Sennheiser PXC 300 Noise Canceling

If you’re not a fan of sticking things way down in your ear canals (meaning: canalphones), your only real choice for travel listening is a set of noise-canceling headphones, which sample outside sound and then pipe in an inverse audio signal to “cancel out” a good amount of monotonous noise, such as airplane engines and train rumblings. The PXC 300’s earpieces are quite a bit smaller than those used in the offerings from Bose, Audio-Technica, and the like, which means they can’t physically block nearly as much external noise. On the other hand, because of the lighter weight and smaller earpieces, there’s a good chance you’ll find them more comfortable than those larger models. (They’re easier to pack, as well.) The PXC 300’s sound quality is also quite good for a noise-canceling model.–Dan Frakes