The Best Noise-Cancelling Headphones for Sleeping

No one enjoys turning up their music to a near-deafening volume just to drown out background noise. Thankfully, whether you’re traveling, working, or trying to fall asleep, a quality pair of noise-cancelling headphones will prevent you from ever having to crank up the volume when you don’t want to. 

And, with so many noise-cancelling headphones on the market, your options really are endless. To help you narrow down your choices, we’ve compiled a list of the best four noise-cancelling headphones available today.

Best Noise-Cancelling Headphones for Sleep

• Bose QuietComfort 35 Wireless Headphones – Best Overall
• AcousticSheep SleepPhones – Best Fabric Headphones
• Cowin E7 Active Noise-Cancelling Headphones – Best Technology
• LETSCOM Bluetooth Headphones IPX7 – Best Over-the-Ear Headphones
• COWIN E7 PRO Active Noise-Cancelling Headphones – Best Sound Quality
• Letsfit Bluetooth 5.0 Headphones – Best for Traveling

How to Choose the Best Headphones for Sleep and Noise-Cancellation

When it comes to technology, the options are endless. Therefore, you need to know the right things to look for in any technological product — such as noise cancelling headphones.

Noise Isolation vs Noise Cancelling

Noise isolation is simple. It means removing the extra sound that gets in your ear to the highest extent. But noise cancellation is a technology in itself. Let us look at the differences between these two terms in detail. Then you can look at the different headphones in our list and choose the one that suits you the best.

What Noise Isolation Actually Means

Noise isolating headphones block out external noise through physical means. It is not a technology like it is in noise cancellation. Noise isolation is also sometimes called “passive noise cancellation”.

What Noise Cancellation Means

Noise cancelling headphones generally have a microphone built-in that catches the external noise and creates a sound wave to actively block the noise. Noise isolation headphones just have a seal or padding around your ears to block the noise out.

There are a few thumb rules you should remember when selecting noise cancellation or noise isolation headphones:

• Price often reflects quality. The more you pay, the more value you get. Sometimes the technology is better and other times, additional perks like detachable cable and lifetime warranty come on offer.
• If you are going to use the headphones just for music, and not for watching movies and such, noise isolation headphones can work well for you. You can play the music at low volume and still enjoy the music.
• Quality can be subjective. Some people love Bose while others like basic Shures.

What type of headphones should I buy?

Some types are much more suitable for sleeping than others. For example, over-the-ear-headphones have earcups big enough to fit the whole ear, providing excellent sound quality, but they’re not comfortable to wear in bed.

On-ear headphones are slightly smaller and sit on the ears rather than on the head itself. However, they can still result in discomfort if worn in bed. In-ear headphones (earbuds) are a good choice for sleeping headphones as they’re small and lightweight. Bedphones – which are marketed as the thinnest headphones on earth – come highly recommended.

Special sleeping headphones which are designed especially for sleeping, including the popular SleepPhones, perform best. However, you should be prepared to pay more for these custom-designed solutions.

How much should I spend on headphones for sleeping?

If you’re buying headphones to help you fall asleep, it makes sense to buy the best pair you can afford. It’s essentially an investment into your health, and one that your body and mind will thank you for making. Low cost models will be more likely to break, sound bad and feel uncomfortable.

Should I choose wired or wireless headphones?

This is really a personal choice, but there are some considerations to make. If you hate cables, you may prefer to go wireless. However, with wireless headphones, battery life can be affected.

Whilst modern Bluetooth devices are constantly improving, you may want to find out how many hours of playback a pair of headphones will give you in wireless mode. There are some safety risks to sleeping with a cable around your head, particularly if you’re a restless sleeper.

Should I choose fabric or noise cancelling headphones?

In a world where technology is continuously evolving, it’s no surprise that there’s such a wide range of styles and designs of headphones available on the market. Generally, there are two types that work best in bed. These are padded fabric headphones, which are designed specifically for sleeping, and noise cancelling headphones.

There are a few differences between these two types of headphones: their ability to block out external sound, sound quality and price. Fabric headphones aren’t great at blocking out loud sounds, such as snoring for example, but are comfortable to wear and are inexpensive too.

Noise cancelling headphones not only block out most unwanted external noise, but they also have a superior sound quality. However, the downside is that they are usually a lot more expensive.

How Noise-Cancelling Headphones Help You Sleep

There is nothing worse than being kept up at night by distracting noises. Whether it’s your neighbors arguing or your partner’s snoring, trying to fall asleep amongst the ruckus can be maddening.

Thankfully, music can be one of the easiest and safest sleep aids for people suffering from poor sleep – especially when you’re dealing with obnoxious background noises. The only issue with using music to cover background noise is that you end up having to blast the music, which ends up preventing you from falling asleep.

This is where noise-cancelling headphones come into play! Noise-cancelling headphones provide you with the ability to listen to music at a calming volume without disturbing anyone – and they will block out all those obnoxious sounds keeping you up at night. Using these headphones to listen to music in bed is the perfect way to help you fall asleep at night!

​Benefits of Using Noise Cancelling Headphones

1. Reduce Stress

We live in an environment with constant buzzing of cellphones and noise from television, traffic and whatnot. This noise is not just unpleasant but can lead to stress. It is a fact that people who are exposed to high levels of noise are more prone to suffer from diseases like heart attacks.

Therefore, if you start using noise cancelling headphones, it would decrease your exposure to noise and in turn reduce the stress from your life. As a result, you will feel happier and more at ease with yourself. The most important thing is that your health will improve.

2. Richer Sound

The music you hear feels more vibrant when there is no noise in the background. It can help you enjoy your leisure time as you can put on some relaxing music and feel the higher level of pleasure that one gets with clear, crisp and vibrant sound.

Also you won’t need to listen to the music at high volume to hear the variations and richness of sounds. Just turn on the music at normal volume and feel the vibrant sound in your ears.

3. Full Concentration While Studying

Noise cancellation headphones are not for just fun and rejuvenation. They can allow you or your children to concentrate while studying. The external noise of people talking, cars moving in traffic or other sounds distract us from fully concentrating on the task at hand.

Therefore, it helps tremendously to cut out all the external noise through noise-cancelling headphones. This is especially helpful for kids as they find it harder to remain disciplined.

4. Sleep Better

Noise cancellation headphones can help you doze off at night. How? Listen to some mellow music and block out the external noise. It is obvious that listening to music reduces stress levels and improves happiness and mental balance.

But picking any headphones that are marketed as “noise cancelling” won’t work. Go through this quick guide to know which ones can actually help you sleep better.

5. Relief from Noisy Neighbors and Snoring Spouse

Noise cancelling headphones not only help you sleep better, they also help you avoid noisy neighbors. You no longer have to tolerate their annoying noise at 2 am in the night. Just put the noise-cancelling headphones on, play a mellow track and zoom — doze off to sleep.

And if your spouse happen to be a snorer, anti-snoring noise cancelling headphones can allow you to sleep with them without getting annoyed or having your sleep disturbed. Imagine going to bed and not being able to sleep because someone else is snoring or making noises in a neighboring house.

You would be furious, right? Well, noise-cancelling headphones can settle the matter for you without any collateral damage.

6. Get things done

No matter whether it is studying, mowing the lawn, or cleaning your home – you can get anything done with some music in your ears. And it is all the better when when there is no external noise of traffic or people talking. Just hit play and get in the zone.

Conclusion

Whether it’s for traveling, working, or just day-to-day life, everyone needs a quality pair of noise-cancelling earphones. Use this list of the best noise-cancelling headphones to make sure that you pick the perfect pair!