Best Ear Protection for Flights — What About Noise Cancelling Headphones?

[Samantha R]

Hi Everyone,

I've been researching this topic, but thought it would make things clearer getting recommendations from you guys on here....

I'm going on a 10 hour flight in just over a week.
Last long haul I did, I used a pair of my husband's ear muffs (industrial grade, not sure of the brand).

Which ear muffs are best for cutting out low frequency noise?
What about noise cancelling headphones? Any that offer protection as well?

Thanks in advance!

Sam.

 

[another sean]

I found these to be the best so far. And very comfortable, too.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CPCHBCQ/

 

[Samantha R]

Thanks @another sean

 

[GregCA]

Which ear muffs are best for cutting out low frequency noise?
What about noise cancelling headphones? Any that offer protection as well?

I highly recommend the Bose noise cancelling headphones for flying. They'll cut out the engine/drone noise while letting you listen to music or watch shows at low volume, if you chose to play content.

 

[Jack Straw]

I recently went on a 2.5 hour flight. I know its not as long as 10 hours, but this is what I did.

Nothing when ascending (was concerned about pressure issues when wearing ear plugs), but when I got to altitude I wore foam ear plugs 32 db reduction and 26 db reduction ear muffs.

Is it say to wear foam ear plugs when ascending and descending? I can't find a definitive answer to this.

Also, earplanes are next to useless for me. they cut ZERO sound out and I don't think helped at all with pressure changes.

 

[Samantha R]

@GregCA I was hoping to buy some noise cancelling headphones. They are more comfortable to wear than ear muffs, even if I don't play any sound.
I read somewhere (and it might have been on here), that they emit their own sound to cancel out the external sound, but that our ears were still exposed to this noise (even though we can't hear it), and therefore there is the potential for damage.
I don't seem to be able to validate this with a Google search, hence I'm picking your brains.
Thanks!

 

[GregCA]

@GregCA I was hoping to buy some noise cancelling headphones. They are more comfortable to wear than ear muffs, even if I don't play any sound.
I read somewhere (and it might have been on here), that they emit their own sound to cancel out the external sound, but that our ears were still exposed to this noise (even though we can't hear it), and therefore there is the potential for damage.

I don't think that's accurate. Noise cancelling headphones work via destructive interference. See http://www.phys.uconn.edu/~gibson/Notes/Section5_2/Sec5_2.htm - in particular the second "addition" chart. You can see that the resulting wave is null, which is what ends up hitting your ear drum.

For those who prefer watching over reading:


That's the theory and the math behind it. In practice, the destruction isn't perfect, so you don't actually get a "zero flat line", but you generally get a signal that is much attenuated, especially in some frequency bands.

Now if you get a piece of hardware that doesn't do its job (or that doesn't do it well), then you can imagine all kinds of problems on the resulting signal, but that isn't specific to NC headphones. Your phone could be responsible for a bogus signal, your receiver, amplifier, regular headphones, etc... Everything in the chain from the signal to your ear drum tries to process the signal as accurately as possible, but bugs or quality issues can happen anywhere in the chain.

I imagine you can try them for a period and return them if you find you're not reacting well to them.

 

[Samantha R]

@Jack Straw Thanks so much for your response. I have funny shaped ear canals (according to the audiologist), and I think that explains why I have so much trouble
putting ear plugs in.
I tried ear planes on my last flight but couldn't get the damn things in my left ear! Lol.
I use disposable silicone plugs which you just mould to the shape of your ear. I'll use ear muffs (Peltor) or noise cancelling headphones as well as these I think.

 

[Samantha R]

@GregCA
Thank you so much, yes that clears things up.
I like the video too.

 

[linearb]

I use silicone plugs cut in half, because I don't find planes loud enough to need too much reduction, and silicone is easy to get in and out so that I can adjust to pressure changes on the way up and down. Also, for flights longer than an hour or so, I find silicone a lot more comfortable than foam plugs or muffs. Foam plugs give me ear pain after a couple hours, and muffs tend to give me a headache and are very clunky, I no longer bring them when I travel.