If you were to ask us here at the Business Travel Guru the best thing you can take along on a flight to help you travel better, our answer would be a good set of noise cancelling headphones. For many years I flew without a pair, but after purchasing my first set I don’t know how I flew without them!  I mean I used to be one of those people who could never sleep on a flight, how things have changed now I sleep on the plane when I want or need to.

Having had the opportunity to own or demo most of the major Noise Cancelling Headphone sets on the market today, we decided write up this Noise Cancelling Headphones Review & Comparison, so that you can select the best pair for your needs and budget.

Not being someone shy of technology, I decided to take up an offer to review a set of Sennheiser PXC 450 Noise Cancelling Headphones. My previous experience with noise cancelling headphones includes owning the following sets, Sennheiser PXC 250, PlaneQuiet Platinum, and Bose QuietComfort2 Noise Cancelling Headphones.

At first sight the Sennheiser PXC 450 Noise Cancelling Headphones are comparable in size to Bose QuietComfort2 Noise Cancelling Headphones, yet much larger than the Sennheiser PXC 250. Sound quality & noise cancelling wise all three of my previous sets have nothing on the Sennheiser PXC 450’s. Simply put its sound quality is superb & its noise cancelling abilities are second to none.

 Picture 1: PXC 450 (top) compared in size with the PXC 250, both folded

The Noise cancelling technology which Sennheiser has implemented in it PXC 450s is referred to as NoiseGard™ 2.0 and claims to eliminate up to 90% of unwanted background noise, this is achieved thru both the headphones superior noise cancelling electronics & also passively thru the headphones  well designed earpads.

Check for the cheapest price of the Sennheiser PXC 450 Noise Canceling Headphones

 Picture 2: Sennheiser PXC 450 folded in its soft carry case

Most of the controls for the PXC 450 are located on right side headphone, these being the power on/of, Volume +/- and the talk through buttons. On first use I found these controls a little hard to find (now are the controls on the right or left side and which button was Volume -) this is especially true if you are used to noise cancelling headphones with controls on the audio cable, however after my second flight I knew the exact positions for each button.

A neat feature I love about the Sennheiser PXC 450 noise cancelling headphones is the Talk Through feature which allows the wearer at the press of a button to listen & talk to someone without having to take off their headphones, this is achieved by using the same built-in microphones, used for noise cancelling to pass the conversation thru to your headphones.

 Picture 2: The controls on the right hand side headphone 

Even though the Sennheiser PXC 450 Noise Cancelling Headphones are a tough and durable set of foldable, they are a little larger than what I am used to after owning Sennheiser’s PXC 250 for many years, initially it was hard to travel with this larger set, however I do take my music & in-flight comfort seriously and in my opinion the larger set was a small trade off for the superior sound quality and noise cancelling abilities of the Sennheiser PXC 450.

What comes in the Sennheiser PXC 450 box:

• Sennheiser PXC450 Noise Cancelling headphones
• Set of AAA batteries
• Soft protective case
• 2 plug adaptors (1 X Airline plug & 1 X 6,3 plug adaptor)
• Instruction Manual

Cheapest Price Online: US $240.00 

Score 8.5/10

Pros

• Outstanding Sound and Noise Cancellation quality
• Detachable audio cable Long 1.4 meter cable length
• Talk through feature allowing you to hear someone/take part in a conversation without taking off your headphones.

Cons

• Large size (Well larger than my set of Sennheiser PXC 250s)
• Cost - A fair bit more expensive than an average set of Noise Cancelling headphones

PLANE quiet Platinum Noise Cancelling headphone review - One of the most annoying facts of air or bus travel is low frequency cabin and road noise, for most travellers it stops them getting any sleep on route, which is bad news if you need to get straight into a meeting or start your holiday adventure on arrival.

The Solution Noise Cancelling headphones, the PLANE Quite Platinum Noise Cancelling headphones are a high quality US designed set of Noise Cancelling Headphones priced at a cost, (US$99.00 with free delivery to the US) which won’t break the bank or your holiday budget.

So how about the feel and sound?

Once I put the PLANE quiet Platinum Noise cancelling headphones on I found they very comfortable indeed and the noise passive noise cancellation from the headphone padding alone was very good, my next thought was imagine how much better the noise will be reduced once the Active noise cancelling is kicked in! After switching the noise cancellation switch to the on position, I was instantly transcended into a state of near noise peacefulness and tranquillity, now I work in a room with several PCs that have noisy fans, and these headphones did a great job of cancelling out this unwanted noise.

When connecting my PLANE quiet Platinum Noise cancelling headphones to my IPod I found the music actually be enhanced, this is because the surrounding noise (repeating low frequencies) from my room was eliminated, enabling the full range of sound  from my music to be heard and fully enjoyed.

The PLANE quiet Noise Cancelling headphones are well constructed, with a decent amount of ear and head padding that will see you thru the longest of flights without feeling uncomfortable,  the headphone cord is long enough yet not too long that the cable will tangle up too much, half way down the cable is the on/off switch for your active noise cancellation along with the battery compartment (2 X AAA) to power the active noise cancellation circuitry, in all a very good design.

In the PLANE quiet platinum noise cancelling headphones box you get the following:

Plane Quite Platinum Noise Cancelling headphones

• Set of AA Batteries (2 X AAA)
• Zippered Carry Pouch
• Dual-pin Airline Adapter
• 1/8  in to ¼ In Adaptor

The PLANE quiet Platinum noise cancelling headphones are a highly recommend addition for any business or holiday traveller, who wants great quality noise cancellation at a great price. I cannot wait for my next flight in a few weeks to give the set a full workout, also drop back soon for my video review of this set.

You can purchase the PLANE quiet noise cancelling headphones at the great price of US$99 with free delivery, from  Pro Travel Gear.