Going to NASCAR race later this month - best noise cancelling headphones to use

They don't cancel THAT much noise.

There is a hauler on the merch hauler row that rents headphones and scanners.. The scanners are already programed with all the drivers frequencies. They have the option to get ones with or without the microphone. It takes a while to put all frequencies into a scanner so I recommend this unless you just want to program in a couple into the one you have. Noise cancelling headphones won't work for a NASCAR race. You'll need the real headphones with the earpieces that cover your ears.

Are you opposed to a deep insert in-ear like the Etymotic ER series? Mk5 as cheap as $50. I have the ER4XR (though looking back, I wish I had gone with SR (non-extended bass range...I like a very flat response)). They come with foam tips which are comfortable and fairly effective. The triple flange tips can be downright uncomfortable if you aren’t used to them (they come with advice that says “moistening eases insertion”). If you want to go full crazy for comfort, you can get your canal molded by an audiologist and have custom tips made. I think they tout up to 40dB in noise reduction (this is from the insert, not the headphone itself. So whether you buy the $50 or the $250 version, the noise reduction should be the same. So if you aren’t a big sound buff and are going to pull these out once a year to listen to voices on a scanner, you may want the lower-end ones (this is still a phenomenal headphone company). They don’t have volume control, but an inline volume controller can be had for not much. A splitter for headphones with individual volume is under $10 on Amazon.


I’ve never been to a nascar race. I travel with mine mostly. If I put them in, I cannot hear announcements on an airplane unless I really pay attention, and certainly not if anything is playing. If I wear them at home, my wife usually has to catch my visual field, nudge me, or scream. They are fairly excellent at isolation. If you would consider an over-the-ear earmuff on top to further reduce noise, this is not something I have tried, but the earphone itself juts out perhaps a bit farther than you may think. It doesn’t mean it couldn’t be done, but I have not tried this. You would probably want to try the combo ahead of time.