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I also hate external noise. Here's my nuke option. 1) Sony XM3 headphones. They are the 2nd most comfortable after the Bose headphones and have the best NC. So

I also hate external noise. Here's my nuke option. 1) Sony XM3 headphones. They are the 2nd most comfortable after the Bose headphones and have the best NC. So far, nothing you haven't done before. 2) High quality foam earplugs. I have the Mack's Ultra Soft plugs, with 32 decibel noise reduction rating. Anything with 27 decibel reduction or above should be good enough though. You may need to alternate between a few brands and variants before you find one that's comfortable enough to go many hours with. 3) Pink Noise. Play it quite softly so that you can barely even hear it at all with the plugs in. It helps to drown out the remaining external noises that come through without registering in your brain as extra noise itself (which is why I play pink noise instead of other suggestions such as calming music). I like this one: https://youtu.be/8SHf6wmX5MU https://youtu.be/8SHf6wmX5MU I combine all 3 for the nosiest areas like studying in a busy cafe, but you won't usually need the whole stack.

fatnoah 7y ago
>3) Pink Noise. I worked in an office where they put speakers in the ceiling to radiate such noise. It was odd because no notice was given and it just happened. For the first week or two, we all thought it was airflow noise from the HVAC system until we noticed speakers in the ceiling. It was effective, though. It did reduce the apparent noise, though our 15 person office wasn't terribly loud to begin with. An interesting side effect was that conversations, when they did occur, got louder because the noise made low volume conversations difficult to hear.
lowercased 7y ago
I find brown or grey noise to be better - I prefer the 'deeper' aspect to it. white/pink is too tinny for my ears.
- Imagenuity 7y ago
  I agree with the brown noise over white or pink noise. Calming and low pitched. Try this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqzGzwTY-6w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqzGzwTY-6w
- Ragib_Zaman 7y ago
  I agree that brown noise generally sounds more calming and pleasant, for example some people enjoy falling asleep to brown noise. In my personal use case of shutting out external noises, I find that it's only the higher frequencies that can make it through the noise cancelling headphones and earplugs, and pink noise helps my brain ignore those better than brown noise, as it melts into the pink noise more closely. It's definitely worth trying both out, in various environments, to figure out what works best for you.
  - lowercased 7y ago
    sure. my personal is a mix of brown and grey with some airline and rain sounds blended in. using the "whitenoise" on iOS and macOS. I think the airline and rain sounds are some of the 'higher' ones that block out other stuff (and I'm usually using qc20 headphones as well).

fatnoah 7y ago

>3) Pink Noise. I worked in an office where they put speakers in the ceiling to radiate such noise. It was odd because no notice was given and it just happened. For the first week or two, we all thought it was airflow noise from the HVAC system until we noticed speakers in the ceiling. It was effective, though. It did reduce the apparent noise, though our 15 person office wasn't terribly loud to begin with. An interesting side effect was that conversations, when they did occur, got louder because the noise made low volume conversations difficult to hear.

lowercased 7y ago

I find brown or grey noise to be better - I prefer the 'deeper' aspect to it. white/pink is too tinny for my ears.

Imagenuity 7y ago
I agree with the brown noise over white or pink noise. Calming and low pitched. Try this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqzGzwTY-6w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqzGzwTY-6w
Ragib_Zaman 7y ago
I agree that brown noise generally sounds more calming and pleasant, for example some people enjoy falling asleep to brown noise. In my personal use case of shutting out external noises, I find that it's only the higher frequencies that can make it through the noise cancelling headphones and earplugs, and pink noise helps my brain ignore those better than brown noise, as it melts into the pink noise more closely. It's definitely worth trying both out, in various environments, to figure out what works best for you.
- lowercased 7y ago
  sure. my personal is a mix of brown and grey with some airline and rain sounds blended in. using the "whitenoise" on iOS and macOS. I think the airline and rain sounds are some of the 'higher' ones that block out other stuff (and I'm usually using qc20 headphones as well).