Which pair of noise-cancelling headphones should I get?

[namkcuR]

So, my main Christmas present is going to be a good, high-ish end pair of noise-cancelling headphones, but I can't decide which one. I've been reading reviews for months and in particular the last few weeks, and I'm having a hard time picking one. I've got it narrowed down to two:

Bose QuietComfort 15

OR

Sennheiser PXC-450

I've read countless reviews on Amazon.com, but I just can't decide. The Bose looks sleeker and apparently has better noise-cancelling functionality, but a good number say the Sennheiser has better sound quality. I've read that both are quite comfortable. I could try on the Bose at my local Best Buy(and in fact I have, but it was months ago and not for that long, and I could only listen to source it was connected to, I couldn't connect it to an ipod or anything), but there's nowhere I could try the Sennheiser on at.

Other ones I've been looking closely at are the Audio Technica ATH-ANC7B and the Bose QuietComfort 3.

I'm looking for a combination of high sound quality, comfort, portability/compactness, and good noise-cancellation.

Any advice/help you could give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Justin24]

have you thought of Earphones? For the Headphones I would go with Sennheiser they build quality headphones. If you decide to go with Earphones, then I would go with Shure. The best Earphones ever, hell even better than headphones. It blocks out all noise with out using any batteries. Well worth the price.

 

[coolian2]

i went with bose (not noise canceling, because the extra cost didn't justify how rarely i'd want to have noise canceling headphones) and i'm very happy.

i have used friend's sennheiser headphones and was equally impressed.

really it's six one way, half dozen the other.

 

[Fernando-]

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD 202, they block outside noise pretty decently and they're a great product for it's low cost, although I want to try out the HD 457.

I don't really know much about Bose headphones, oher than Bose being a great brand for home theaters, etc. But I haven't tried their headphones for long peiods of time, I guess they're pretty good but they're expensive aswell.

 

[DRay9911]

have you thought of Earphones? For the Headphones I would go with Sennheiser they build quality headphones. If you decide to go with Earphones, then I would go with Shure. The best Earphones ever, hell even better than headphones. It blocks out all noise with out using any batteries. Well worth the price.

can't agree w/justin more on this one

from 6 months ago:

http://www.u2interference.com/forums/f304/the-claw-part-3-a-198212-3.html#post6186154

-dan

 

[namkcuR]

I went with the Sennhesier PXC-450. Thanks guys.

 

[Liesje]

My Sennheisers that are not "noise cancelling" block a good deal of noise!

 

[digitize]

I've never owned Bose or Sennheiser anything, so don't take this as personal experience. However, what I generally surmise from the audiophile community is that Sennheiser makes the best products, and Bose just jams highs and lows towards the center for "quality".