Sennheiser PXC 250 Consumer Headphones

I bought some Koss over the ear noise cancelling headphones and tried them on a cross country trip. Too heavy and too uncomfortable - I took them off before the trip was over and then returned them.

Next I bought the Sony open air noise cancelling headphones (not the earbuds, the over the head ones with foam at the ears.) I wasn't convinced that it was any quieter with them on than off, though it was easier to hear the movie soundtracks. They went back to the store as well.

Folks say great things about the Bose phones, but let's face it, spending that much money to listen to music under less than ideal conditions just didn't make sense.

Finally, I got these Sennheisers, and they are just right for me. They are build like over the ear headphones, but are smaller so that they sit on your ears. They have some sort of soft leather-like rings that block out some of the sound, and then the electronics cancel the rest. But they are so light that I can wear them on a trip to Japan from Colorado and not notice that they are there.

The sound is very good, but frankly I never use these when I'm off a plane so it's hard to say how their fidelity compares to other 'phones as the conditions on a plane are lousy. Once you use these on a plane however, you will never go back to anything else - movie sountracks are clear, music sounds full and bright and the drone of the engines just goes away.

I have good headphones for use at home and use a set of earbuds when in a hotel as the control box for the NC phones is really a pain. If you have a shirt pocket, no problem, but with a T shirt there's really no good place to put the thing.

Comes in a nice carrying case, big enough for me to fit in extra batteries, my iPod and a pair of Sennheiser earbuds. Only time I've replaced the batteries is when I forgot to turn them off when the plane landed.

Don't expect complete silence on a plane, other than maybe the Bose that just isn't going to happen.