I have a shop problem that I suspect is not uncommon. The noise from my basement shop really bothers my wife. She's a teacher and spends a lot of time working in her home office. To make matters worse, she has MS, which makes concentrating even harder at times. As a result, I have a lot of difficulty finding shoptime. I'm considering buying her a pair of noise-canceling headphones and wonder if anyone has any experience with them.

I've tried doing a little research, both here and on the web in general. I haven't had much luck on the web because most reviews discuss blocking out airplane or office noise or discuss sound quality. Searches on Sawmill tend to discuss using them for the woodworker as hearing protection. And also, the posts I found are a couple of years old and technology and models change so quickly, I'd like more recent info.

I'd be willing to drop $300 on the Bose models if need be, although I'm also looking at the well-rated (and much cheaper) Monoprice model. But before I spend a lot, I'd like to know if anyone has any relevant experience with someone in their household using noise-canceling headphones while you're working in your workshop.