Small enough to keep with you at all times and ideal for achieving peace and quiet in planes, trains, buses, and cars, Sony's MDRNC11 noise-canceling Fontopia ear-bud headphones reduce perceived outside noise by more than 70 percent (up to 10 dB at 300 Hz) so you can hear musical nuances against a quieter background.

The headphones' noise-canceling circuit senses outside noise using tiny, built-in microphones and sends an equal-but-opposite canceling signal to the headphone drivers, effectively blocking solid-state (continuous) noise from 50 to 1,000 Hz. It's especially effective on noises like air-conditioning systems, freeway rumble, and airplane engines (from a passenger's perspective).

The switchable noise-canceling circuitry runs for approximately 60 hours on a single AAA alkaline battery. When noise canceling is off, the headphones continue to function for standard music listening (and with slightly better sound quality). An inline volume control lets you adjust the sound without having to access your sound source.