A Little Solitude, Please...

Noise canceling headphones and ear buds aren't just for the busy exec or college student flying high on a jet airliner. There's noise in the home office as well. The PC hums. The fan that cools the PC hums. The A/C, fans, refrigerator create a steady stream of background noise that - while not 'distracting' – it's certainly, well, noisy. It wasn't until I tried out a pair of Solitude headphones and the Solitude Acoustic Isolation System that I truly realized what distracting hums pervade the home-based workspace.

So I slipped on a pair of Outside the Box Group's Solitude Noise Cancelling headset and flipped on the switch (they're powered by two AAA batteries). And I was in auditory solitary confinement. NO noises from the outside were slipping in. Mind you, I was alone in my home office. The sales exec with the Pineville, NC-based company said whether I was sitting in the cabin of a crowded jet or in my home office, I'd hear people's voices and other inconsistent sounds.

I plugged the headset into my PC's Altec Lansing speakers, flipped on the switch, and truly felt the music for the first time. The phone's "active noise canceling" technology senses outside sound waves coming in, and generates a sound wave at a frequency that counters that inbound wave. Outside noises were gone, of course. But the sound was rich, pure and strong. The music from my iTunes came alive with crisp highs and the solid feel of true real base response. Ditto for the earbuds. And ditto again when they were plugged into my iPod.

And therein lies the real benefit of noise canceling headphones or ear buds. Any audiophile using an iPod or MP3 player knows the inherent issue with portable tunes with traditional earbuds. Unless you sit there pushing the buds further into your ear canal, base response is lost. It's not about turning up the volume and permanently damaging or even jeopardizing your hearing. Today's earbuds cannot deliver most of the the highs and lows that make music full and enjoyable.

The the Solitude headset fits snugly over the ear like any headphone. The earbuds' foam plugs expand in the outer ear canal to eliminate outside noise and reduce escaping sound. Even at lower volumes the sound is rich and pure.

So now, whether I'm sitting in an airplane cabin trying to enjoy some quiet, or working in my home office early in the morning and want to enjoy some music but not wake the family, the Solitude line takes "solitude" to a new level.

The Solitude headset ($199) and the Acoustic Isolation System earbuds ($59) both feature a lifetime warranty, and are available online at ProTravelGear.com.

Jeff Zbar, the ChiefHomeOfficer.com, is a speaker, writer and expert on alternative officing. He is the author of Teleworking & Telecommuting: Strategies for Remote Workers and Their Managers (Made E-Z Products, 2002); Safe@Home: Seven Keys to Home Office Security (FirstPublish 2001) and Your Profitable Home Business (on CD-ROM from Made E-Z Products). Visit his Web site to subscribe to Home Office Success Stories, his free electronic magazine on home business and teleworking.