Holiday Travel Survival Kit: Audio Gear to Help You Block Out Noise, Distractions

Bose essentially invented noise cancellation, and whenever the Massachusetts-based manufacturer rolls out a new QuietComfort model, it always seems to take ANC (active noise cancellation) to a new level for consumers. But in 2019, Bose did a reboot of sorts. Instead of a new QuietComfort model, it released the Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, a far more streamlined, stylish-looking pair of headphones.

The ANC is better than ever, with an app that allows you to mix in the ambient mics with the ANC so you can hear your surroundings if you wish. Not only that, but the mic intelligibility is excellent, making it easy to be understood on phone calls, or by Siri, Google Assistant, or Alexa—the last two have built-in, wake word support. So you can tamp down the travel noise, talk to your seatmate, call your relatives, or ask Alexa to rescue you with some music, all without taking the headphones off.

$379.00 at Abt Electronics

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If you're looking for true wireless earbuds, Apple makes two of the more ubiquitous options available in the cable-free realm. But there is a world of difference between the AirPods (2nd generation) and the AirPods Pro. Where the former doesn't create an in-ear seal and thus delivers inconsistent ear-to-ear audio, the latter creates an ideal seal, delivering solid bass depth and naturally, passively blocking out surrounding noise.

But the Pro also uses ANC (active noise cancellation) to keep the holiday din to a minimum. Simply put, they are worth the extra $50 over the non-Pro model, which lacks ANC and simply doesn't sound as good or operate as well. We can happily recommend the Pro as a potential holiday stress reliever—and eliminating cables means not spending 8 minutes untangling those earphones in your tote once you take your seat on the plane.

$249.00 at Amazon

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Holiday travel often means packing gifts in with your luggage, making any real estate in the carry-on bag, overhead storage bag, or checked item a precious commodity. Thus, the best travel speaker for the holidays may not be the best travel speaker for, say, spring break in Daytona—we'll have to give a lower priority to sheer audio power and a higher priority to tiny speakers that punch above their weight.

Enter the Sony SRS-XB12. Tiny? Check. Loud? For its size, yes—and it also manages a surprisingly rich bass depth for such a compact speaker. Waterproof? Yes, its IP67 rating means it should withstand the cold brew bath your seatmate gives your carry-on, and of course, any rain or sweat it may encounter. It's a PCMag Editors' Choice.

Why are we listing another ANC model? The Jabra Elite 85h has solid ANC and excellent audio performance, but its app takes its feature set up a notch. Not only does the app have user-adjustable EQ and ANC adjustments, but it has the very unique inclusion of a Soundscapes section. You can totally zone out to the sound of ocean waves, rain, storms, a creek, birds, or sounds like pink noise, white noise, or fan whir. The loops sound good, and used in combination with the ANC, this is one unique and effective piece of travel tech.

$281.87 at Amazon

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Earplugs are always an option when things just get too loud, or someone is snoring and you can't sleep. The foam plugs people often wear to loud concerts are great for blocking out extreme volumes, but what about a better-fitting earplug for less intense audio scenarios?

EarPlanes, as the name suggests, are designed for airplane use, and when used properly, they'll help prevent your ears from going crazy with cabin pressure during take-off and landing. But they double as great sleep-time earplugs, as well, if that's also a necessity—and because they're made with hypoallergenic silicone, they're designed to stay in for long periods of time and remain comfortable, use after use, on or off the plane.

Is Osmos a game? I'm not sure. In this iOS app, you are essentially a glowing blob (or "mote") floating in a realm of other smaller blobs. Your job is to absorb other blobs and become larger while not being absorbed by larger blobs. But this is a slow-moving, relaxing process for the most part, padded with ambient music and some stunning visuals. It's highly rated and highly hypnotic—I can attest it's easy to lose yourself in the dream-like, wordless atmosphere the game provides, and the music is the perfect antidote to distorted airport PA announcements about overbooked flights.

Fellow insomniacs, is Sleep Sounds (iOS, Android) the greatest free app ever made? No. But does it have, in my humble opinion, the greatest audio loop for sleep ever made? Yes, it does.

Somehow, most of the loops on this app are actually not great—who is going to fall asleep to the sound of birds and frogs in the jungle making loud, irregular shrieking sounds? Or a metronome? Not I. But the very first sound available in the free app is a simply recorded loop of rainfall—it sounds like rain falling on a creek, or perhaps near a waterfall. It's effective in masking other sounds—sirens, people talking in the next room, etc. And most crucially, I have never noticed the looping point in the six years I've used this app to fall asleep.

If this can't create a calming sleep environment for you, or drown out the din of the airport when you need to zen out, maybe the fireplace crackle sound in the same app will? Or the whale song loop? Good luck.

The downside of a white noise app is that it’s on your phone, your communication hub. Sure, you can put your phone in sleep mode, but plenty of people want white noise during the workday or while in a noisy environment, when putting a phone in sleep mode makes less sense. For those who don’t want to use an app for white noise or sleep loops, this is a portable white noise/sleep machine that can be used with earphones. It's not a major investment, and it can output audio through its built-in speaker, as well.

If you're already a meditation pro, congratulations, you probably didn't need to read this article. For the readers who don't meditate and are perhaps scared of the idea, there's Wave, a music-based app meant to calm you or focus your thoughts.

The content is also voice-guided—like a spin class, but relaxing. It'll certainly at the very least drown out unwanted sounds with some interesting audio, and if it gets you to a new plane of enlightenment, we'll consider that a bonus. Most of the audio is synth- and beats-based, so you have to be ready for that style of music, but as long as you are, we found spending a few minutes with the app did, in fact, calm us slightly.

Wave is a free iOS app; upgrade to premium, which includes more music options, for $14.99 per month or $59.99 per year.

Audiophiles can be difficult to shop for, but these gift ideas are sure to satisfy the music lovers or musicians in your life this holiday season.