I just spent accumulated gift card money on a pair of new headphones in preparation for some upcoming travel, which spawned several conversations at work about headphones and their quality. I’ll post up a review of the set I bought, which are the in-ear Etymotic ER-4P headphones. I’ve read GREAT things about them, so I’m hoping they’re a good match for my listening tastes. I chose the in-ear kind because on long plane rides, I find they block out enough noise to be almost as good as a middle-of-the-road noise canceling set. The Sonys I had before I broke them sounded OK but were great on planes. I have even higher hopes for this set for plane use, leaving aside the fact that they’re just better sounding headphones.

One reason I expect these to be better for plane trips is that I own a pair of noise reduction ear plugs that share the same design as these headphones. They’re the Etymotic ER20BP Ear Plugs, although I bought them from Earlove so I could get cool colors (not kidding!). These ear plugs drop the sounds levels on a plane to a comfortable background noise without diminishing your ability to talk to your seatmate or give the flight attendant your drink selection. They’re awesome and well worth the $11.99. I still travel with them on every plane ride and use them when I just want to read a book or work without music. They were made for DJs, so they’re designed to maintain a flat response across the audio spectrum.

The ER-4P’s use the same ear cones, so I think they’ll fit comfortably and snugly without hurting my ears. And, no batteries!

If you want to try passive noise reduction but can’t handle in-ear phones, I have a great set of cans I use at my desk. They’re the Sennheiser HD-280 Pros. I’ve had these for years and absolutely love them. I managed to break a part of the plastic (by dropping them) but I won’t replace them because I love the sound so much. The sound is even without the thumpy bass of most consumer headphones. From what I’ve been reading, the only things better are the audiophile Sennheisers or a set that our CEO just bought, the AKG - K701, or maybe the beyerdynamic sets.

Anyway, about the 280s, as many of the Amazon reviewers point out, they create a good seal and decent passive noise reduction. When I used them in the noisier office environment at ESPN, I could basically cut out all the background chatter of people talking simply by putting them on. They’re not going to be as good as an active pair like the Bose, but they do a decent job. And, I might add, without batteries.

Anyone else have any headphones they love? Leave them in the comments. Always curious to get more recommendations for when the next pair needs to get replaced.

I can’t wait to get my new Etys.

Update: After a plane ride with the Etys, I’m happy to say that they’re great on the plane. After a little bit of time to adjust how they fit, I had a good seal and significant noise reduction. Maybe not enough to mask an Amtrak train pulling out (as Jishman reports for his Bose QC-2s), but enough to leave the noise of the plane engines behind. They sound great, not thumpy or wimpy and deliver a great experience on the plane.

My only complaints are that the main portion of the cord is too stiff (it’s coated in a tougher plastic than any others I’ve owned) and that I wish the 4Ps came with the color coded ear pieces of the 4S. Trying to put them on in the dark with low light last night (Heidi was asleep), I had to flip on a light quickly to figure out which was right and which was left.

Beyond that, so far, so great! Love ‘em.