Active Noise-Canceling Headsets In Server Rooms?

An anonymous reader asks: "Recently I co-located our computer room to a temporary hosting facility. It's a big shop, with everything you could want, along with quite a high dB of background noise. I've no desire to wear those silly little yellow earplugs for several hours when I'm on site there, and standard headsets are such non-IT apparel. Given that technology is the cure to many of todays evils I was wondering if any people had experimented with active noise canceling headphones and has something to say about them. Does anyone use any active noise canceling headsets in a computer room or data facility, and if so how good are they?"

Re:Won't Help w/ Hearing Loss

[diamondmagic]

A positive 90dB wave, plus a "negitive" opposite of it, will add to zero (If the headphones are perfect, but they are not, so add or subtract a few percent).

Review: (1) + (-1) = 0

Too much high frequency noise

[Andy Dodd]

My Philips HN100s (admittedly a rather low-end model) do very little as far as noises from a computer (drive whine, cooling fans, etc.) They're excellent against lower bass frequencies (automotive engine noise, airplane engine noise, lawnmower noise).

Also, wearing circumaural ANC headphones is going to be a lot more annoying than almost-invisible earplugs. The in-ear ANC headsets (like the Philips SHN2500s) are absolutely awful compared to good passive-isolating earphones or good earplugs. In fact, my experience with the SHN2500s was that they added more noise than they removed in most environments.

As far as in-ear passive isolating headphones, I have tried the following:
Sony MDR-EXsomethingorother - Silicone rubber earpieces, with rubber hooks that go over your ears. Extremely uncomfortable and not much isolation. $50
JVC HA-FX33 "Marshmallow" headphones - These STILL don't appear on JVC's website anywhere, and I have only seen them at Wal-Mart stores. $20, decent isolation, pretty comfortable, excellent sound.
Radio Shack "NR-1" noise isolating earphones - Great isolation and comfort, not very good bass response. I keep them around for extreme environments where isolation is more important than bass response and sound quality. $40

I haven't used any of the more expensive in-ear monitors. Shure E2cs and E3cs are popular, as are Westone UM1s and UM2s. The UM1/UM2 appear to use the exact same "Comply" tips as the Rat Shack units, so should have the same isolation and comfort, but hopefully better bass response and sound quality due to better drivers.

For the most extreme enviroments, such as the cabin of a Saab 340 turboprop aircraft, my personal favorite is a combo the Rat Shack in-ears connected to an audio source (laptop or iPod) with the Philips HN100s placed over them. Neither of them alone is sufficient for the interior cabin of a turboprop aircraft.

Re:wear the foam earplugs

[thrillseeker]

32 [webbikeworld.com] is advertised. The main thing with any safety equipment is to either have the discipline to use it regardless of discomfort, or to find something comfortable enough to make it an acceptably minor hassle to use, all the time. I found the foam ones by far the most comfortable.

Re:wear the foam earplugs

[Schlaegel]

Yea, the original poster needs to get over it. Standard ear plugs should work great for canceling the noise of the thousands of small fans he or she is hearing. Using noise cancellation headphones will only introduce something new to carry around and something new that can break. Often the best solution is the simplest one.

The original poster said, "I've no desire to wear those silly little yellow earplugs." Well luckily for him or her, the "silly little earplugs" come in more colors than just yellow, they also come in reusable and washable rubber, rather than just disposable foam.

I'll second the canalphone rec..

[daniel422]

I've got to second the in-ear canalphone recommendation. For one, they use less power (and don't require their own batteries) as most noise-cancelling phones do (better for portable player life). They have excellent broad-spectrum attenuation -- typically far superior to noise-cancelling. And if you invest in a decent pair (even the $80 Shure e2c's) they'll sound a heck of a lot better than most any noise-cancelling set. If you really step up to the plate, Shure's E5 series or Etymotic Research has some models that will simply blow you away -- Shure's even has a "push to hear" feature that allows you to hear outside noises clearly without removing the phones. And the sound quality on these higher-end models is right up there with the best -- period. The same can't be said for ANY noise-cancelling phones.
Of course you have to get used to having something stuck in your ear....