How to Choose the Best Over the Ear Noise Cancelling Headphones

If you're traveling by public transportation or working from home, noise cancelling headphones can upgrade your listening experience by forming a sonic buffer between your ears and the outside world. But how do you determine which pair is best for you?

There are two main kinds of noise cancelling headphones which are passive noise isolation and active noise cancellation. The first utilizes earcups that have thick padding that is fitted to block out external noises, while the second uses built-in mics to create opposing sound waves that cancel background noise.

Comfort

If you're spending your day on noisy public transit, battling for office space with chatty coworkers or trying to catch some peace and quiet on a flight that's overbooked, noise cancelling headphones offer a sonic buffer between your ears and the rest of the world. These headphones let you listen to your music at an appropriate volume without straining your ears. Many of our top picks also have a light design, making them easy to wear all day.

Noise cancellation is usually achieved through active sound reduction technologies that create opposite sound waves in order to cancel ambient noise. You can find cheaper headphones with passive noise isolation, which seals the earcups or buds around the ear to block out unwanted sound. However, the best models we tested have active sound cancellation to give the ultimate escape.

To get the optimal results, you'll need to ensure that your headphones are snug and well-designed. It is important to ensure they don't leak, as this could be irritating to others who are around you. For truly immersive audio, you'll want headphones that can support high-resolution Bluetooth codesc LDAC. This allows them to play back high-resolution music with 24 bit resolution and 96kHz and makes them an audiophile's dream.

A lot of new models can fold, allowing them to be small and easy to carry around. If you're in search of an affordable travel headphone that has an easy-to-fold design and a compact size, the bose over the ear headphones noise cancelling QC45 we reviewed is a great option. And if you're a frequent flyer, the Sennheiser HD 450BT are a good pair that folds to fit in your carry-on bag to make it easy to transportation.

The majority of the models in our roundup are wireless, and a lot of them are true mobile headsets that have built-in microphones to make hands-free phone calls. The app allows you to manage the audio and noise cancellation settings, which is great for those who want to adjust their headphones while on the move. Some wireless models come with chargers for on-the-go listening, while others use an accessory case that can give you hours of battery life when you're away from home or work.

Sound Quality

Most music lovers are very concerned about the quality of their headphones, especially ones that offer high-quality audio. While any pair of headphones will help filter out environmental noise, a high-quality pair of noise cancelling headphones will not just be capable of effectively blocking out noise from the outside but will also be able to deliver clear high-quality, high-quality sound.

If you're planning to spend a significant amount of money on a pair of headphones, it only makes sense that they'll be capable of playing your music as well as possibly. Fortunately that's the case, as ANC headphones have developed and improved their sound, they have also improved over time. This has resulted in some of the best headphones on the market today that compete with the top audiophile headsets.

Of course, the sound quality you'll hear will largely depend on how you listen to music and what your preferences are. Some prefer a full warm, warm sound with plenty of bass, whereas others may prefer high-quality headphones that can listen to every detail in a song or an album.

Noise cancellation is a personal decision. While ANC is excellent in removing dull sounds such as the whistling of an aircraft or the roar of traffic, it isn't able to eliminate dynamic sounds that vary in frequency and intensity such as human voices or instruments.

This is why a great pair of headphones that offer exceptional passive isolation as well as good ANC will still be an excellent choice, regardless of whether you go with headphones that fit around your ears or over-ear headphones that completely cover your earlobes. You can enjoy a remarkable isolation even with no active noise cancellation using a pair of Comply memory foam tips or similar products that will mold perfectly to the shape of your ears.

The majority of ANC headphones are equipped with various Bluetooth codecs that allow you to connect to the audio source you prefer. For instance, the Sony WH-1000XM4s feature both LDAC and DSEE Extreme support to ensure that you'll be able listen to your music in high-resolution and in incredible detail. The result is that when Sinead O'Connor sings Nothing Compares 2 U, her sibilant cry and forceful chorus sound as if she was in the room with you.

Noise Cancellation

Noise cancelling headphones are a great way to put an extra buffer between you and the outside world. They listen to ambient sound and then use built-in microphones to "read", only allowing the sound you would like to hear. They're great for working at home, or any situation in which background noise can be distracting or annoying.

Noise cancelling headphones employ a technology called active noise cancellation to make their magic. Miniature microphones in the earcups or the earbuds listen to the sounds that you're exposed to and then emit opposite frequencies, which will then be in collision and effectively block out unwanted sounds, revealing only the music you're listening to. It's a little more complex than that, and is contingent on the hearing sensitivity of your ears, the design of the headphones and the quality of its audio processing, but the gist is that they will significantly reduce the noises you hear, whether that's an aircraft engine or your coworker's animated conversations.

The best over-ear ANC headsets we tested aren't able to completely block out background noises, but they are effective in blocking them. Look into a pair of headphones that feature adaptive noise cancelation. This enhances ANC to a new level by monitoring ambient sounds and reversing them in real time and preserving the audio that you'd like to listen to (including handsfree calls) at a constant level. The Sony WH-1000XM5s provide an example of this advanced technology in the action.

Many over-ear ANC headphones include additional features that make listening enjoyable. Look for features like control buttons as well as high-quality audio codecs and support for voice assistants like Siri or Google Assistant. Wireless Bluetooth is essential to allow hands-free playback of audio and convenient audio playback. A portable charging case can allow you to stay connected while on the go.

Another feature that is useful is the passive mode which allows the noise-canceling circuitry to be turned off and lets you listen to music with the same level of isolation as regular headphones. This is a great trick to use if you do not want to hear any outside noises or don't have enough battery to charge your headphones.

Value

A great pair of headphones will make you feel as if you're in a soundproof space when listening to music or noise making phone calls. Noise cancelling headphones can be more expensive, but they will provide superior sound quality and block out background noise. This is why they are worth the investment for those who spend long periods of time alone in the office or while traveling.

The Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones boast impressive noise cancellation capabilities and come packed with many useful features, including a dedicated microphone that can produce clear and natural audio during phone calls as well as DSEE Extreme audio upscaling. Their ANC system does an excellent job of blocking out sounds from outside but they struggle to shield you from the bass-range sounds like passing trains or traffic.

The headphones are light and fold up into an elongated D shape that can be tucked into the bag of a carry-on. They're perfect for traveling. They are compatible with multiple voice assistants, including Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, and they come with the ability to automatically stop your music when you take them from your ears. You can also use them with a wired connection to listen to your favourite videos or podcasts in noisy environments.

The Razer Opus X Wireless headphones provide outstanding value for the money. They have a good ANC system, but they also have a transparency setting that turns on the external microphones to let more noise from the surrounding environment to pass through. They also have an inbuilt USB-C charging port, which means they can be charged while being used. They also have an extremely low-latency Bluetooth connection which is crucial for mobile gaming and watching videos.

Consider the Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Wireless Headphones for a more affordable option. They do a great job of cancelling out distracting sounds such as the rumble of buses and plane engines to the high-pitched hum of computer fans. They can last more than 32 hours on a single charge. They have an auto-off timer to save power.