Looking for a over ear headphone with excellent isolation

[ekdouglas]

I'm looking for a pair of decent over-ear headphones that have excellent sound isolation. I have a pair of Dan Clark Aeons and although they are great headphones they don't seem to isolate all that well. On the other hand, if I put on my 3m noise reducing earmuffs (31db) I have absolute silence.

Why do I need so much isolation? Well, I have new downstairs neighbors, and although they are a very nice couple, one of them is a professional musician whose instrument of choice is the tenor sax. They've already tried to soundproof their practice space but there is only so much can do as a renter in a century old wood frame house.

I don't want to use iems, so I'm hoping someone might have a recommendation.

My budget is pretty open, as these headphone would get quite a bit of use and I think my new neighbors will be sticking around for a while.

Thanks!

Eric

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[solderdude]

Look for ANC (noise cancelling) headphones or certain closed studio headphones.
Stay away from the cheaper ones, they can be noisy or not attenuate outside sounds.
ANC works for frequencies below 1kHz or so and these headphones usually rely on passive attenuation for frequencies above 1kHz.

ANC: Bose (a few models), Sony (WM1000X), Apple Airpods Max, B&W PX range, B&O Beoplay (the newer models), Shure Aionic, JBL tune 750 for instance.

Closed studio headphones with good passive attenuations can be headphones designed for drummers or Austrian Audio Hi-X60, Sennheiser HD25 etc.

 

[Dunring]

The best noise isolation I've had out of 180+ I've gotten to use is the Hyperx Cloud Orbit. They have Audeze planar drivers and the mic made by Shure is removable. The memory foam cups seal so it feels like suction cups taking them off.

 

[staticV3]

@ekdouglas thet Tenor sax plays roughly 120-700Hz:


No (conventional) passive headphones is capable of isolating you from noise below 200-300Hz:

Link

If you want something that can isolate you from the full range of you neighbor's sax, then you have two options:

1. Look for specialty, passive headphones based on hearing protection (3m Worktunes etc). Audio fidelity is not the focus there however.

2. Look for ANC headphones instead. Here are some of the best isolating ones according to 0dB: https://www.0db.co.kr/files/attach/images/179/641/807/002/cd1a28a5f13c3a03154794df8f4b023b.png

And here according to rtings: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/tools/table/110845

Good ANC testing is really difficult, which is why their results don't match each other very well.

 

[pablolie]

ANC stuff like the top Sonys WH-1000XM5 probably will eradicate any sound and sound pretty good in the process.

Without ANC, I use Shure SRH1540 in my office with awesome results - I love them. I own 2 pairs.

 

[ekdouglas]

@ekdouglas thet Tenor sax plays roughly 120-700Hz:
View attachment 283039

No (conventional) passive headphones is capable of isolating you from noise below 200-300Hz:
View attachment 283040
Link

If you want something that can isolate you from the full range of you neighbor's sax, then you have two options:

1. Look for specialty, passive headphones based on hearing protection (3m Worktunes etc). Audio fidelity is not the focus there however.

2. Look for ANC headphones instead. Here are some of the best isolating ones according to 0dB: https://www.0db.co.kr/files/attach/images/179/641/807/002/cd1a28a5f13c3a03154794df8f4b023b.png

And here according to rtings: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/tools/table/110845

Good ANC testing is really difficult, which is why their results don't match each other very well.

Thanks so much for the info. Super helpful. It's especially useful to know that the tenor sax plays roughly from and to 120-700Hz: and then reference that information to the graphs at https://www.rtings.com/headphones/tools/table/110843.

I ordered a Sony WH-1000XM5 and will report back.

Eric

 

[staticV3]

I ordered a Sony WH-1000XM5 and will report back.

A bit of an odd choice considering the price and isolation performance tbh.

 

[ekdouglas]

A bit of a strange choice considering the price and isolation performance tbh.

From the chart it looks like the earlier verion of the headphones, the XM3, had better noise isolation. Should I seek those out? Do you have another recommendation?

Thanks again for your help,

Regards,

Eric

 

[staticV3]

You can use the Graph tool to compare the noise isolation performance between different headphones: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/graph#678/7981/12963

In the relevant frequency response range, the best isolating headphones seem to be the Sony WH-1000XM3 and the Razer Opus Wireless 2020.
Both of these are older models though so not sure if/how available they are near you.

Btw, I found another website with information on different instruments, and it places the tenor sax at 100-620Hz: https://www.dpamicrophones.com/mic-university/acoustical-characteristics-of-musical-instruments

 

[ekdouglas]

You can use the Graph tool to compare the noise isolation performance between different headphones: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/graph#678/7981/12963

In the relevant frequency response range, the best isolating headphones seem to be the Sony WH-1000XM3 and the Razer Opus Wireless 2020.
Both of these are older models though so not sure if/how available they are near you.

Btw, I found another website with information on different instruments, and it places the tenor sax at 100-620Hz: https://www.dpamicrophones.com/mic-university/acoustical-characteristics-of-musical-instruments

Thanks for the additional help-- and your fast response!

The graph tool was exactly what I needed.

Indeed, it looks like Sony WH-1000XM3 should be the best headphones for my use case.

I did a search online and it looks like open box ones go for about $250. I'll do a bit more searching, order a pair and report back.

Regards,

Eric

 

[leonasj]

very good is focal stellia for noise isolation

 

[MRC01]

I got my daughter a set of Jabra 85H. They have great sound quality, subjectively similar to Sennheiser HD600. And strong isolation / noise cancelling. She liked them so much I got a pair for my wife too, who also loves them.

However, as someone who used to play tenor sax, I can tell you that it is loud enough to transcend just about any noise reduction.

 

[ekdouglas]

Yes- the tenor sax is loud and powerful. I've already asked my neighbor to avoid the lower registers when practicing as it literally makes my floors vibrate.