silverorange stuff

When I was researching noise-canceling headphones, the debate really came down to in-ear headphones (like buds but they go right in your ear canal) or active noise-canceling headphones. The in-ear headphones are noise-canceling by blocking out almost all noise, so you can't hear anything else. Apparently they're extremely good at this but I find them quite uncomfortable and therefore opted for the second option.

Noise Cancelation

I won't go into a scientific discussion of how active noise-canceling cans work. There are lots of sites that can give you a very thorough discussion and I'm certainly no engineer. The basic idea is that they're powered (the PXC350s have two AAA batteries) and play noise back at the white noise, thereby canceling it out. They're very good at killing really repetitive constant noise, especially like the noise in an airplane cabin. The Sennheisers also have a fairly tight seal around your ear that reduces how much noise the active-cancelation part needs to deal with.

So, did they work? Absolutely. I wore recently wore the Sennheisers on a transatlantic flight that was over ten hours each way and came through unscathed by headaches. I could wear them with no music playing but with the noise-cancelation enabled and they worked like a charm. Some cabin noise still filtered through, but the difference between enabled and disabled was very dramatic. Thumbs up!

Comfort

I planned to wear these headphones for long flights and also at work during the day, so comfort was an essential factor. When I tried the Bose Quiet Comfort 2 and 3 headphones (the 3s are smaller) I was concerned about comfort. The QC2s form a really tight seal just over the edge of my ear, which caused negative pressure for me — my ears popped quite frequently. The QC3s sit against your ear and I find this uncomfortable over prolonged periods, although their diminutive size is very attractive.

I find the Sennheiser PXC350s to be quite comfortable, even if they're a little large. The cup over the ear looks fairly normal size for a full-size set of headphones, but for some reason most Sennheiser cans make my ears feel like they're in a cavern. Don't get me wrong, they don't sound like a cavern, it just feels like there's over-ample room in there. The real test has been wearing them at my desk and on long flights and they excelled there.

Sound

Sound quality is, of course, critical. At $300, I would hope a set of headphones sound pretty kick-ass and the PXC350s deliver. They sound incredibly rich, with both subtlety and strong bass. They're leagues beyond their Bose rivals in this regard.

Portability

These Sennheiser's aren't tiny. Obviously in-ear headphones take them hands-down and most other noise-canceling headphones, including the Bose, are smaller. However, they do fold flat and the carrying case is fairly small... maybe a 1/4 larger than the Bose QC2 case. You'll need a reasonably-sized carry-on bag to take them with you on a trip.