I travel quite a lot on planes and one thing I've been looking for just doesn't seem to exist (until now) that is.

A PORTABLE quality noise cancelling set of phones.

I've tried the Sennheiser PCX 150 -- very passable but when the noise cancelling is ON you get a slight hiss and mobile phones can cause interference. They also don't fold and you have to carry the separate battery holder so wires are always getting tangled. For a cheapish introduction to Noise Cancelling phones these are good however if you can carry them adequaly without wires dangling all over the place.

I've also tried Sennheiser PCX 300 (new replacement for the PCX 250). This DOES fold and is well worth the 40GBP more than the (quite satisfactory) PCX 150's and 20 GB more than the PCX 250's but still a bit of a hassle with regard to portability.

Then I discovered BLISS -- but at a price so unless you've got decent Bank accounts don't even THINK of buying these.
Bose QC3 (note NOT the QC2's which were big and bulky).

These really work -- I'd say on a plane you can hardly hear the engines and you'd have to remove the phones to listen to any announcements.

Integral (re-chargeable) battery so no external battery / amplifier piece to carry around. You get a spare battery as well with the standard purchase. Batteries last around 20-25 hours per charge.

Phones fit over the ear and are very comfortable indeed. The cups twist so you can store them easily in a jacket pocket --they are not ear buds but the size is manageable easily enough.

These phones will find ANY defects in your recorded music so unless you have high quality (high bit rate) music you could well be disappointed but with decent sound these are STUNNING.

We are talking around 450 USD or more here so they should be top rate -- and they are.

To those who can come up with this type of money -- pure listening bliss --and the noise cancelling really works.

In London you won't be able to get these much cheaper as you can only get them from BOSE itself.

However if you want to try these out and you are in London (even if you don't have the money to buy them) pop into the Bose store on Regent Street. Very friendly and knowlegeable staff. (Picadilly Circus end of Regent Street -- so if you get off at Oxford Circus on London's tube system walk down Regent Steet towards Piccadilly Circus - opposite direction from the BBC which is in Langham Place) and the old Regent St Polytechnic (now Westminster University) .

Repeat again -- these phones are pure bliss (but at a price).

Cheers
-K

I love these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-CX300-E...p;s=electronics

I travel on the tube in London, and find these great.

These aren't in the same league as the Noise cancelling phones. Of course they are better than the standard ear bud phones that come with your player (but almost anything is).

Senns are excellent --and these are excellent value but it's like comparing a Ford Fiesta with a top of the line Merc.
Both do an adequate job -- but I'd take the Merc any day.#
Now if you upgrade to Noise cancelling Senns (PCX150/250/300) you will probably be totally amazed if you've never used noise cancelling phones before --but these have the external battery which can be a bit of a nuisance with wires etc.


Travelling in busy airports with rediculous amounts of security means you have to look at things slightly differently. Messing around with extra cables isn't on and some of these so called security "Gorillas" they employ at airports have an IQ of about 3 and haven't a clue about the extra battery compartment on the Sennheisers. When you switch it on and the red light appears they get quite nervous.

I agree with you that probably for 95% of people reading this board the Senns would be more than adequate --but for the Ultimate I'd still go for the Bose QC3.

Cheers

-K

Now if you upgrade to Noise cancelling Senns (PCX150/250/300) you will probably be totally amazed if you've never used noise cancelling phones before --but these have the external battery which can be a bit of a nuisance with wires etc.

I have/still own a pair of these ( I think it's the 300) which whilst good, does, as you mentioned, keep getting tangled, plus I would have to remember to caary a spare AA battery. I've heard that the Shure E3c are good, but as this is out of my price range I settled for the cheaper version. When i win the lottery, I'll upgrade

So...uhh...umm...can I borrow them? I have a long overseas flight happening in a couple of months and would like to try them out........

No, really...I'll send 'em RIGHT BACK when I'm finished....

peace
WaywardTraveller

Also consider:

Audio Technica CK7
V-Moda Vibes

Also good (very good) but still not up to the Bose QC3.

Remember also that the quality of the recorded music is also a factor to bear in mind here --note I mean RECORDING Quality - not CONTENT as everybody has their own personal choice in Music (--I wish some of the travellers on London's Undergound system would remember that too -- but with the Bose I'm isolated from hearing 55 Ipods all playing different music at the same time).

The Bose will find ANY defect with your music so record from a good source at the highest bit rate consistent with the capacity of your music player.

For highly compressed music at lowish bit rates (anything lower than 192 kbps is a waste when considering Bose QC3's) then other phones will yield a much cheaper and satisfactory solution --however once heard at their full potential you'll LUST over these --Quality is just staggering. (At this price it ought to be --but it doesn't let you down.

On a long plane trip --pure heaven --an even if you watch the in flight movie these have a double stereo plug in for the plane's audio system. Infinitely better sound than you get with the standard nasty phones for watching the movie.

Cheers
-K