In an increasingly noisy world, the Sennheiser PXC 480 cuts out the cacophony and is also very easy on the eye.

There was once a time when I travelled and I was all ears. Wide-eyed, enthusiastic, ready for any conversation with any person, but then ageing and Sennheiser changed my life.

While the end of youth tends to silence the noise that preceded it, modern-day travelling needs to be treated with auditory caution. Noise-cancelling headphones are the technology that helps the regular traveller to cope with the background noise.

When flying, it tells your adjacent passenger that you have absolutely no wish to talk to them, as well as cutting out the thud of engines. With the PXC 480, the drowned-out sound experience is better than ever before.

I’ve used the company’s noise-cancelling products for the past decade after a friend in the HiFi business steered me away from Bose, convinced that Sennheiser was the better option. I’ve never had cause to doubt that particular recommendation.

The PXC 480 is my best experience to date. In an age where ear buds are the flavour of the day, especially attractive when trying to sleep on a flight, headphones face a challenge, but the design is now more compact and comfortable.

Deep ear pads and a lot of padding around the headband as well as being extremely light mean that the PXC 480 rests comfortably on the neck before use and even more so when put to use around the head.

Battery life is also impressive. At 50 hours, that’s a lot of flights. Moreover, that sinking feeling when you realise that the battery is flat and you have no spare batteries, is less likely to happen.

At $299 in the US and £259 in the UK, the price point is fair and the PXC 480 will last for years. What are you waiting for?