headphones for ipod

[Michael Weber]

Kind of embarassing to admit I know nothing about music technology but..... My wife is going to be on an airplane for 12 hours and we bought her a small ipod (the tiny one) to listen to music and blank some of the aircraft noise. She has decided she would like noise cancelling over the ear headphones instead of the buds that came with the ipod. Looking online at Amazon, I can't really tell for sure if the ones that are sold will work with ipods. Will the little ipod drive the larger headphones? We looked at a set of smaller noise cancelling headphones last night at Sam's Club, but again no mention on the package of them working with an ipod although they were on the shelf right beside some ipod ear buds. Cost is a factor as always. Not looking to spend 200 dollars. Maybe someone knows of a better solution? To me, tight fitting earbuds would seem to block the most noise but sometimes battles aren't worth fighting

[Matt Meiser]

I've got a set of Skull Candy brand ear buds that I bought when I forgot my better ones. The sound great and because they are "noise isolating" they work great on planes. I can just barely hear that they are making an announcement so I know when to pull them out so I can hear, but they really block out the aircraft and occupant noise. I think I paid $17 or something. Might want to have her try those before spending the big bucks on active noise cancelling.

[Greg Portland]

Kind of embarassing to admit I know nothing about music technology but..... My wife is going to be on an airplane for 12 hours and we bought her a small ipod (the tiny one) to listen to music and blank some of the aircraft noise. She has decided she would like noise cancelling over the ear headphones instead of the buds that came with the ipod. Looking online at Amazon, I can't really tell for sure if the ones that are sold will work with ipods. Will the little ipod drive the larger headphones? We looked at a set of smaller noise cancelling headphones last night at Sam's Club, but again no mention on the package of them working with an ipod although they were on the shelf right beside some ipod ear buds. Cost is a factor as always. Not looking to spend 200 dollars. Maybe someone knows of a better solution? To me, tight fitting earbuds would seem to block the most noise but sometimes battles aren't worth fighting

Go get a set of Etymotic ER6. They are basically ear plugs that completely block all sound (crying babies, etc.). Your ipod should easily be able to drive them and you can get a pair for ~$70. Shure, Ultimate Ears, and Westone all sell similar products (over a wide price range). The only downside to in-ear phones is finding the fit & ear sealed correctly.

I have nothing positive to say about active noise cancelling headphones. They don't block noise as well, they are more expensive, and they have lower sound quality.

[Greg Cuetara]

I know you don't want to spend the $$ but if there is any chance you will use them often a good set of over the ear noise cancelling headphones are worth the money. I have the Bose Quietcomfort II over the ear and that is one of the best purchases of my life. I use them every day at work and take them while traveling.

for one of your questions most of the over the ear noise cancelling headphones run on their own power. the QCII run off a AAA battery in one of the ear pieces so they don't draw power from any device that you have. You do need to realize that noise cancelling headphones only cancel the ambient noise around you which is nice because on a plane I have had them on and talk to the flight attendant in a low soft voice because i can hear her and myself but she can't hear me becuase of all the noise. I end up taking them off so that I can talk to other people.

Good Luck,
Greg

[Larry Browning]

I don't think anyone has answered your basic question yet. Most everything about ipods are proprietary, except the headphone jack. They have the industry standard jack, so just about any modern headphone or ear buds will work fine with your ipod. So your set of choices is pretty much unlimited (by the ipod anyway). I think the reason the marketing info never mentions them working with the ipod is that they all work with ipods so why bother using up valuable space telling you they can do what every other one can do. Also, any of these headphones can be used with the airline sound system now days, so if she wants to use them to watch a movie or listen to one of the music channels on the plane, she can do that as well.

I really like the over the ear headphone better than any of the other choices. I find that for long periods of time anything else bothers me. The on the ear headphones and the ear buds make my ears sore. I suppose if you could get the ear buds that have the custom fitted ear pieces those would be fine, but I have not had a pair of those.
I have a pair of audio-technica noise canceling headphones that I got after quite a bit of research and really do like them. They were rated as good or better than the Bose at about 1/2 the price. I suppose the one thing I don't like about them is that they are large as compared to the ear buds and you have to keep up with them and it's case. The ear buds usually come with a small case that can easily fit in a shirt pocket of purse.

[Greg Portland]

I don't think anyone has answered your basic question yet. Most everything about ipods are proprietary, except the headphone jack. They have the industry standard jack, so just about any modern headphone or ear buds will work fine with your ipod.

Certain headphones have a high input impedance and are not recommended for portable use unless you have a headphone amp. In the <$100 category I don't think Michael has to worry about this issue.

I suppose if you could get the ear buds that have the custom fitted ear pieces those would be fine, but I have not had a pair of those.

The better IEMs (in ear monitors) come with multiple sizes of ear pieces so you can use the one that fits. As you mention, custom molds are the best but $$$.

Note that IEMs are NOT like cheap ear buds... they are designed to seal in the ear canal (versus sit in the ear) and be comfortable.

[Jim Matthews]

+1 on the Etymotic ER6.

The cheap earbuds will be no better at noise isolation than their seal.
If the seal is an open foam - it's basically a spacer - plenty of room for noise infiltration.

For those moments she's not listening to music, I highly recommend the disposable earplugs available at your hardware store.
They really work.

[Ben Hatcher]

I bought these to listen to music while mowing the lawn or working in the shop. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o04_s01_i00

They are regular old earmuffs with built in speakers. They work very well and the sound is surprisingly good for $35 delivered. They are a bit bulky for travel, but so are most active noise canceling headphones mentioned thus far.

[Jerome Stanek]

I have a pair of the ryobi noise canceling head phones and they have a jack to plug your ipod in

[Matt Meiser]

Another thing to keep in mind is that active ones are pretty big compared to ear buds. Which means they weigh more and take up more room in a bag. All important travel considerations. A little here and there adds up to a lot quickly.

[Chuck Wintle]

Kind of embarassing to admit I know nothing about music technology but..... My wife is going to be on an airplane for 12 hours and we bought her a small ipod (the tiny one) to listen to music and blank some of the aircraft noise. She has decided she would like noise cancelling over the ear headphones instead of the buds that came with the ipod. Looking online at Amazon, I can't really tell for sure if the ones that are sold will work with ipods. Will the little ipod drive the larger headphones? We looked at a set of smaller noise cancelling headphones last night at Sam's Club, but again no mention on the package of them working with an ipod although they were on the shelf right beside some ipod ear buds. Cost is a factor as always. Not looking to spend 200 dollars. Maybe someone knows of a better solution? To me, tight fitting earbuds would seem to block the most noise but sometimes battles aren't worth fighting

i think the part that plugs into the ipod is a standard size, about 3mm i think, so if they are next to the ipod's then they should work. as for noise cancelling probably best to look on the respective websites to see the specs of them. This is a spec they should publish.

[Harry Hagan]

I just buy the best that Costco has to offer since whatever your buy will invariably fail and Costco will refund the purchase price without a hassle no matter how long it’s been. The dog ate the first set that came with my iPod. The second and third high-priced sets failed after a year or two. I’m now on my second set from Costco.

[Jim Becker]

The iPod will work just fine with the noise canceling headphones. There are noise canceling earbuds, but just the nature of the beast doesn't provide as good of a solution than over-the-ear types, like Bose or similar, do. Do note that anything with a "low" price may not necessarily provide true noise canceling action, no matter what the description says. It does require circuitry with complex algorithms to pull off because it involves combining the live sound with a phase inverted version of the same sound to "cancel" them out. There is a cost to do that.

[Michael Weber]

Very useful information. Thanks to everyone. Talking to my wife, I find the noise she finds most objectionable other than the constant roar of the engines is the sudden "bongs" over the PA system that are for getting your attention or whatever. reading the discription of how noise canceling works, it wouldn't mask this sudden noise which she claims only happens as she is just about to get to sleep. We'll go shopping tonight to see whats available in either an iem or earphones that completely cover the ear, noise cancelling or not.

[Matt Meiser]

My ear buds are pretty effective at blocking that. I think I might have lied on the price though. They might have been a whole $35.

Pretty sure these are what I've got:
http://www.amazon.com/Skullcandy-Tit...6058828&sr=8-2

They are pretty comfortable for long use. I used to wear them mowing under ear muffs before I got the AO Safety ear muffs with the MP3 input. That would be about 3 to 3-1/2 hours.