I have a hard time wearing anything in the ear and do not see how they'd noise cancel effectively anyway. I would rather wear something like a bluetooth earpiece that hangs off my earlobe (won't noise cancel either) or a completely ear covering headphone. My hearing is wrecked as Jerkules described. Construction, working in a bar while young, inheriting tube amps as a youth and testing their limits, and flying small planes have all added to that.

Depending on the jack size, there are some incredible noise-cancelling headphones available to pilots but I do not know how suitable they are to music. Probably not very.

I have never been able to appreciate that next level betwen a $500.00 tuner/amp and a 1,000.00 model or the speakers in those price ranges either. I can certainly hear the difference between 200 and 500 dollar speakers.

I think a lot of the difference in this audiophile equipment comes down to the visual appeal it possesses. The more attractive it is due to use of nice materials and visual design the higher price it commands.