Problem A - I haven't put on a pair of headphones since I discovered a few years ago that my habit of listening to my ipod on the tube had given me some entry-level tinnitus. It comes and goes, sounding like silvery cicadas, and is never annoying. I really don't want to make it worse.
Problem B - where I live, I've neighbours above and below and on both sides, and the flimsy building is an acoustic marvel for transmitting sound, and so through each day my playing is a combination of moderate, quiet and unplugged. My Peavey practice amp is constantly chomping at the bit.
So I could do with adding headphones to my repertoire, but need to be careful, and am almost entirely ignorant of what's what. (When I was a kid I had a pair of Sennheisers that had a seeming flat foam-covered panel against the ear, and were gently domed on the outside. That sort of design doesnt seem to exist anymore.)
Firstly, are noise-cancelling headphones any good for practising with, or do they mess with the tone? I live on a main road, so there is a little bit of traffic noise.
Secondly, would open back headphones be better for not annoying my tinnitus? Sound leaking out within my home isn't a problem.