Noise cancellation reduces ambient unwanted sounds. They should be just as good or better than traditional headphones in most cases. Keep in mind these headphones will often need batteries to supply the power necessary for the noise cancellation technology.

The answer is ... it depends!

Many times the noise cancellation is achieved by reducing the quality of the sound. In fact, Bose states that noise cancellation technology will not produce the same high quality sound output that customers may expect from Bose.

Now you can get some headphones that deliver both, or at least try to. However, the price tag for such headphones is currently running close to $800 and up. A hefty price to pay for something you might end up losing!