Question Advice on buying a headset

[UltraVolta425]

Hey

I've been watching quite a few reviews online about headsets, but some of the technical terms confuse me, especially the use of the word "noise cancellation", so I thought I'd just ask the experts here.
What I find really important - though I don't know if it exists - is that whenever I put the headset on, I don't want to hear anything anymore coming from outside the headset. Not the soft buzzing of my PC, not the footsteps of someone approaching me, just silence.
Other than that, it has to have a microphone, and it's preferably wireless.

Sound quality isn't that important to me, nor battery life, and the budget is 200$+-.
Does something like that exist?

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

 

[Trefugl]

Something with active noise canceling would certain do what you're asking in terms of blocking the sound out. It actively listens to your environment and creates sound that cancels it out so you do not hear it (as the name implies ). You may actually be able to get away with just a headset with good isolation depending on your background sound and the style of headset, but in my experience with some bluetooth in ears, the active noise canceling does seem to cut more out if it's a louder background noise.

A few questions to narrow down what you're looking for:
- I assume you're looking for over the ear vs in ear (earbud) style of headset?
- What are you connecting to? PC/Mac/phone (iPhone vs android)?
- What connection type:

wireless - USB dongle RF, bluetooth?​

wired - assume USB vs something analog (not even sure there are options for active noise cancelation with analog input)​

That should help give a better direction in what you need.

 

[UltraVolta425]

Yes indeed, I'm looking for an over the ear headset, to connect to my PC wirelessly, with a preference for the dongle - since I'd like to walk around the (small) house with the headset on.
And regarding the noise cancelation, many reviews flatout don't mention it, and when they do, they don't make it clear enough what they're talking about exactly: a mic that cancels out background noise so that others don't hear it, or the ... things that go over your ears, that cancel out the noise so that you don't hear it, and it's the latter that I want.

 

[Trefugl]

This article may help on what active noise cancelation can/cannot do:

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/what-noise-cancelling-headphones-do/

You really may be well served by a decent close-backed set of headphones - I'll do some poking around. It seems most wireless ones are bluetooth or I know of in-ear ones that my work provides... so need to get a little more familiar with the RF dongle offerings that aren't marketed to gamers.

 

[UltraVolta425]

Thanks a lot for that link, I didn't know there exist several types of noise cancelation.
After reading through the article, it seems that what I need is active noise cancelation, as there aren't any sudden high-frequency noises here - well, aside from my cats but that's okay ^^ - and the sounds I'm mostly trying to drown out are, for example the remnant of a soundwave coming from a loud motorcycle passing by on the road two stories down, or what's left of the sound of the bass of my neighbour's radio once it passes through several layers of concrete walls, the constant humm of my PC,... none of these sounds are loud by any means whatsoever, they're really soft noises, but I'd love to have a headset that I could use for work (teams calls etc) and walk around the house with listening to music, and that blocks these really minor annoyances out entirely at the same time.

 

[Muadib]

If you want noise canceling headphones, the Sony wh1000xm5 are hard to beat. Sadly you missed the black Friday sale on them.

Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones | WH1000XM5/B

Explore Sony's WH-1000XM5 wireless headphones with noise cancellation, superior sound and call quality. Learn more now!. (WH-1000XM5/B)

electronics.sony.com

 

[Trefugl]

If you want noise canceling headphones, the Sony wh1000xm5 are hard to beat. Sadly you missed the black Friday sale on them.

Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones | WH1000XM5/B

Explore Sony's WH-1000XM5 wireless headphones with noise cancellation, superior sound and call quality. Learn more now!. (WH-1000XM5/B)

electronics.sony.com

Those do look nice - though if I'm not mistaken it's bluetooth only, correct? If you can get away without USB dongles, then that may be a good option... though I've had poor experience with Windows and bluetooth for zoom/skype, but that could be my particular setup.

To OP:
For USB RF, I was poking around a little and came across rtings list of "non-bluetooth wireless" headsets:

Wireless Connection (Dongle) Scores and Tests: Headphones

A wireless dongle can help ensure lower latency than a Bluetooth connection, which can be handy for gaming or streaming video. You'll want to check whether your device is compatible with these devices, though.

www.rtings.com

Most closed backed options may work for you wrt isolation. If they've reviewed them, then they also do test for isolation so that list may be a good starting point for options you could like.

 

[Trefugl]

Missed that I could add active noise canceling to a custom table on their site. See this list (if it comes through ok):

Headphones Table Tool

www.rtings.com

From that list the Sony INZONE H9 is a decent option... though a little more than you wanted to pay:

Sony INZONE H9 Wireless Review

The Sony INZONE H9 Wireless are gaming headphones from the INZONE lineup. This lineup is meant to be paired with the PlayStation 5 console as they share a simila...

www.rtings.com

 

[Muadib]

Those do look nice - though if I'm not mistaken it's bluetooth only, correct? If you can get away without USB dongles, then that may be a good option... though I've had poor experience with Windows and bluetooth for zoom/skype, but that could be my particular setup.

Yes, they are bluetooth. I have the older WH-1000XM3 headphones, and never had an issue with them, except they can only connect to one source at a time. I plan to upgrade to the XM5, but I missed the sale on them too.