I need quiet as much as music sometimes so help me please

If you are in Los Angeles area, there is a CanJam show on the 3rd week of Sept. You can listen to a lot of headphones there.

I have spent much of my career working internationally. It was not uncommon for me to visit China and Europe twice a month, over 25,000 miles a month. I lived on airplanes. I am an audiophile at home. These are two completely different things! I have had more than a couple dozen high end ear buds and headphones of all types. I used to carry an extra amp and a DAC. Leave that stuff at home.

Get yourself a set of Bose QuietComfort. I wear them turned on without music if I am not listening to music. I put them on when I get through customs and leave them on. Airplanes are incredibly noisy. You cannot, even with noise cancellation hear nuances associated with high end recordings. Bose are not accurate, but they sound great… they deaden the background noise, fold up really nicely, they have a great case, and they are super comfortable. I would sleep in them. I hated Bose for most of my life for what they did to the high end audio industry. But they got these right.

Bose do not sound bad, they sound great, they are just not particularly accurate.  I enjoy listening to them, they are relaxing. They are something you can listen to for hours without feeling fatigued.

  
Traveling a lot, you learn how to travel comfortably and just flow from place to place without trauma and as quietly and pleasantly… these things are the first huge step in that direction when traveling!


In business class they are by far the most common. Leave the audiophile stuff at home where it is quiet.

The Sony's are almost as quiet as the Bose and have much better SQ. Usually available cheaper.
Better app (Headphones) too.  V2 is OK for sound but starting V3 they have USB C fast charging. All batteries last ~ 20 hours.

In business class they are by far the most common. Leave the audiophile stuff at home where it is quiet.

Do they have heavy duty versions for us rabble in economy?

I bought a pair of the Sony 1000 4's today. 
Got very lucky when the guy at Best Buy
said he owned the Apple $500 model
and it was pretty excellent with interfaces 
with other apple stuff. But the case was a joke
and he admitted the Sony may be better with
noise control-my main concern. Now I see
refurbs with 2 year warranties for $200 on eBay.
Anyone tried those backwater sources?