Noise cancelling headphones. Honestly, they changed my life.

No more AC/Fan noise, traffic noise (busy street), noise from my neighbors (TV, music, vacuuming, mowing the lawn etc.)

I have really sensitive hearing and pick up sounds from so many electronic devices that other people just can't seem to hear (high-pitched whines, ticking noises etc.) which I eventually had to give up trying to avoid. (returning/replacing products, contacting manufacturers to see if it was typical/expected etc.)

I put on my noise cancelling headphones and 95% of that just disappears - the rest of it is masked by whatever I'm listening to, and I don't have to listen at high volume levels.

I know that they're not the highest fidelity headphones - I've owned high-end Grado, Sony, and Sennheiser headphones and still have some pretty high-end audio hardware. I can't think of the last time I used anything other than my Bose QC20/25.

I don't get the same enjoyment out something like the Sennheiser HD800 as I do with noise cancelling headphones because they're open-backed. I don't listen at deafening levels, so I hear all that background noise unless I happen to be up in the middle of the night with everything switched off.

They're not completely isolating though - you can still carry a conversation with someone else in the room. They just cut out all the background noise. The QC20 even has a button on the remote which reduces the noise cancelling in higher frequencies so that you can hear more of the environment.

Here's a fantastic demonstration of the QC25 for anyone wondering what it's like.

My preference is the QC20 though. While the QC25 are relatively small and lightweight for circumaural headphones, I don't like wearing circumaural headphones for prolonged periods of time. I can wear the QC20 all day.

I really like the fit of the QC20 too - they have a looser fit which is more like an earbud than an IEM, but they use silicone tips so they are a lot more comfortable.

I don't get the same level of immersion in games using speakers either. It never feels like I'm in the game world.

Speakers seem like a great option if you don't mind listening to them loud, but I'm always near the lowest volume level available on any kind of audio equipment, and you lose a lot with speakers at low volumes.

At lower volume levels ambient noise is more problematic with speakers than even open-backed headphones, and if you live in a city you probably don't have the opportunity to use them at higher volume levels whenever you want without receiving noise complaints.

You also have to invest in the room setup for speakers to sound really good too, while that doesn't matter at all with headphones.

Every time I think about investing in a nice speaker setup again, I'm left questioning how often I'd actually get to use it at its full potential.