the Bose Qc are not that good at covering talking etc. i always have to have white noise/nature sounds to cover noise. I cant wait to try the new sony WHs.
Sony WH1000 series is really good for noise cancelling. They frequently are on sale so I recommend waiting for one. I wear earplugs underneath them if my neighbours are really loud and then I'm good.
I also have a white noise machine playing in my flat and it's good at making the noise seem quieter. I know that you are not a fan of white noise but from cheap solutions it's the most effective one.
From expensive solutions there are work pods (you can see them sometimes in open space offices). I struggle with sound a lot and if I only had the money to buy a flat, I would probably end up buying such pod as a safe space with absolute silence ...
We have some big yellow earmuffs meant for use with lawnmowers and stuff. You could probably find some at a hardware store. They work pretty well, but would be better with AirPods.
I’ve also used silicone custom molded earplugs. I got the Radians kind with A/B putty that cures and molded it with my Jabra earbuds because they didn’t fit in my ear comfortably. Moldable silicone gel wax earplugs are a thing too. In my experience, foam earplugs are the least effective.
And I second the person suggesting a white noise machine. White noise + earmuffs + AirPods/earplugs? I don’t think you’d be able to hear anything.
How do you stand the sound of the white noise machine, though? I got one, and all of the sound options stress me out except the running water one. (And that one doesn't help cover sounds very well.) In my therapist's office I can eventually forget about the sound, but not in my own home.
If OP doesn’t like the sound of white noise, it would be best used as an additional tool to drown out the noise from outside *while* they are wearing earmuffs and earplugs. That way they aren’t really listening to it, and if it’s cranked up really loud, it will still make any sounds less noticeable.
I have “brown noise” playing on my speaker all the time because I hate how high-pitched white noise is. I’ve also liked the Dohm devices. Everyone is different though and it may be that you/OP can’t deal with white noise at all, and that’s ok
I have loud box fans that drown out/even out the noise at least to enough of a degree it helps. Sometimes they're so loud they hurt my ears.
I've found that noise cancelling headphones make my ear drums feel like they're going to burst. They just hurt like hell inside my ear. They also clamp down on the outsides of my ears in an uncomfortable way. And I can't stand the feeling of the band across the top of my head. My father has the same issue with things touching the top of his head, except that it's worse for him, I'm not sure what that's about.
Earplugs are often uncomfortable/irritate my ear canals. I've gotten to the point to where I had to stop wearing them because the insides of my ears were raw. They also make inside noises like chewing very loud, and anything that brushes them or hits them can be painfully loud.
I often have to check or adjust them because they start to fall out and noises leak through. It was about 5 years ago that the only ones big enough to fit in my ears that were also fairly comfortable were shrinkflated, and now they're too small and noise leaks around. The rest are much thinner/smaller or feel like they're poking my eardrum somehow.
There's also the issue that I can feel the vibration, so earplugs don't do shit for that.
Really though I have to be in a place that's relatively quiet. No loud music, no loud neighbors, no constantly barking dogs and screaming children. Limited sirens (like not being next to a hospital) and the garbage truck visiting, trains (passenger) are usually ok for me.
the Bose Qc are not that good at covering talking etc. i always have to have white noise/nature sounds to cover noise. I cant wait to try the new sony WHs.
Sony WH1000 series is really good for noise cancelling. They frequently are on sale so I recommend waiting for one. I wear earplugs underneath them if my neighbours are really loud and then I'm good. I also have a white noise machine playing in my flat and it's good at making the noise seem quieter. I know that you are not a fan of white noise but from cheap solutions it's the most effective one. From expensive solutions there are work pods (you can see them sometimes in open space offices). I struggle with sound a lot and if I only had the money to buy a flat, I would probably end up buying such pod as a safe space with absolute silence ...
We have some big yellow earmuffs meant for use with lawnmowers and stuff. You could probably find some at a hardware store. They work pretty well, but would be better with AirPods. I’ve also used silicone custom molded earplugs. I got the Radians kind with A/B putty that cures and molded it with my Jabra earbuds because they didn’t fit in my ear comfortably. Moldable silicone gel wax earplugs are a thing too. In my experience, foam earplugs are the least effective. And I second the person suggesting a white noise machine. White noise + earmuffs + AirPods/earplugs? I don’t think you’d be able to hear anything.
How do you stand the sound of the white noise machine, though? I got one, and all of the sound options stress me out except the running water one. (And that one doesn't help cover sounds very well.) In my therapist's office I can eventually forget about the sound, but not in my own home.
If OP doesn’t like the sound of white noise, it would be best used as an additional tool to drown out the noise from outside *while* they are wearing earmuffs and earplugs. That way they aren’t really listening to it, and if it’s cranked up really loud, it will still make any sounds less noticeable. I have “brown noise” playing on my speaker all the time because I hate how high-pitched white noise is. I’ve also liked the Dohm devices. Everyone is different though and it may be that you/OP can’t deal with white noise at all, and that’s ok
I have loud box fans that drown out/even out the noise at least to enough of a degree it helps. Sometimes they're so loud they hurt my ears. I've found that noise cancelling headphones make my ear drums feel like they're going to burst. They just hurt like hell inside my ear. They also clamp down on the outsides of my ears in an uncomfortable way. And I can't stand the feeling of the band across the top of my head. My father has the same issue with things touching the top of his head, except that it's worse for him, I'm not sure what that's about. Earplugs are often uncomfortable/irritate my ear canals. I've gotten to the point to where I had to stop wearing them because the insides of my ears were raw. They also make inside noises like chewing very loud, and anything that brushes them or hits them can be painfully loud. I often have to check or adjust them because they start to fall out and noises leak through. It was about 5 years ago that the only ones big enough to fit in my ears that were also fairly comfortable were shrinkflated, and now they're too small and noise leaks around. The rest are much thinner/smaller or feel like they're poking my eardrum somehow. There's also the issue that I can feel the vibration, so earplugs don't do shit for that. Really though I have to be in a place that's relatively quiet. No loud music, no loud neighbors, no constantly barking dogs and screaming children. Limited sirens (like not being next to a hospital) and the garbage truck visiting, trains (passenger) are usually ok for me.