So Cactus is looking for the Cristal of noise cancelling headphones.

Headphones being something I’m quite keen on I thought I’d post up my thoughts here. I’ve got quite a few pairs and I’ve tried a good range too. My current main stays are Sennheiser HD25s, Sennheiser HD 465s, Sony Over the ear buds for running and a pair of Audio Technica closed back active noise cancellers.

We’re talking noise cancellers today though…

While I’m a major Sennheiser enthusiast their noise cancellers just don’t cut it I’m afraid. I’m also not a major fan of in ear noise cancelling phones. It’s worth the extra weight and bulk penalty to get proper closed back units. The only other major draw back is they make your ears sweat on a long flight.

There are really only a couple of top notch mainstream technology providers in the field. Bose and Phitek. Bose sell their own phones, Phitek mainly OEM- think Audio Technica, Creative, Phillips and Blackbox (their house brand).

Were money no object I’d probably get the Bose QC2 or QC3 unit. I prefer the QC2 over ear design, but the QC3 has better battery options.

There is not a lot I can fault about the Audio Technica units. They’re the closest I’ve found to the Bose phones and are only about SG$300 @ Changi (not seen them anywhere else). Someone did mention that AirNZ gave Blackbox phones as an ption for the Gold Elite gift this year. Looked pretty dodgy to me, a cheap OEM unit so I went for the working style shirt…. hard to $%&^% up an Egyptian cotton shirt.

In HKG next month for a few days Kate… if you want to go shopping.