Noise Cancellation Headphones That Block Construction Noise

Tallulah Breslin, MS, CCC-SLP
Aug 7
3 min read

Spoiler: Sonos Ace had the best low frequency noise attenuation, and they also have accurate sound reproduction. I bought these :)

Background- Why I needed headphones

A few blocks from my house they're drilling into the bedrock to build a park. That's lovely, but it's going to take a year, and in the meantime, it's LOUD. Even wearing earplugs, the banging is barely dampened wearing my Noise Cancelling Bose 700 headphones. I work from home as a voice clinician, so I need absolutely no background noise impairing my ability to perceive nuances in my client's voices.

*I really wish they had left a line of trees. The sound vibrations passing through the neighborhood are intense enough that they even knocked my mirror off the wall!*

Researching Noise Cancelling Headphones

Seeking a quiet workspace, I started to research noise cancellation, and found that every headset attenuates different amounts of sound at different frequencies. My current issue is construction noise, which is low frequency, well below the coverage of many active noise cancelling headphones. I recorded the noise, and it's primarily occurring in two frequency ranges: 10 - 60 hz, and 100 - 180 hz.

Spectrogram showing the construction noise

Most good noise cancellation headsets perform well in the speech range that the latter overlaps with, but many have minimal to noise cancellation below 60 hz. I compared 183 over ear headphones to find those that might work. I heavily relied on results from thesoundguy, as well as manufacturer information. There were only 5, and the Sonos Ace was by far the best.

Best Headsets For Low Frequency Noise Attenuation

Name	20 hz attenuation	30 hz attenuation	40 hz attenuation	50 hz attenuation
Nothing Headphones	18.49 db	12.22 db	13.91 db	16.81 db
Raycon Everyday	17.91 db	10.82 db	17.67 db	19.28 db
Raycon Everyday Pro	17.91 db	10.82 db	17.67 db	19.28 db
Sonos Ace	17.77 db	32.1 db	31.78 db	27.21 db
Sony ULT WEAR	14.09 db	14.96 db	16.46 db	17.77 db

Middling Performers

Here is a table for the middle of the road performers. Bose headphones have a floor- below 30 hz they're just not blocking very much. That's likely why my Bose 700s aren't helping me now.

Name	20 hz attenuation	30 hz attenuation	40 hz attenuation	50 hz attenuation
Apple AirPods Max	10.39 db	9.36 db	8.08 db	6.84 db
Bose QuietComfort Ultra	6.29 db	19.64 db	27 db	25.74 db
Bose Quiet Comfort	6.49 db	9.24 db	15.44 db	18.32 db
Dyson Zone Absolute Plus	1.65 db	11.83 db	9.17 db	22.22 db
Edifier W820NB	-4.15 db	12.91 db	14.52 db	15.86 db
JBL Live 660NC	-1.71 db	8.27 db	13.05 db	16.7 db
JBL Tour One M3	2.26 db	9.16 db	14.6 db	18.88 db
Marshall Monitor 3 ANC	23.21 db	10.87 db	8.65 db	11.46 db
OneOdio Focus A6	7.62 db	7.35 db	6.82 db	6.36 db
Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless	-2.76 db	8.63 db	12.23 db	16.57 db
Sony WH-1000XM5s	9.57 db	11.03 db	10.49 db	10.16 db

The losers list is too long to show. I was unfortunately not able to find numbers for the Heavy H1H, so they're the only ones not above that might be worth considering.

Which Noise Cancellation Headphones Sound the Best?

Of those that had good low frequency noise attenuation, I then looked at their sound quality. Both the Raycon Everyday and Raycon Everyday Pro headphones had ample reviews reporting poor sound quality, so I didn't test them myself. The Nothing headphones had reasonably good reports on sound quality, but they're rectangle and looked weird. The Sonos Ace had excellent timbre, faithfully reproducing frequency and timing, very good immersiveness, which I think is resonance, and good distortion, meaning not adding too much extra noise. The Sony ULT WEAR had very good timbre, excellent immersiveness, and good distortion.

Which headphones did I buy?

I ultimately chose the Sonos Ace, as their low frequency noise cancellation was greater and the most important variable- sound accuracy, was better than the Sony headset. I've been pretty happy with them- they block most but not all of the noise. It's enough that if I'm focused on something else I don't notice it.

I know this may not apply to everyone, but I wanted to share in case you're stuck in the same situation to save the research time!

-Tallulah Breslin, MS, CCC/SLP

Gender Affirming Voice Training @HarmonicSpeech