Reasonable-quality noise-canceling headphones for around $40?

As my title says, I'm looking for a pair of reasonable-quality noise-canceling headphones for around $40 (plus or minus $10), for my notebook. They also need to be fairly portable, so I could put them in a hard case in my relatively-full backpack (I'm a college student who cycles to school). I absolutely hate earbuds or anything you put in your ear. I find them disgusting, and also do not wish to experience the associated hearing loss with earbuds and certain other headphones. I don't want to spend a lot, but I do want some decent bass. I listen almost exclusively to classical music, as well as a fair amount of gaming.

I currently have a pair of Grado SR-60's, with great sound quality, but they're the open-ear type, which does not like to keep sound to itself. I would like to be able to listen to music in quiet places (i.e. the library, or while doing homework and family members are sleeping).

Any help would be appreciated!

 

I don't think there are any noise cancelling phones (if, by noise cancelling, you mean active noise cancelling) in your price range. There are some decent sealed circumaural and supra-aural phones that come close to that price range. They greatly cut down on noise coming in and our but don't have any kind of active circuitry that uses batteries. Sony MDR-V6 is a long-standing favorite of a lot of folks but it runs about $70. The other annoying thing you will have to deal with if you don't want earbuds is that the cords sealed or open phones are usually much longer and thus more of a hassle, as you already know from your SR-60's.

You are not going to find anything that sounds as good as the SR-60 for less than $100 that is sealed or has active noise cancelling, I would imagine. The reason the SR-60 sounds as good as it does is because it is open. Definitely worth the time to ask for opinions at head-fi.org.

 

you can try the Logitech noise cancelling headphones, you might find them online for about $60, i think you can't find anything cheaper/good as the logitechs

 

U can try for IEM's ..they go in-ear and hence block sound.. better than active noise cancelling

 

I agree with you, Nocturnal310, but... you definitely put IEMs in your ear, and the OP said he/she didn't want that. But yeah, I would go for IEMs too.

 

In that price range, go for IEMs. You don't have much of a choice.

 

The Sennheiser CX300 should work.

 

IEM's don't cause hearing loss, people cranking up the volume to drown out the world causes hearing loss.

That said, since you really don't like IEMs/canalphones, you might want to try either the Sennheiser HD201 or the AKG k81DJ. I've been looking around for a set of closed cans in this price range as well, and these seem to pretty much be the universal recommendation. For classical music, you might be better off with the HD201s, as I hear the K81DJs are really quite bass heavy and not balanced at all for classical music.

 

Sony MDR-NC6

 

Thanks for all the help, guys!

Yes, I understand that earbuds are not the main cause of hearing loss. Loud volume is. So I'll be real nitty-gritty specific here. I generate a LOT of earwax, such that I have to have my doctor clean it out several times a year. So I really don't want headphones going into my ears and... you know.

Remember that not only do I want to block outside sound, but others need to not be able to hear my music as well. I'll assume that's true for all of these headphones here.

I used to have a pair of HD201's before my Grad SR60's. They really didn't block much sound. But I'll definitely look into the K81DJ's.

EDIT: Check out this review on the AKG K701's on Amazon here.

 

Noise cancelling is of 2 Types.

Active NC: in this a small mic placed outside the headphones receives the external sound and generates a wave of opposite phase.. these headphones are very expensive and dont sound good because the Frequency is being cancelled actively upto 1Khz

Passive NC: All Closed headphones and IEM's have this property of blocking the external sound by creating a seal between your ear and outside environment.

IEMs have the biggest potential to block maximum sound because they seal your ears very good and go deep into your ears.

Active NC headphones are **** expensive and dont sound so good anyway.

for $40 u can checkout Sennheiser HD201 headphones..

if u increase your budget upto $70 then u can get HD205..these are very detailed and awesome sounding DJ style headphones and block most of the sound.

i used my HD205 during F1 race to block the engine sound.

 

Do you mean ear buds like the little rubber buds you put in your ear, or the ipod types that you place in the crux of your outer ear?
I think the best option price wise is to go old school and pick up a pair of headphones that seal your ears, but because of the price you may only be able to find the big 80's style ones.. And I don't think you'd want to wear those while you bike.

 

I'm actually not looking at wearing headphones while I bike. I simply want them to be medium-sized so I can fit them in my backpack I wear while I bike.

At this point, I'm looking at the Sennheiser HD205's and the AKG K81DJ's. Anything else I should consider? It appears passive noise reduction is going to be the best for me. And that $50 price range (on Amazon) is perfect.