What are the best noise cancelling headphones?

Yesterday I spent several hours about two different planes. You know the kind… Those horrible little pencil planes. The Beech 1900D to be exact. They are noisy and I hate flying in them. However, I was very pleased to try out my new noise cancelling headphones. Here’s a picture of them:

I wore them from take off to touch down on both flights and I actually felt less tired last night in my hotel room than I normally do. They run off a single AAA battery which seems to be lasting really well. They are also expensive. NZ website and pricing is here.

Currently, I’m sitting in a noisy regional airport cafe wearing them while I type up this blog post. Last week I wore them in office when I really need to get some marking done and cut out interruptions for a few hours. I probably look a bit strange but I don’t care. I’ve got them switched on but not plugged into anything.

In terms of noise reduction, I can’t give you a scientific explanation but they cut out a lot of the low frequency roar and rumble on the plane. They are currently filtering out the low frequency hum of the air conditioner that I’m sitting next to.

I can still hear voices of people around me, but they are much quieter. I can also still hear the plane taking off on the runway, but it’s muted. And I can still hear the clink of cups and spoons, but I could switch on Spotify or iTunes if I wanted.

And for in the office, they pretty much work like a visual reminder that I don’t want to be disturbed. I’m definitely going to use that strategy a bit more since I work in an open office environment.

And at home? Well, that was the only disappointment. I can still hear the wife and three kids…

Have you tried these headphones? Know of a better alternative? Let me know in the comments. Latest version pasted in below: