I bought my Audio-Technica ATH-ANC3s a few months ago to replace the £15 pair of earphones I had bought as an "temporary" pair over a year ago. The main reasoning for getting noise-cancelling earphones was that I spend far too much time on trains and the London underground, so needed someway of reducing unwanted noise allowing me to reduce the level of my music and save my precious hearing. I spent a good while looking at various earphone, both noise-cancelling and -isolating in the £70 price range and settle on the ATH-ANC3s as they seemed pretty decent for the price. They've served me well so far, but I've noticed a few things that i hadn't thought about when buying them.
1. Noise-cancelling isn't 100% perfect - you wont be able to sit in your own little bubble where all you can hear is your own thoughts or whatever else you decide to stick through them, especially not for £70.
2. Noise-cancelling also acts as noise creating - as the microphones in the ear pieces react to sound pressure, the difference in pressure created by a train passing or the changes in pressure when going through a tunnel is as much used in the cancelling process as actual sounds are, so there are times when a fluttering sounds is heard which normally wouldn't be there. There are also some strange affects from short sharp sounds of a relatively high frequency, such as the clicking of a gas cooker spark. This tends to lead to a double sound, the initial sound, followed by the attempted cancelling, which is slightly delayed.
3. Noise-cancelling wasn't designed to be used with an iPhone (or similar device) - That annoying noise made by phones when placed too near speakers is also made in the earphones if the cable is next to the phone body. This is more annoying when on trains where signal drops out easily and the phone has to find the signal again and make all kinds of funny noises.
4. Noise-cancelling is the gift product that keeps on giving taking - Having a tendency to forget to turn the noise-cancelling off after use means that batteries are consumed more quickly and thus makes the cost of the earphones increase. If I was savvy enough to get some rechargeable batteries I would, but I'd have to fork out for both the batteries and the charger.
5. Noise-cancelling makes you socially inept - When using noise-cancelling earphones, social skills seem to disappear. For fear of shouting or mumbling like a crazy person, I resort to trying not to say anything, there is a monitor button so you can hear the outside world, but it's a bit silly fumbling to find it so you can successfully say "sorry" or "it's ok" to someone who you've stood on/stood on you, best to stick with obscure gestures or a smile.
6. Noise-cancelling is my favourite switch - Despite the silly little annoyances I still get a great deal of enjoyment from flicking the switch on when the outside world threatens to invade upon my musical enjoyment.
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