Travel headphone recommendations?
I do a fair bit of long-haul air travel. I'd like to get a decent pair of headphones or earphones or whatever that I can use on the plane.
Desirable features:
- Small (I'm traveling)
- Robust (I'm traveling)
- Block out or cancel noise (I'm traveling economy)
- Comfortable (I'm traveling economy for about thirty hours door-to-door)
- Work without power source (thirty hours, dammit)
- Plug into those two-prong things they have in planes
- Can be used as a skype headset (this is a bit of a long shot)
posted by jml @ 2:18 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
My previous headphones had a physical break last sprint (since repaired) so had a "ZOMG need headphones" moment for the trip home.
Options at Heathrow T4 being limited :-/ picked up some Bose Quiet Comfort 2 headphones.
Not small, but not too bad. Moderately robust - they came with a hardish travel case, and the cups rotate to be flat.
Plug is removable - so you can sleep with them on - tried and tested. Which also answers the comfort option. :-)
You can buy those two prong plugs for $5 at DSE - tho istr, I only needed one for the trip out, not back.
They do significantly reduce (vs eliminate) engine noise, can still hear PA announcements.
AAA battery powered - lasted the entire trip back (35ish hours) for me and then some.
And I just discovered that they have a mic option - which I'm just about to order. Hopefully will arrive in time for my next thumper "quick call?" ;-)
hth!
I'm pretty sure "travelling" has two L's in Australia. :)
I previously had some Phillips (?) active noise cancelling headphones, but broke them through fitting them in to a carry-on-sized backpack with my other stuff. They were ok. Active noise cancellation is certainly a neat trick.
Until recently I had some Shure in-ear phones: basically like foam earplugs but with speakers in them. They have some substantial advantages: they're much smaller and lighter, therefore easier to pack without breaking, they don't need batteries and cannot run flat, and they arguably sound better.
The noise suppression, being passive, can't be turned off so if you use them in an office you won't hear voices clearly, which may be either good or bad at different times. You can leave one of them out as a workaround.
They work reasonably well under a motorcycle helmet depending on the space around the ears, though that's presumably not an issue for you. However the flappy cord is annoying, and on my next long trip I'll probably try regular plugs plus a bluetooth speaker.
If I was going to get earphones again I'd probably try the Etymotic ER6i.
I would also recommend bringing an in-line volume control (~$5), because the in-seat AV source is at a very high level and too loud to listen to with most headphones.
Post a Comment
<< Home