Noise-Cancelling Headphones on Intercontinental Flight

[MountainCreek]

Anyone with tinnitus who has any experience of these noise cancelling headphones on intercontinental flights? Are they safe to use? Without listening to anything, just blocking out the noise from the engines?

My worry is that since they do double the noise to cancel it by destructive interference, what would happen if the phase shift was not perfect and the amplitudes added up instead of canceled out? It would rise the roar up to twice the volume.

Are they really safe to use?

 

[Julien87]

I don't know but I have the same question so I am bumping your thread
I will have my first long haul flight next month (going to Japan ) and I plan buying a pair of headphones. I usually fly with earplugs but I would like headphones for comfort matters. Does anyone have a model to recommend and is it risky to take "noise cancelling" ones?

 

[Mettafort]

I have the Bose QuietComfort 35. The noise cancelling is excellent and help me with my T/H.

 

[linearb]

I do not like noise cancellation because it makes my ears and head feel weird, and I've never really trusted it as a form of protection.

I wear silicone earplugs or over-the-ear shooters muffs on long flights. If you have problems equalizing pressure, earplugs may not be a good idea. In fact, they may not be a good idea at all during ascent and descent, but I've used them dozens of times without problems and therefore will continue to.

 

[Julien87]

Thank you for your answers.
My question might sound stupid but are there headphones that protect from noise while not being actively "noise cancelling"?

 

[Bill Bauer]

I don't know but I have the same question so I am bumping your thread
I will have my first long haul flight next month (going to Japan ) and I plan buying a pair of headphones. I usually fly with earplugs but I would like headphones for comfort matters. Does anyone have a model to recommend and is it risky to take "noise cancelling" ones?

I am also concerned about this. My plan is to wear earplugs with my noise cancelling headphones. I also plan to alternate wearing noise cancelling headphones with over-the-ear shooters muffs, during the flight...

 

[Bill Bauer]

Thank you for your answers.
My question might sound stupid but are there headphones that protect from noise while not being actively "noise cancelling"?

These muffs are similar to the ones that those guys outside of the plane have:
https://www.amazon.com/3M-Peltor-Over-Earmuffs-X5A/dp/B00CPCHBCQ

I will be receiving my pair later this week. I am worried that they may not be as comfortable as the expensive Bose noise cancelling headphones.

 

[Julien87]

Thank you Bill. If I don't find headphones that do the trick I might buy the "thin" yellow Peltor ones, they are the most discreet of the range and their protection seems to be more than enough.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Are they the ones that have Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) of 21 dB? Or the ones with NRR of 25dB? There is a big difference between 25dB and 31dB... Are you sure you want to take your chances with T? I plan to be wearing noise-cancelling headphones as I board the plane and walk to my seat. I don't mind it if the people in my isle think that I am a weirdo. This is a better outcome than having to live with a (possibly permanent) spike....

 

[Julien87]

The 27 ones (chartreuse colour actually, not yellow, my bad)

 

[Bill Bauer]

Keep in mind that 6dB = twice the sound pressure
http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-levelchange.htm
So a difference of 4 dB is significant (more than 50% louder?)...

 

[Julien87]

Yes, I know, but I still think an NRR of 27 dB is enough in this case.

 

[Bill Bauer]

In contrast, I am worried that 31 dB is not going to be enough...

 

[Julien87]

Have you already taken a plane? (real question) It's not so loud.
I'm not even sure any protection is necessary actually. I do it just in case. But with ear muffs + earplugs you are definitely well protected (overprotected in my opinion but that's not bad)

 

[Bill Bauer]

I haven't taken a plane since this nightmare began.
"The noise during a typical plane journey can vary significantly. Take-off and landing are the loudest moments, when noise levels inside the cabin can reach 105 decibels (dB). At cruising altitudes, noise drops to around 85 dB,"

When I enter NRR of 31 and sound level 105 into
https://www.noisemeters.com/apps/occ/prot-nrr.asp
I get 93 db, which is still very loud!!!

Isle seats are supposed to be quieter. I have been dreaming about my trip for a long time, but I am leaning towards cancelling it...

 

[Julien87]

can reach 105 dB means it can happen for a brief moment (and I guess it is during the few seconds of acceleration just before leaving the ground), but really, during 99,99% of your time on board the level will be below 90 dB

 

[Bill Bauer]

During the incident that caused my three-months old T, I was exposed to noise for a quarter or half a second... That's all it takes to get T in a Healthy ear (and not in a compromised ear like our ears)...

By the way, to estimate the protection you get by wearing foam earplugs under muffs, add 5 dB to NRR of the device with the highest NRR:
http://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/extra-protection-wearing-earmuffs-and-1218
I will get about 36 dB protection. I will be sitting in an isle seat towards the front of the plane. (I also plan to lean during take-off and get my head as close to the center of the isle as possible.) This will provide me with about 6dB additional protection, for a total of 42 dB protection.

One leg of my journey involves flying on a turbo-prop plane, where the noise can get up to 118dB.....

 

[MikeA]

Thank you for your answers.
My question might sound stupid but are there headphones that protect from noise while not being actively "noise cancelling"?

I really like the Direct Sound EX-29 Dynamic Closed Headphones.
https://www.extremeheadphones.com/ex-29-headphones-review-by-austin-burcham/
I have the Ex-29 and love them. I've checked noise levels in cabins. They tend to average around 80-85 dB. Take around 25 off of 85 and there's no worries with your ears exposed to at most 60 dB. Nice soft music or white noise in those headphones is much better than hearing all the chatter and noise on your typical flight.

 

[maltese]

During the incident that caused my three-months old T, I was exposed to noise for a quarter or half a second... That's all it takes to get T in a Healthy ear (and not in a compromised ear like our ears)...

By the way, to estimate the protection you get by wearing foam earplugs under muffs, add 5 dB to NRR of the device with the highest NRR:
http://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/extra-protection-wearing-earmuffs-and-1218
I will get about 36 dB protection. I will be sitting in an isle seat towards the front of the plane. (I also plan to lean during take-off and get my head as close to the center of the isle as possible.) This will provide me with about 6dB additional protection, for a total of 42 dB protection.

One leg of my journey involves flying on a turbo-prop plane, where the noise can get up to 118dB.....

my friend, as someone who flies 5-12 times a year I'll this - you're masively overestimating the noise levels.

I flew with moderate H and only a broken pair of headphones as protection and I only had a minimal spike.

Take off is loud, landing is very, very loud. No hearing protection will protect you - it's all very low frequencies and/or vibrations. But relax, it's just a brief moment. There's nothing to worry about.

 

[Bill Bauer]

No hearing protection will protect you - it's all very low frequencies and/or vibrations.

Bose noise-cancelling headphones seem to provide good protection as far as low frequencies are concerned (high-frequencies - not so much).

 

[Julien87]

Thank you Mike

 

[DanielJP]

I fly at least a few times every year, usually two of them long distance 10-11 hours one-way. I'm using Bose QuietComfort 20i, and I have for a few years now. They work great for me and I haven't noticed then having any bad influence on my T.

@Julien87 I live in Tokyo. What places do you plan to visit? Anything in particular you're interested in?