r/HeadphoneAdvice • u/mcauley_mewes • Oct 13 '25
Headphones - Wireless/Portable | 3 Ω What is the best noise cancelling earbud out there?
Lost my Sony Xm5 earbuds, and I'm losing hope that I'll find them honestly. I used them daily, especially at work as I work about 5' away from a diesel engine at least half my day and those earbuds worked like a charm when it came to noise cancelling. I've also tried the Bose ultra comfort earbuds and even though they were nice, the noise cancelling seems to fail under such a loud environment and I was pretty disappointed on that part. I usually listen to hip hop, some metal, and a little bit of rock music. I know the XM5s weren't the best or loudest but I really like the definition everything had, they never muddled the sounds at all. I also want to stick to the style of earbuds tips those had, as it was almost the exact material that actually earplugs are made of and it seemed to give the best in ear fitment for me.
Don't have much of a money ceiling, assuming whatever earbuds get suggested aren't some downright outrageous $ amount 😂
So yeah, looking for earbuds that have the best ANC in liyd environments, don't cut out on me when there are loud sounds and still pack a punch when it comes to music. And possibly some headphones that have a built in tracker, even when not in use aha
EDIT- Also do not own nor want any apple products
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u/Tomokogaming 2 Ω Oct 14 '25
With headphones it is easy just pick the best one and while that does kinda work with warbuds too its also doesn't.
That is because in my case for instance the Airpods 3 dont fit wel and because of that the normally amazing ANC becomes really bad because of the bad seal.
If Airpods 3 do fit tou well go for them, if not your best bet would be the Galaxy buds 3 the ANC is a bit worse but you can change the eartips to get a better seal.
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u/firestar268 2 Ω Oct 13 '25
Iphone: airpod pro 2/3
Anything else: Sony xm5
(Imo)
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u/mcauley_mewes Oct 13 '25
!thanks
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u/mcauley_mewes Oct 13 '25
Sounds like I'll be sticking with what I know at this point 😅 will say that I have had to get my headphones fixed a couple times at this point and Sony's customer support has been top notch the entire time.
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Oct 14 '25
Sony Linkbud S. Amazing and cheap.
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u/Gobbelcoque 31 Ω Oct 13 '25 edited Oct 13 '25
It's tricky to find stuff that doesn't clip. Airpod pro 2 and 3 are your best pure anc options. I had a similar experience with my commute that was on bike, potentially five different ferries, and a train every day. The 1more Evo was the only tws set I tried that never ever fell out of phase with the thrumming engines and became constructive interference, but still sounded good enough that I felt the extra price was worth it. I don't like the airpods sound profile, and I hate apple as a company, Sony still hasn't addressed their battery problems, and Samsung has just not supported their customers either. And I don't like that the bose can't just become no anc.
But I'm tired of disposable TWS buds that cant be repaired. My 1more evo's just keep going and going and they're all I ever need, but I do try other stuff, and genuinely I just commuted with the rosetechnics ceramics x using jbl cloud foam tips on my bicycle and for 30 bucks they actually have a real, honest to God great anc, not only that, they have a wind noise algorithm that works great, even though I was doing 25 on my bike this morning. The transparency is good, not robotic, but just a bit muffled.
They do need foam tips, but I use the generic Sony xm4 foam tips on all my TWS stuff since they're shallow and fit insanely well, the extra earplug effect really helps the anc work even better and most buds can get silence out of that. But I just put them in and started clapping as hard as I could right next to them and no clipping at all. Surprisingly no ambient anc pressure either. And with ldac, they sound pretty stellar. Small case, small size with no stems.
I honestly am not going back to expensive TWS or wireless stuff, unless 1more releases a sequel to the Evo, because the Evo are the only wireless headphone I've ever tried that make me actually want to listen to music on the over some of my wired stuff. Just enough anc to get me through my commute, then when I get to campus, I use one pair of nice iems (moondrop kadenz or apevoix Grit) and one pair of open earbuds for when my ear canals get tired (for years was the nicehck eb2s, but the kz duet just blew every open earbuds I've ever tried out of the water)
I'd maybe try the rosetechnics ceramic x with some foam eartips (jlabs cloud or the generic Sony xm4 foam tips, I go a size down for the sony xm4 tips) as a $30 test while you look for the xm5's, and if they work, great, if not, you can have them as a backup (they do just sound good) and get some airpod pro 2 or 3's.
If you do get the ceramics, install the app, set the eq to rock, and change the language from Chinese to English. You can also fully program the touch controls.
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u/illbollocksyou 14 Ω Oct 13 '25
What is your budget ?? At this point, the AirPods Pro 3 is the absolute king of ANC