Top 5 Noise-Cancelling Headphones for Working

Five over-ear headphones chosen for eight-hour days in rooms you do not control, defended against a category that is reviewed almost entirely on music listening.

Curated by Margot Ainsworth-Rée · September 17, 2026

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From the Editor

A short editor's letter

The reader has too many recommendations and too little time. We are trying to publish a magazine that respects this. Five things, ranked, defended in writing. Everything else, we believe, can be safely ignored.

— Margot Ainsworth-Rée, Editor-in-Chief