I too am a fan of Sennheiser headphones.
I'm not sure why you didn't compare any of their noise canceling products.

Good to see some more Jarrett fans reviewing goods!

I used active noise cancellation headphones for a few years (Bose and Solitude models). I flew about twice a week so they were pretty essential. I was happy but they were still big lugs to carry around.

Then I found in the ear models passive cancellation models from Etymotic and Shute. These are much smaller, much cheaper, cancel noise better and don't require batteries. To top it off, they don't alter the sound in any way. Both Etymotic and Shure make recording studio headphones and earplugs. This is an area where unaltered sound is very important. The only thing you have to get used to is the "deep ear insertion" required to get a good fit.

In other words, get a pair of Shure or Etymotic and you'll be just as happy, plus you can take your significant other out for dinner a couple of times with the money you saved.

I'm glad to see a review of noise cancelling headphones. I would have like to know how the noise cancellation capabilities of each compared to the QC2's (I understand the sound was distorted, but still).

As for the comment about shildren being to young to fly I was traveling with my parents before my first birthday and often after than and they never had a problem. I suggest rather than assuming the children are to young look at the parents and figure out what they are doing wrong or pitty the childs ear infection.

I've purchased Bose (both models), Sony (2models) and JVC noise canceling headphones.
The JVC HA-NC100 Noise Canceling Headphones are my favorite because of the retractable cord which is always the perfect length. Noise caceling is minimally better on the big Bose model but the added convience of the retractable cord make the JVCs much more convient at about one fifth the cost. I hate the redundant cords of the other models and there isn't much difference in the noise canceling features.

I'm also amazed why there isn't Sennheiser's PXC-450 headphones in this review. Or Boses. The review could have done against in ear canal head phones, which give passively very good noise attenuation.

You could have done some scientific test as well. Put a microphone inside a plastic head and give actual results how much background noise we can hear.

Do your review properly and complete, or rename the topic.

I would love to see a complete noise canceling headphone review.

Review good - but closing comment on kids too flippant.

Very informative review. On other forums it has also been reported that the earpieces of Bose QCII earpieces tend to shed small black bits after three years or so.

Separately, the closing remarks on kids in airplanes seemed a bit too flippant. The corollary is that parents should only take family vacations by car (assuming they own one) for the first seven years, and certainly never take a tropical beach vacation (which is about the only practical destination with young kids). It also suggests that a country's foriegn representatives and embassy staff should be inexperienced or lifetime childless, since a career diplomat who has a family must, of course, relocate. (That was me with the 3 year old on that 12 hour trans-pacific flight.)
If kids on planes are a problem for you, I suggest you look at the plane seating diagram and locate away from the crib locations (usually at the front wall of the economy section). Because babies are put there, airlines also tend to put other minors close by. Seating yourself at the back, or ponying up for business class, should help you out. If you have been using your frequent flyer privileges to book at the front of economy you may have been partly responsible for your own misery.

Also note that it is kids who will pay your future pension plan (even if you have are "fully funded" private plan), since investments and factories are useless if there is no one in the workforce to make things run. You can't live by eating your pension plan reports - there is a real economy behind the paper that needs a constant inflow of new workers to match the deaths and retirements. Families do a job for us all.

Great review, but I take issue with the comment about children being too young to fly. They have the same right to travel as everyone else and if their crying bothers you, it's the price you pay for living in society. Get over it.

JVC model specs at 150 kHz? I hope someone will have some sort of super human hearing to care about 16.5 dB noise reduction at that frequency. (I hope the author meant 150 Hz and this is only a typo).

"Either choice would be perfect for the next time you are seated in front of some screaming snot-nosed brat whose parents aren?t considerate enough to realize he is too young to be traveling!"

This comment makes me envision a grossly overweight unshaven AWESOME person reading 'Dangerous Women' that always gives dirty looks when something they dont approve of happens. Thanks for completely ruining this article with that line.

Noise-cancelling headphones aren't going to do a thing about screaming children (or adults conducting loud, annoying conversations, for that matter). If anything, these headphones will let you hear them MORE clearly.

I agree with the poster above on the in-ear headphones (Shures and Etymotics). Way better sound, much smaller, and do a great job of blocking all noise. I used to use noise-cancelling headphones, now I use Shure E3c's.

Just wait until you have kids, snide boy, and family far away.

"the next time you are seated in front of some screaming snot-nosed brat whose parents aren?t considerate enough to realize he is too young to be traveling!"

Guess you don't have kids eh? Too bad your parents had some?

What're parents supposed to do, live under a rock for 10 years (assuming they have only one child). Travel is a necessity in todays world. I had to bring a 6 month old with a mild fever across country on a plane packed with male business travellers, and she wailed all four hours. It was more miserable for me by far than the people next to me, because I was the one so embarrassed. I apologized to the older gentleman next to me so much, he said "Listen, don't say you're sorry. That's what being a father is, and the baby can't help it. Anyone who gives you a hard time about that is selfish, and doesn't deserve your apology anyways".

You're old enough to travel at 6 months, and if it bothers you so much that people do, try first class, or a pair of these headphones - and try and be a little more emphathetic and professional when you close your article.

It was a decent read till the jab at the end.

I mean, I know these comments are beating you up, and maybe it was supposed to be funny. But the first rule in article writing is write to your audience, and that's where you kicked the bucket.
People interested in peace & quiet who travel a lot are likely are of a mature age and so must find ways to include family in all that travelling, espeically with everyone so spread out over the world.

That would be the audience to write to; and to avoid writing not only incredibly snide but judgemental and uninformed opinions on their lifestyles as your punchline!

you definately need to include a Sennheiser in the mix there. they have noise cancelling models -- several for you to choose from. I got a pcx 250 & found it was one of the better $125 purchases i made.

As for noisy kids on airplanes? .. take their parents earplugs out

You should actually try out the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7s. They retail for about $125 on amazon. Sound quality is amazing, and the noise cancellation is definitely on par with the bose sets.

Another vote for the Shure in-ear models. I use the 3c, and not only do they sound great, that mentioned kid could also wield a jackhammer and the in-ear 'phones -30dB of natural noise reduction will save your soul. Using noise to cancel noise may be necessary in extreme environments (e.g. helicopters), but otherwise follow the audiophile rules of: 1) keep it simple, (here: seal the ear canal instead of gimmickry), and 2) avoid Bose.

The first generation Bose Quiet Comfort noise canceling headphones were the best noise canceling headphones ever created. If you turn the noise reduction on without playing any audio through the headphones you can't even hear someone standing next to you talking at a normal volume in a crowded room. You can't hear any white noise or static. You also get perfectly flat sound.

Bose's second generation headphones hardly do any noise reduction at all. The noise reduction in the Bose QC2 and QC3 headphones (if it even exists) sounds just like the passive noise reduction in the Bose Tri-Port headphones that you get from a cover the ear design. You get considerably worse sound quality than the first generation Bose noise canceling headphones to boot. Uncompressed CD audio sounds like a 64K MP3 file on the Bose QC2 and QC3 headphones.

Another thumbs-up here for the passive noise-reduction that a pair of Etymotic's give. Couldn't imagine life without them now.

I thought, at the time, about buying noise-cancelling. But, didn't want the restrictions of sound quality, plus the hassles of batteries & battery life.

For some parents, their refulgent offsprings are mellifluent. Your anecdote was certainly no more barbarous than parental ineptitude in stifling their brats. Keep writing!