Frequently Asked Questions

These are the questions that our customers most frequently ask us. If you have other questions that aren’t answered here, please feel free to contact us any time. Please note, we are audiophiles, not doctors. So please consult your doctor if you have specific questions about hearing damage or the danger of exposure to loud sound. We are not making any medical claims about our products.

Shipping notes: Orders received by 5:00 PM EST will ship out the next business day. USPS doesn’t “guarantee” 2 day delivery on priority mail, so we can’t promise that you’ll get them in two days. That said, it has been our experience that they are pretty darn reliable and get there in two days 99% of the time. Also, this offer is only good in the continental United States (sorry everyone else).

What is passive noise reduction?

Passive noise reduction works by physically blocking sound from reaching your eardrum. Passive noise reduction does not require batteries and also maintains a higher degree of audio clarity than active noise cancellation audio equipment. Using passive noise reduction is much like closing yourself off in a quiet room.

We recommend passive noise reduction headphones for people who want to block talking, ringing phones, barking dogs, and other spikey noises as passive noise reduction is much more effective than active noise cancellation against this type of noise. Our headphones also do a great job blocking airplane engine noises and other background sounds making our headphones excellent for travel.

What is active noise cancelation?

Active noise cancellation reduces noise by sampling the outside sound and then producing an equal, but opposite sound inside your headphones to actively cancel out the unwanted noise. This form of noise cancellation has gotten a great deal of attention due to the complicated technology used. Active noise cancellation is an effective way to block sound, but may introduce a small amount of a hissing or swooshing sound inside the ear cups. This technology also requires batteries to work. Active noise cancellation headphones generally provide less noise reduction than passive noise reduction headphones but tend to be smaller in size and lighter weight.

Active nose cancellation headphones excel at blocking airplane engine noise and other consistent, low rumbling noises such as computer fans, and air conditioners. Because they block out rumbling background noises, active noise cancelation headphones often give the perception of amplifying voices. For true sound isolation, passive noise reduction headphones are

Why use noise reduction headphones?

Every time you are exposed to loud noise, such as a gun shot or loud rock concert, your hearing acuity decreases. This is usually a temporary phenomena and is referred to as the temporary threshold shift. Repeated exposure to these high volumes, however, will probably cause a permanent decrease in your hearing ability. If your ears are ringing after a jam session or listening to your music, that is a sign that you need to turn it down.

If you have to pump up the volume on your iPod to override outside sounds in order to hear your music, you could be permanently damaging your hearing. The solution is noise canceling or reduction headphones. The headphones and earphones on our website block out external noise allowing you to hear the fine details of your music without blowing out your ear drums.