I'd like a set of headphones to use with a television, as my room mates can be quite noisy and we have multiple tvs in the house causing a lot of 'cross noise interference' which makes viewing unpleasant.
I'm not looking to spend huge money, the tv has a 3.5mm out but it seems to be un-amplified. Sound quality isn't hugely important as its not for music or anything. Its mostly just to get basic voice across without hearing external noises.
1) Over the ear headphones, or
2) In ear headphones + builder's ear muffs
If you're after 'active' noise cancelling (which use electronics to cancel out the noise), I've had no problems with the cheap sony/panasonic ones but again make sure they are over ear for the best result.
However it's worth mentioning that 'active' works best at blocking repetitive noises, like buzzing or humming of air conditioning so they don't work that great for general noise or voices.
None need to be TV specific, just buy a 3.5mm extension cable.
Can I ask, what are the cheap Sony/Panasonic ones? What model IDs? They seem to start at like $200 from what I can see.
I don't need high end wireless Bose models.
Been a while since I've looked, current models are Sony ZX110 $120 and Pana HC200 $80 but they seem to be the on-ear type.
Depending on your budget, you might be better off with passive noise cancelling over ear phones, maybe like a Sennheiser HD202 series $48 (also see Audiotechnica). These particular ones also have a 3M cord which is perfect for TV watching and I highly recommend them
I think you're correct for the cheaper ones. So the "closed back" style Sennheiser's are 'passive' noise cancelling, meaning they don't use a Mic?
Thats the way to go. I mean it doesn't need to be completely silent, but even if it could reduce 50% ambient it would make a big difference.
Passive just means they have no electronics (or mic) to cancel noise but instead rely on bigger/thicker ear muffs to physically block the sound. Essentially all over ear headphones are passive cancelling to some extent.
The HD202 are actually pretty decent for sound quality and bass which is a bonus, otherwise the builders earmuff + noise cancelling in ear phones are a good option but may not be ideal and look a bit silly
If you're to get wireless, is it easy to get a transmitter for the tv?
I use a cordless set of headphones from Aldi for $40 that work nicely. You can sometimes find them in the glass electronics cabinet in some stores. Otherwise just buy some standard headphones and purchase and extra long 3.5mm cord from ebay.