Active noise cancelling should only really be needed in very loud environments, like the subway. In an office you should be fine with a well fitting set of clos

Active noise cancelling should only really be needed in very loud environments, like the subway. In an office you should be fine with a well fitting set of closed back on/over-ear headphones. I have a pair of Denon AH-D340 and I can't hear a damn thing with them on, even with a noisy conversation happening right next to me. I use them at 1/3 volume on my macbook most of the time. They have a lovely flat unhyped response as well, despite being styled after beats by dre. If your office is as loud as a subway, my heart goes out to you. Those fancy in ear monitoring ones are probably even better, but I personally find them uncomfortable.