I’d heard of this magic, this “noise cancellation,” but I’d dismissed it pretty much out of hand. That’s pretty odd for me, given my deeply held faith in technology, especially tech connected to the the dark arts of audio. You’d think I’d have known better.
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As with most things, I blame my children. They have a history of taking (and losing or breaking) my headphones. There was no way I was going to spend any meaningful amount of money on replacements.
Instead, for the past several years, I have bought four to six sets at a time of the Panasonic RP-HJE120 ErgoFit earbuds, as needed. They’re cheap; they’re comfortable; they sound good; they come in fun colors. They’re durable, too—at least for normal use. I mean, my kids destroy them fairly quickly, but this is not a function of their price. My kids destroy expensive headphones just as quickly.
And I guess these earbuds share the blame for my ignorance. They have soft plastic ear pieces (three sizes!) that fit snugly into the ear, creating what I think is called “noise isolation”—the muggle version of noise cancellation. They worked well enough that I just hadn’t known what I was missing.
At some point, I heard someone—I don’t remember who, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were Tim Ferriss or one of his guests—talking about the wonder of noise cancellation. So I though I’d give them a try.
They’re expensive! At least, the ones that are highly reviewed are—$225 and up, emphasizing and up. People seem to think they’re worth every penny, but I wasn’t ready for that leap of faith.
So I hit eBay, and found a used, previous-generation pair of Sony WH-1000MX2 bluetooth headphones for $130 or so. (New, both my older version and the newer MX3 seem to run closer to $350, so yay me!) I charged them up, turned them on, put them on my head and…
I’m a believer.
Understand what I’m up against: Family Guy, or Rick and Morty, or Red Dead Redemption II, all enhanced with non-stop teenager commentary; music permeating the walls (I’m not complaining—I was a musician and have earned my karma); wrestling matches, not to mention the occasionally more serious altercations. All reduced to the most distant din, to near silence.
I don’t know how my older version compares to the newer version, or to others’ favorites (people like Bose, apparently). And, as a new and eager convert, I imagine it will be hard not to go hunting to see what’s better. But for now?
Ah, blesséd silence.
[Update: The WH-1000MX2’s that I got off ebay ended up having an annoying click in one ear, which seems to be a common problem. So I ended up buying the newer version (MX3). I’m very happy with them.]