Active Noise-Cancelling Earplugs

Whilst continuing my search for ways to decrease the noise I hear in today's (selfish) society, I came across QuietOn active noise-cancelling earplugs (https://quieton.com/). Does anyone on the forum own a pair? If so, please post a review in reply to this posting.

I know Bose are working on a pair of 'sleepbuds' (https://www.bose.com/en_us/better_with_bose/better_sleep.html) which take a different approach to QuietOn and are aimed at giving users better sleep. Unfortunately, the 'sleepbuds' will not be available until later this year.

I have a pair of Bose noise-cancelling headphones for indoor use and a set of 3M Peltor X5A ear defenders for general use, however, I cannot easily sleep in either.

I like active noise-cancelling because it produces a quieter environment than passive options, although I am also looking at a passive options (e.g. wax earplugs) for general use and for sleeping.

Any related comments will be much appreciated. Thank you.

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  • I got a reply from QuietOn. They said that while they don't specifically have feedback from autistic users, they do have some from people with extreme sound sensitivity. The reviews were very positive. However, QuietOn said that they will not drown out speech - it seems to sit in a "middle frequency" range which nothing really filters out.

    That is a bit of a problem for me, as my two biggest problems are : 1) loads of people all yammering on at one on the train and if I can hear them, I cannot stop my brain from trying to process 30 conversations at once, which is exhausting (and frustrating, because it can't do it but I can't make it stop trying!!) and 2) distraction in an open plan office due to people nattering on with voices that "carry" rather a lot and other people's loud phone conversations.

    If all the earplugs will do is mute background noise and slightly reduce the volume of the chatter, that is not really any better than using my noise cancelling earphones (not plugged in, just with the noise cancelling turned on) ...... and my noise cancelling earphones cost a quarter of price of the ear plugs ....

    I think on that basis, I will be sticking with the earphones. Another £120 just to not have trailing wires is a bit much!!

  • That is disappointing.

    By the way, I have found a website reviewing noise-cancelling headphones (https://www.bestnoisecancellingheadphonescentral.com/). I am not sure how often it is updated but there are a fair number of reviews and some of the information is sorted into categories (e.g. best headphones for sleeping and best cheap noise-cancelling headphones).

  • Gah .... the Bose ones sound really good, but they are even more expensive than the QuietOns!

  • In case anyone is interested, I have TaoTronics in-ear noise cancelling headphones (£45 from Amazon) and they are pretty good for the money. I use them for quite a lot of the day, they are rechargeable and last me about 3 days on a single charge.

  • , do you also have a pair of over-ear noise-cancelling headphones?

    I am interested in a comparison between over-ear and in-ear headphones for cancelling noise.

  • I don't I'm afraid. I've got long hair with a tendency to tangle and can't abide anything over my head (headphones or headset) as it always seems to get knotted up in my hair! 

    The chap next to me on a plane did once hand me his Bose over-ear headphones to try (not plugged in, but with noise cancelling turned on) and I have to say they were very effective. I was quite amazed by how much noise they blocked out. I would guess that over-ears probably work better, if you can stand them!

  • That is a bit of a problem for me, as my two biggest problems are : 1) loads of people all yammering on at one on the train and if I can hear them, I cannot stop my brain from trying to process 30 conversations at once, which is exhausting (and frustrating, because it can't do it but I can't make it stop trying!!) and 2) distraction in an open plan office due to people nattering on with voices that "carry" rather a lot and other people's loud phone conversations.

    I have got exactly the same problems.

    1) loads of people all yammering on at one on the train and if I can hear them, I cannot stop my brain from trying to process 30 conversations at once, which is exhausting (and frustrating, because it can't do it but I can't make it stop trying!!) and 2) distraction in an open plan office due to people nattering on with voices that "carry" rather a lot and other people's loud phone conversations.

  • The active noise cancelling earphones do help with the people chatting away (loudly). You can still hear them, but for people like us who just can't stop our brains from trying to process all the nonsense they hear, they do help because you can't make out enough of what the person's saying, so your brain might be able to ignore it better (mine does anyway). It's like it pushes it into the realms of "not worth trying" as far as my brain is concerned!

  • Thank you!

    This is one of my issues - I always try to process every sound I hear.

    This really distracts me and I cannot focus with noises in the background.

    Ear defenders help me. I often wish I could be in complete silence.

  • I was told this is something called "hypervigilance", when you end up trying to give every little sound your attention and you just can't stop it. It is exhausting, isn't it? The problem I found is that it is a vicious circle as well: too much noise = brain trying to process everything = extremely tired and suffering from anxiety ..... then anxiety = even greater sensory sensitivity = even more hypervigilance = even more anxiety ..... AAARRGGHHHH .... then heading towards a meltdown!!

    I would recommend the noise cancelling headphones as it pushes the noise more into the background and you may find you can stop your brain from trying to process all of it at once. This works for me. It's not perfect and I am still far from "normal" when it comes to sensory sensitivities, but it does stop it escalating to a point where I get overwhelmed. It's more of a background annoyance with the earphones in.