The average consumer home, at any given time, assaults the ears with noise: dishwasher, laundry machines, fans and vents, hard drive noise, not to mention the outside noises of lawnmowers and passing trucks. Sometimes, you just want some peace and quiet, or at least quiet enough to listen to a podcast on your portable media player without having to crank up the sound and destroy your ears just to understand what's being said. If you listen while mowing the lawn or on a plane, the only way to hear spoken word is cranking the volume to the maximum level, possibly for hours.

That's the beauty of noise-cancelling headphones. These clever devices sample the outside noise and create an opposite wave of sound to literally silence the outside world. Note that they won't block out a screaming child, music, or other variable noises very well--they mainly work on constant noise like running machines and fans.

I've tried many different noise-cancelling headphones, and the Audio-Technica QuietPoint earbud headphones excel in cancellation and are sure to impress. Audio-Technica claims up to 85% noise reduction, and depending on the noises being reduced, I would definitely agree with that. In a small room with washer, dryer, and vacuum cleaner running, I could still listen to spoken word on my iPod at about 30% volume and understand everything. Turning them off left me lunging for the vacuum cleaner to cut the noise.

Sound quality is decent for earbuds. Don't expect deep bass, but all but sound connoisseurs will find no problems with the quality of both voice and music.

A small control unit requiring one AAA battery has a switch to turn it on and off, plus a "Monitor" button that turns off both noise cancellation and the incoming sound so you hear only the outside world and can then say that word so often heard in your home: "WHAT?!" The control unit also includes a small "clothes clip" that will work with a belt or shirt, and the cord is 34" on the earbud side of the control unit. I'm 6'4" tall, and it's the perfect length to clip to my belt and comfortably reach my ears.

Speaking of comfort, the buds include 3 sizes of ear tips, fitting nearly any ear, sitting softly in the ear, yet firm enough to avoid unexpected removal. An airline adapter for in-flight movies, carrying case, and 23" cord extender round out the package in a soft-but-sturdy carrying case. They come in either black or white. I recommend black if you spend time in an urban area where iPods are targets for muggers, as black attracts less attention, but either way, you'll find comfort and function in these earphones.