
Ask HN: Do you use earplugs and/or headphones to better concentrate? - whitepoplar
If so, which ones work best?
======
brianmartinek
I recommend the Bose QC headphones. I currently use the QC35 wireless ones but
have also used the QC15 and QC25 before that. Open office plans are terrible
for my concentration and wearing noise canceling headphones makes a huge
difference.

I usually listen to lyric-less music such as Focus@Will, Spotify playlists, or
use a white noise generator.

~~~
drakonka
How do they feel on your ears? Not sure if you can relate to this but all
headphones I've tried so far end up hurting my ears after a few minutes to a
couple of hours of wear. My ears are small-to-average, but stick out slightly
and many headphones create uncomfortable pressure there. Is there some space
between the actual ear and the ear-cup with these?

~~~
WorldMaker
The Bose QC series come with a very good "over the ear" variants that don't
rest directly on the ear, but instead around it. That comfort issue was bigger
to me, personally, than any noise cancelling options. I actually opted against
a noise cancelling model because I found the over-the-ear configuration alone
cuts down enough noise that I'm happy, and the cost and weight savings was a
useful bonus.

I spent hours in a Best Buy trying to find headphones I would be comfortable
wearing for hours and the over-the-ear Bose models won out by far as the most
comfortable I could find.

~~~
drakonka
Thank you, this is encouraging. I've just ordered the QC35; now hoping for
some peace in the open plan office.

~~~
drakonka
Update: Just got these. Where have they been all my working life? These make
the open plan office considerably more tolerable.

------
mattbgates
When I was moved cross-country for my job, the tech guy gave me some nice
noise cancelling head phones. I was moved from quiet remote work to an office
filled with 50-100 people all in the same room, so it took some adjustment.
Especially when you get people who feel the need that a conversation needs to
be had right by your desk.. and somehow its an important conversation that you
don't really care to hear about?

I need my music to focus and write code, but what bothers me is when the
supervisor will start talking to me and I don't hear a word he says.

I've gone all day without headphones... no one said a word to me. Minute I put
them on? Someone has something to say in the office. For the most part,
however, they are always on and I'm always listening to music... classic rock
or indie or techno usually.

~~~
tedmiston
One of my past offices made a headphone rule that if someone has headphones
on, you only interrupt them through Slack vs walking up their desk besides the
rare exception. Very helpful.

~~~
mattbgates
We use Slack as our main form of communication. I was moved across the country
because of the excuse that our "communication was lacking", so while I haven't
really told people to message me through Slack - because I don't want to tell
my supervisor that he needs to message me in order to talk to me - but it is
just common courtesy to message someone through a LIVE instant message and
ask, "Hey, I noticed XxXx, can I come over to your desk so we can discuss it?"

Your office policy is one of common courtesy and I completely agree with it.

------
dopeboy
Earmuffs work well too. I use these:
[http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/1000/14/14841...](http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/1000/14/14841be9-369a-4cf9-a76e-08234c65c910_1000.jpg)

I get some pain after 30 minutes so I take them off for a bit and then wear
them again.

~~~
tedmiston
Upvoting this because someone downvoted you without explanation. This is a
trend I keep hearing about from other devs - all we really want out of
headphones is isolation from office noise and conversation, not necessarily to
listen to anything.

------
hijinks
One of my offices had a rule where if you have your headphones on then the
only way someone could bug you is via slack.

If headphones were off then it was open game to bug the person.

I liked that rule.

~~~
EADGBE
There's that one guy in the office who'll totally disregard the emailing, bug
system, and chat system in the office because he just HAS to come to your desk
and stop you in your tracks, instead.

I bet you have that person, too.

------
HD134606c
I would recommend against sound cancelling headphones. The thing is that they
only block out constant background hum like a fan. They don't stop talking.

What does stop talking though is a set of headphones call the 'Oppo pm-3'.
These ones are like earmuffs, they have foam padding built-in, and the sound
quality is pretty decent too.

Unfortunately I only discovered these 3 weeks after I burnt out of my open
plan job and quit.

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mbrock
Earplugs. I don't like thinking and listening at the same time, usually
silence is what I need. I've also found that earplugs make my breathing more
apparent, which tends to make me breathe more deeply and regularly, which
feels good.

~~~
whitepoplar
What're your preferred earplugs? I'd like to use them more often, but I've yet
to find a pair that's comfortable enough to wear for long periods of time.

~~~
hboon
I use [https://www.guardian.com.sg/antinois-ear-
plugs-3pair/p/22916...](https://www.guardian.com.sg/antinois-ear-
plugs-3pair/p/229167) which is silicone-based. Works really well.

------
ryanlol
I use [https://www.amazon.com/Shure-SE535-V-J-Isolating-
Earphones-I...](https://www.amazon.com/Shure-SE535-V-J-Isolating-Earphones-
International/dp/B003YOH8RW) with [https://www.amazon.com/Comply-Foam-Premium-
Earphone-Tips/dp/...](https://www.amazon.com/Comply-Foam-Premium-Earphone-
Tips/dp/B00AQU2W1Y/)

Extremely comfortable. The sound quality is awesome, but they also do a pretty
good job as earplugs. I've slept with them on when my neighbors were doing
construction.

~~~
subway
The 535s are overkill unless you have crazy great ears, media, dac, and amp. I
rolled with a pair of 530s, eventually replaced with 535s via warranty. When I
ran those through a washing machine they were replaced with 215s, and honestly
I cant tell the difference. I strongly suspect even the 115s are sufficient
for the majority of folks.

~~~
ryanlol
Absolutely correct. The _awesome_ comply tips will work just as well with the
more reasonably priced versions.

------
mikemajzoub
I use noise-cancelling headphones.

Depending on how much focus my current task requires, I'll listen to different
genres. For intense concentration, I'll blast ocean waves. For medium-
difficulty tasks, I listen to classical music or pop music in a language that
I don't know (so that I'm not distracted by the lyrics). For easy tasks,
anything goes :)

------
twobyfour
Even inexpensive earbuds can be very effective at blocking out noise,
especially when combined with music. But they have to fit snugly and make a
seal with your ear. The ones with silicone tips or those squishy foam tips are
most effective.

Wearing earbuds all the time was causing me ear problems, though, so I
switched to over-ear noise-canceling headphones. Because I wear glasses, I
couldn't get the ones that basically form a seal over your ear.

The noise-cancellation, especially when combined with instrumental music or
white noise, is very effective for stuff like construction and traffic and
engine and air conditioner noise. But it makes human voices more instead of
less distinct, so in the office I usually disable the noise cancellation and
just play music.

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cagey
I once used wired ($200?) Sony noise cancelling headphones to listen to music
in the office (and on airline flights). They wore out a few years ago, and
instead of replacing with another pair of big $ NC headphones, I bought
"Sentey LS-4560 B-trek H9 Bluetooth Wireless Foldable Headphones with Carrying
Case" for $40[1]. They obviously don't noise cancel, but since I listen to
music anyway, and get great non-cancelling isolation from the new phones, I
don't really miss the NC aspect; the only place where I believe NC is
dramatically superior to these headphones is on airline flights. And I take so
few of those these days, I can't justify the expense.

[1]
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PYW5X1A/](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PYW5X1A/)

------
segmondy
Doesn't matter what I use, it's what I play through them. If I don't want any
music, I will play pink noise. If I want music, I'll play instrumental only
music. Cheap $15/20 headphones does the work for me.

------
skylark
I think I'd go nuts in my open office without noise cancelling headphones.

I'd recommend the Bose QC line. Sennheiser wins in audio quality, but the
noise cancelling on Bose can't be beat. Both the headphones and earbuds work
great, so go with your preference.

~~~
dahdum
I switched from Bose QC to Sony MDR-1000x when my 2nd Bose in a row died from
manufacturing defects. The noise cancelling works much better IMO, and the
right side is touch sensitive so you can pause NC to speak to people and
adjust volume. Not going back to Bose anytime soon.

~~~
TurboHaskal
I have the MDR-1000x as well and can't recommend them enough. I was already
quite happy with Bose's noise reduction, but the sound quality of the 1000x is
so good it seems you're not making tradeoffs.

It also has a special noise cancelling optimisation function where it
apparently adjusts to the shape of your head, whether you're wearing glasses,
etc. I can't honestly say whether this actually works or it's mere placebo.

The only downside is that sometimes I try to pause a song and it forwards to
the next one instead, so I'm either an idiot or the touch sensitive controls
could be improved.

------
usaphp
I might be an odd one. I lease an office and am working by myself there. So I
really miss noise. I can't work without turning on some podcast or a twitch
channel in the background.

~~~
cdhdc
You're fortunate to be in control of your environment. My poor opinion of open
plan offices is that I am not in control (psychologically safe) making it
difficult to concentrate when needed.

------
akulbe
I got some Sennheiser gaming headphones that were supposed to have noise
cancellation, but I'm not happy with them. I can still hear outside noise
enough that it makes me think they're not working.

Buddy showed me his Parrot Zik headphones, and they were pretty good. I'm open
to suggestions if anyone has any. I want to be able to have clear sound for
conference calls, as well as excellent noise cancellation.

------
jeff_petersen
I do, it's pretty much a necessity in an open office where I'm surrounded by
several people talking loudly into several different conference calls on
speakerphone.

Right now I use Beyerdynamic DT770s because I heard they were very comfortable
(I wear glasses, and I hate in ear phones). The ear cups are fantastic but the
headband digs into my scalp. So I'm on the search as well.

~~~
zbuf
If they're totally fine apart from the headband, you should find the padding
of the headband is removable. You might find eg. Canford do a variation on the
part, or you could use some alternative of your choosing.

------
tmaly
I use the 3M OPTIME 105 ear muffs. The are around $17-$22 online. I sometimes
also put a pair of headphones in then put these over top.

Last week, there were some people grinding concrete right outside my office
window. I ended up using the bright orange foam ear plugs then putting on the
OPTIME 105 ear muffs. I could barely hear a thing.

------
rdlecler1
I use earplugs in our workspace--find myself using them for sleeping, on the
train commute, airplanes. Much nicer for concentration. I don't know why these
aren't handed out at the door of open workspaces.

------
amlampert
I actually sometimes use headphones and a white noise generator
simultaneously. Simplynoise.com on the brown noise setting is my favorite,
helps block out office conversational chatter etc.

------
Brede
Bang Olufsen H9, worth it.

