A product recommendation, for those looking to deal with office noise: I've found that the earbuds that Etymotic makes are far superior to anything I've tried

A product recommendation, for those looking to deal with office noise: I've found that the earbuds that Etymotic makes are far superior to anything I've tried with active noise canceling. They're less expensive, they don't require batteries, they're more portable, the audio quality is better, they don't have that "stifling" feeling, they're a LOT more effective, and, best of all, you can control the level of noise damping by adjusting the fit. With mine (the MK5's), I find I can adjust them anywhere from "foam earplugs" levels of sound dampening to "can't hear someone trying to talk to me in a normal tone of voice." (Yes, really.) Half the time I'm wearing them, I'm not even listening to music, because there's no need, and I'm one of those people who finds that, productivity-wise, silence really is golden. Since getting them, my Bose headphones that cost 5 times as much have just been gathering dust.