Last week, I got the Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Noise-Canceling Headset 🎧. Nat works at a headset store, so deciding where to go was easy. I got to try on various headsets with two kinds of music I listen to often: Electronic and Classical. The Sony’s won by a large margin.

I still can’t get over the noise cancellation, which I now call “world canceling.” How good are they? Well, after a night out last weekend, I took the subway from New York Penn Station, a very busy transportation hub, back home. The “world cancellation” was so good that I couldn’t hear trains most of the time, only when they slowed down near the station. People moved their lips, but no voice came out. A homeless person gave me a jump scare by waving his hand in front of my face (I was looking at the tracks and didn’t see him). This was a bit unsettling, so I turned around to be more alert, using my eyes.

The headset is phenomenal. It cancels out firetrucks, yelling kids on a break from the nearby elementary school, and Obnoxious construction noises. It comes with an app that seamlessly allows switching from my iPhone to the Mac, depending on which device I’m using. I sure don’t miss having a messy long wire one bit. I’ve been spoiled, and I’m not going back đŸŽļ.

The Sony WH-1000XM5. An all-black, over the ear headset. My hand holds it by the head band, my screen blurred in the background.