The QuietComfort 15 headphones ($300) are Bose’s newest noise-cancelling headphones. I had two of an earlier model, the QC 2, because when they broke I couldn’t bear to be without one for two weeks. I used them while walking on my treadmill and riding the subway. BART is noisy.
The model numbers went 1, 2, 3, 15. And, yeah, the QC 15 is much better than the QC 2 and QC 3, which were about the same. The first time I wore them on BART, when I got out of the subway I noticed I didn’t feel exhausted, the way I usually did after a subway ride. I felt normal. The noise had been exhausting.
I did the same experiment on BART after noticing how much less exhausted I felt after flying with QC2s.
I’ve ended up using Apple’s in ear ($80) earbuds which block out a lot of sound as a regular compromise. They aren’t as good as the QCs, but they are a lot easier to wear in public.
I find that the noise of busy streets is similarly exhausting, and these have made a huge difference to my general sense of well-being.
My days typically involve a total of 24 minutes walking to and from BART stations along a big noisy street, about 10 minutes of waiting on BART platforms and 16 minutes of BART rides — I now always wear Mack earplugs, have been for 3 or more years — life is much calmer. I can relax and “hear myself think”. It seems to accentuate my vision — I notice more visually. I would predict that it lowers my blood pressure a little… It took a few days of adjustment before I became comfortable wearing them, but now, they are essential….
I agree, steady noise causes fatigue. Airplanes are the worst for this.
I very strongly recommend ‘musicians earplugs‘ instead of noise-canceling headphones.
This finally pushed me over the edge. Just bought them.
I prefer the in-ear headphones that suppress external noise due to their flanged plugs (like earplugs). They are very small and require no power source. They are great for yardwork when using the lawnmower or leaf blower which is also a great opportunity to listen to a good book.
@ Timothy Beneke,
you might want to try Flents “Quiet! Please” Ear Plugs. The NRR 29 gives you 7 extra decibels of noise reduction over Mac’s. 25 pair cost ~ $8.00. Downsides: a little time-consuming and solipsistic.
I used to buy foam ear plugs by the industrial case for my wife when she was in nursing school and then working on her CRNA — she would use them and give them to friends. They work very well. You can clean them by tossing them in the laundry, just put them in a button down pocket on a pair of pants or a shirt.
They really worked well. Flents is a brand of foam ear plugs.
Of course you can’t listen to music or podcasts with the earplugs the way you can with noise cancellation ear phones.
the new headphones make possible something that wasn’t possible before: Watching a film on BART on the way home from San Francisco. The below-bay portion of BART is very noisy.