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top selection guides

Top Noise Blocking Headphones
A selection of great headphones for isolated listening, including in-ear, noise cancelling, and sealed types.

Travel
Going somewhere? Here's what you'll need to bring your music along for the ride.

Workstation & Computer Listening
Headphone recommendations and our advice on getting the best audio possible from your computer.

Full Size
Full size headphones are large and sit around the ear. Many of the world's best headphones are full size type.

Closed
Closed headphones are comfortable and isolate you from outside noise; read our top choices.

Noise Cancelling
Travelers will enjoy blessed relief from noise with these fine headphones; see our selection of the best noise cancelling headphones.

See All Selection Guides

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Protecting Your Hearing
Protect your hearing by keeping the volume down and wearing earplugs in loud environments.

HeadRoom Test Lab
Learn all about how we test headphones and compare graphs of all headphones we sell.

How We Rate Headphones
Learn about HeadRoom's evaluation procedure and how we rate headphones.

Glossary of Terms
Audio terms defined here.

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Headphones: Noise Cancelling

home >  headphones > noise cancelling

Noise cancelling headphones insulate from environmental / ambient noise using 'active' battery-powered electronics

Noise cancelling [NC] headphones employ miniaturized built-in microphones within the earpieces to sense the environmental ambient noise around the headphones via an 'active' (battery powered) electronic circuit. In short, noise-canceling circuitry amplifies and inverts the environmental ambient noise signals, then reverse-adds it back into the music signal to 'cancel' the acoustic noise pressure present at the earpiece drivers. HeadRoom offers a few noise-cancelling headphones, some at a great value including models from Audio Technica, Polk, AKG, Phiaton, and Sennheiser. 

Noise cancelling headphones are principally designed to block airline and/or train cabin noise during travel and typically will isolate better than a basic closed headphone in these specific situations, but not as well as in ear headphones for listeners seeking maximum noise-blocking ability.

For more information about 'active' noise cancelling headphones see our HeadRoom noise cancelling selection guide.

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Sennheiser MM 450-X Bluetooth NC
our price:
$449.95
sugg. retail price:
$449.95 add to cart more info

Sennheiser MM 450-X Bluetooth NC

NEW! Silence is golden with Sennheiser's top Bluetooth wireless travel headphones for iPhone / iPad

Sennheiser PXC 450
our price:
$349.95
sugg. retail price:
$349.95 add to cart more info

Sennheiser PXC 450

Full size active noise canceling headphones with 'Talk-Thru' feature, ideal for airline commuters