I'm not OP, but I'm sure he's talking Sony, I did a similar boycott (rootkit on Sony music CD's), but recently bought WH-1000XM3 and the NC is phenomenal, battery life is very good; very comfortable and lightweight; not sure I could sleep with them on though.
Can't say about the Sony, but you can't sleep in Bose QC20. Well... you can, and they were pretty comfortable, but they'll very likely break pretty quickly. I went through several pair until I finally twigged that sleeping in them was probably the root cause. Have had fewer problems with the QC20 since not sleeping with them in.
Really, for sleeping just get a good set of passive earmuffs like shooters use. Cost about $20 and will provide 25-30db of real noise reduction (and unlike active NC will also work on non-periodic sounds like sirens or revving car engines). Can double up with foam earplugs too for even more blockage.
oh yes, without a doubt, I'd noticed that in some cases, and eventually, if/when they 'crack', it's just a tiny sliver of a hairline crack in one which lets air in and produces that same loud feedback squeal. ouch!
As others have mentioned, the Sony 1000XM3. However, while doing research on this I found a few YouTube videos on it from a channel called Jim'sReviewRoom or similar, where he put microphones inside the headphones so you can listen to what it's actually like, and it seems the XM3s have a huge overemphasis on bass. I ended up buying the Bose NC700 which have a much more neutral sound profile, and slightly better ANC too iirc. They are a bit more expensive though.
I bought WH-1000XM3 and satisfied for superior NC quality but I don't like its sound profile like boosting bass and poor other sounds while boosting bass.
Finally I realized that I need NC for removing some fan noise like HVAC and server but I don't need superior one. I got Beoplay H9i for $300 and satisfied for both. Fewer battery life is cons.
I’m going to go out in a limb and say Sony XM3s, since the comment says something about a root kit, which I always associate with Sony. I have the XM3s and they are pretty darn good.
