Noise cancelling headphones negate ambient noise by creating antinoise. They do not totally remove noise, but higher-end models can significantly lower background noise. Noise-cancelling headphones come in all forms, from earphones to full-size headphones. Because you no longer have to increase the volume to overcome background noise, you can listen to music at lower volumes, which is much healthier for your hearing.

Philips SHN5600

With the price range of high end noise-cancelling headphones heading into hundreds of pounds, you can be forgiven for thinking that these cost the earth. Philips have proven that you can have a noise cancelling set that works well, without being too expensive, with their SHN5600 model.

According to Philips, the technology utelised in the SHN5600 eliminates approximately 85 percent of background noise. Of this percentage, a large portion will be low frequency, such as the noise of a jet engine. This essentially means you can travel, while listening to music, without the background noise.

Generally the audio quality is high. The bass, while not absent is a little lacking, but it can get a little distorted if the volume is too high. It is, however, still far superior to the bass on the majority of regular headphones, rivals have in the same price bracket. The mid-range sound quality may also be disappointing, to some of the more pedantic audiophiles, but I enjoy the performance offered by the SHN5600.

Regardless of the exact percentage, these headphones definitely block out the majority of the background noise, which means you can relax while travelling without the distractions of loud passengers or engines.

QuietComfort 15

While designing its fourth generation noise-cancelling headphones, known as the QuietComfort 15, for the mass market, Bose has retreated from redesigning the external look, focusing instead on redesigning the way they work. Now, with the QuietComfort 15 you get the popular QuietComfort 2 design with some major technology improvements such as more effective noise-cancelling technology and better sound quality.

As I previously mentioned regarding the QuietComfort 2, the softly cushioned earcups alone, without the noise-cancelling engaged were effective in sealing out background noise. Where the QuetComfort 2 only featured noise-cancelling microphones inside the earcups, the QuietComfort 15 boasts both internal and external noise-cancelling microphones, which dramatically increases their noise-cancelling quality. When you turn on the noise-cancelling effect (which generates anti-noise) the environmental sounds must be extremely loud to intrude upon your listening experience.

Regarding the sound quality, the QuietComfort 15 has a much smoother sound. The quality of the bass was much higher and the tones were more balanced. In the QuietComfort 2 and QuietComfort 3 series, Bose appeared to change the bass a little, pushing it up. I found that to be a little harder, although hip-hop fans may prefer this. The QuietComfort15 provides a tighter experience, but we agree that that may simply be a matter of personal preference.

Overall, we believe that both the Philips SHN5600 and the Bose Quietcomfort15 provide a much superior listening experience to consumers, regardless of what your budget may be.

I hope you enjoyed reading noise cancelling headphones review UK.