be folded up to make them even more convenient to take places with you. These headphones are excellent to use as you travel too.
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Noise Canceling Versus Noise Isolation
Many people when they hear someone mention noise isolating headphones they automatically confuse them with their cousins the noise cancelling headphone. Although the goal of each type of headphone is the same they go about doing it in two different ways.
The main goal of each type of headphone is to increase listening pleasure and to eliminate as much unwanted background noise as possible. In other words they try to seal the good sounds in and try to stop the bad outside sounds from affecting your listening pleasure.
Let’s take a more in-depth look at each type of headphone.
Noise Canceling Headphones
hese types of headphones are what are known as an ‘active’ headphone system. That simply means they work by electronically adding white noise into the ear pieces to eliminate any background noise that penetrates the seal they make around your ear when wearing them.
In order to do this they need an external power source such as a battery pack or to have batteries inserted right into the ear pieces. Noise cancelling headphones work by making a ‘footprint’ of the desired input sound that comes from the corded plugin and then produce a wave that will counter ambient noise that is different from that desired sound footprint.
Noise Isolating headphones
Noise isolating headphones use what is known as passive noise elimination. They don’t require any power sources to do what they do best. They use a combination of different materials and different fits over the ear canal to stop ambient noise from reaching the inside of the ear pieces.
These types of noise stopping headphones can eliminate 30 decibels or more of unwanted background noise from impacting your listening pleasure. Noise isolating headphones are very lightweight since they don’t use batteries and they tend to be very compact and portable too.
Why Choose Noise Isolating Headphones Over Noise Cancelling Models?
Although most people do not feel noise isolating headphones work quite as well as noise cancelling headphones they have some benefits that make people choose them over their noise canceling counterparts. For one, they tend to be much less expensive than noise cancelling headphones. Noise isolating headphones are usually lighter and much less cumbersome to wear too.
Another big factor is that many times the difference in the amount of ambient sound that gets through the ear pieces and impacts your listening pleasure is not that significant between these two different types of headphones. In that case more casual music listeners will then find it hard to justify the additional cost for noise cancelling headphones.
Noise Isolating Headphone Buying Guide
Here are some of the key features to focus on when buying a set of noise isolating earphones:
Price
Noise isolating headphones come in a wide variety of price ranges. Most of these are affordable to anyone who wants to increase their listening pleasure by blocking out unwanted background noise.
To determine how much you are willing to spend on these ambient sound reducing devices you need to factor in several different things. These should include such factors as how often you will wear them, what type of environment you will wear them in and what is the level of sound quality that is important to you.
Input Sound Quality
A vast majority of the people that buy noise isolating headphones do so to improve the sound quality coming from the devices they listen to. There definitely is difference in quality between different brands and models of these headphones.
For the very casual music or movie audio listener this may not be a big deal. On the other hand, for those that really demand high quality sound you will have to do your homework when searching.
Serious music lovers should try to find a set of noise isolating headphones that reproduce sound very well in high, midrange and bass ranges.
Speaker driver/Speaker
It is the driver built into each earpiece that is the driving force behind the sound that gets to your ear. The bigger the speaker driver is combined with the quality of that driver is what determines how dynamic the sound is that a set of headphones will produce. Typical speaker drivers fall between 8mm – 15mm or 20mm – 50mm.
No matter how good or big your speaker driver is it won’t matter much if it’s not paired up with a good speaker inside the earpiece. A good speaker is the other factor that helps establish the quality of the sound that a set of headphones will produce.
So be sure to do a little research on the drivers and speakers that are built into any set of headphones that you are thinking about purchasing.
Portability
Some noise isolating headphones are very big and bulky and only meant to stay in one place in your home or at a studio. Other model noise isolating headphones can be very lightweight and even made to fold up for travel. You will have to decide how important it is for your new headphones to easily be taken on the go with you.
Weight/Comfort
These are listed together because they have a direct relationship when it comes to wearing a device on your head. Without a doubt the lighter your noise isolating headphones are the more comfortable they will be to wear for extended periods of time.
Keep in mind that lighter weight noise isolating headphones may sacrifice some of their background noise stopping capability and some sound quality in order to keep their weight down. Sometime the tradeoff of a slight bit more weight for improved noise isolation and sound is well worth it.
Removable cord
Not everyone will buy a set of noise isolating headphones with the sole purpose of increasing their music listening pleasure. Some people want to block out background noises as they read, work or try to sleep. If that is the case for you then you may want to try to find a noise isolating headphone that has a detachable cord. This may greatly improve your comfort when wearing ambient sound reducing headphones.
Built-in microphone
If you are buying a pair of noise isolating headphones to use with your smart phone, tablet or laptop computer, then you may want to consider buying a set of headphones that has a built-in microphone in the cord. That way you can easily answer the phone or chat on social media without having to unplug your headphones to do it.
Peak volume
Not all model noise isolating headphones will produce the same volume level. They act much like different music playing devices in this respect.
Some will blow your eardrums out if you turn the volume all the way up and others might not have a high enough sound level to satisfy you. So you will have to take a look at the sound output level of each noise isolating headphone set that you are considering buying.
If you are a hardcore high volume music listener then keep in mind they do make amplifiers for these types of headphones too. Just be careful not to listen to your music at an unsafe level.
Warranty
Even though most noise isolating headphones are not considered a super expensive item they are by no means a disposable item either. If you can get one of these ambient sound blocking devices with a good warranty that is never a bad thing. Some companies will even cover replacement costs for accidental breakage.
Final Verdict
Any of these headphones would be a good choice if you were looking to eliminate background noise from taking away your enjoyment when listening to your music. We must say though that there was one model noise isolating headphone that we liked the best. That is the Edifier H840 Audiophile Over-the-ear Noise-Isolating Headphones.
We chose these because they are such a well-rounded set of headphones. Their over the ear design does a better job at noise isolation than does the model headphones that only sit on your ear. They are also lightweight and portable but they accomplished this without sacrificing sound quality.
Once you factor in how comfortable these are to wear it makes them a set of noise isolating headphones that you seriously want to consider before making a purchase.
