If you fly a lot you’ll see more and more people wearing their own headphones, usually active noise cancelling.
My first experience with noise canceling headphones came the first year United flew the new Boeing 777. Upgraded to business class, the headphones were nicer and had a noise cancellation switch. It made a noticeable difference.
Active noise cancellation headphones work using a small microphone to listen to the outside noise then generate a sound pattern that neutralizes that noise as it reaches your ear.
Not everyone can wear in-ear headphones, they find them uncomfortable and I’m sure certain ear conditions make in-ear headphones unsuitable. I can. I’m not sure I would ever go back to regular headphones. I find them more comfortable (once you get used to having something stuck in your ear). I can even sleep wearing them, something I could never do with traditional headphone.
At CES I was talking to the Shure people and they shared a paper written by Virginia Tech that showed that noise isolation headphones outperformed active noise cancellation headphones, a result I find empirically accurate.
My current favorites are the Etymotic 6i isolation headphones, they came with a selection of ear buds (Available at Amazon Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator Earphones). Same noise isolation as my E3c’s (lost on an airplane), but they deliver much better sound quality.
Noise canceling/isolation headphones are “the only way to fly.” Being on only one flight with the screaming baby 3 rows back will convince you. They are also great when you need to concentrate at the office or some other noisy environment.
