I’ve already looked at rtings.com and have tried XM5 which I didn’t like because the ANC wasn’t good enough.
Planning to get Bose Quietcomfort Ultra (the earbuds, not the headphones) very soon but unsure if there’s going to be any new and quality release by any brand of high-end ANC earbuds that would be worth waiting for.
What can you recommend?
In case it matters, my preference goes like this, in order of priority:
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Comfort of the earbuds within the ear (ideally something that won’t damage the ear canal while sleeping on the side).
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The quality of the noise cancellation. I need the strongest ANC because I live in an extremely noisy environment.
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The sound quality as well as battery life come third.
TIL the African National Congress makes audio equipment.
I know that it’s not what you’re asking for, but I thought I’d chime in with a lateral solution. My wife and I live in an apartment building and neighbors can be pretty loud, plus I have rotating shift schedule so my sleep schedule slides drastically to support that. If the noisy environment is mostly outside, thick blackout curtains will also dampen a lot of sound. Otherwise, a fan will do a lot in terms of soothing white noise that also kinda masks other sounds. And finally, for the actual reason I started leaving this comment, there are pretty solid Bluetooth sleep masks that are designed to be comfortable and have battery that can last all night. My wife has one and it has really helped her out. You can also remove the electronics to wash the mask as needed.
Again, I know that this isn’t what you were explicitly asking for, but it could solve your root concern all the same. Good luck!
Thank you for your suggestion!
I will probably always recommend the Fairbuds for environmental friendly reasons. https://shop.fairphone.com/fairbuds
Worth to note that their audio quality and anc is worse than competition noticeably. So its quality vs environment
Any idea when these are gonna be available in the US?
The “trust us, we totally didn’t just remove the headphone jack to profit off of the TWS hypetrain” - “eco friendly” company? No thanks
They objectively make more eco friendly products than most if not all other companies. They’re still a company so they make shitty decision from time to time, but in general they are quit good.
I can’t personally recommend anytihing excep this site https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/best/noise-cancelling-earbuds Their reviews go very deep and use actual measurements instead of human opinions
That’s exactly what helped me come up with the choice of Bose but this website doesn’t take into consideration anything that’s going to be released in the near future which is what I’m thinking about. Will there be some other big ANC earbuds model coming out very soon?
As you’ve discovered, Bose lead the way in ANC. The way to know if there’s a new model coming, is firstly to check the release date of the current one, and secondly to see if significant price cuts across retail are coinciding with the release schedule.
Failing that, or at least not being conclusive enough to make a decision, check retail at the usual seasonal sale periods. You can do this historically for additional info.
Don’t forget to check the manufacturers website as well.
That’s my guide to buying electronics.
When do you think Bose might release a new and improved version of their earbuds?
For my XM5s (and my XM4s) I had to switch the ear cushion size to the largest one before the noise cancelling was good. At first I went for what was comfortable but they softened up quite a bit. If you still have them, you may try going up one size bigger.
I tried some Anker Liberty 4 earbuds and have found the ANC pretty good. They do stick out a bit so lying on your side wouldnt work, but there are these smaller ANC earbuds from Anker that might be worth a try: https://a.co/d/ggtEPov
I know you’re specifically looking for ANC but given the price range have you looked at something like a good quality pair of wired IEMs with a pair of tightly fitted ear tips?
I ride the notoriously loud (94dba) NYC subway with them and it deadens most of the noise.
I used to wear my Shure 215s to sleep no problem. I’ve had them a couple years now and love them.
I’ve got a Qudelix 5K Bluetooth receiver that lets my plug in any wired headphones to it and it’s great. I’ll be replacing the battery here in the next year or two which is a bit fiddly but is at least doable - unlike earbuds.
My setup was about $200-$250 total and it’s modular so replacing any part of it is cheaper.
I’ve considered that but I also need earbuds in general as I only have my old wired ones at the moment which I never use and have never tried anything wireless, so I’m also curious to see what I can do with those. Are these Bose ones waterproof enough to take a shower with them?
Shure != Bose, but also I don’t think you can shower in the Shure IEMs. Maybe with a case or something on them.
I use Aftershokz for something like shower listening but those are the opposite of your problem - they’re bone conduction so they do not block any sound.
Also to be clear - my earbuds are wireless in that they just clip to my belt loop with the Bluetooth receiver. So I can have them out of the way but easily available.
Check out scarbir.com
Air Pods Pro are an obvious choice if you do have an iPhone, otherwise I’m pretty sure that Sony’s top of the line have excellent noise cancelling. One website I’d recommend is rtings.com
I’ve actually compared XM5 and Bose Ultra and Sony’s ANC was like 30% of Bose’s. That much worse, which surprised me.
READ THE QUIETCOMFORT PRIVACY POLICY SUPER DUPER CAREFULLY. I got the quiet comfort II and ran them back to the store because they wanted permission to passively listen to my environment, listen to anything that passed through my headphones, “map my head movements” whatever the fuck that means. Fuck that company for that. Be very careful. If that stuff matters to you, I guess. If not, knock yourself out.
I’m confused… How do you think ANC works, exactly?
White noise? I mean, sure, I understand the local headphones having to be aware of sound, but this was all in connection with the app they try to get you to download. And then when I avoided that and went on their helpline, they were trying to get me to sign the same privacy policy, but it was buried in another privacy policy for the chat.
Hey, call me paranoid, but there’s no reason for them to tell me they can if they want to turn my earbuds into bugs for their marketing purposes. Maybe that’s just me.
The active, in active noise cancelling means listening by using microphones then playing the exact inverse of the heard sound to cancel the noise, actively. Opposed to passive, which tries to restrict noise like ear protection by enclosing an ear and adding insulation against noise from getting in.
So no, not white noise, though that’ll sometimes be generated too. You’ll realise quickly most active noise cancelling headphones only listen on the microphones on specific frequencies which is why different settings can allow sound through.
