Sennheiser has launched its latest noise cancelling headphones to compete against Bose's award winning Bose QuietComfort 3s.

The new Sennheiser PXC 450 NoiseGard 2.0, priced at £299.99 offer a "Cloak of Silence" according to the its makers.

Sennheiser say it has analysed the problems afflicting other noise-reduction headphones and fixed them including problems like still working as headphones even if the batteries die.

Rather than opt for a rechargeable battery, the PXC 450 uses one AAA battery to gives 20 hours of use.

The headphone also includes a TalkThrough button that lets you hear conversations and announcements, without having to rip the phones off your head by simply pressing a button. Pressing the button turns your music down to a preset level you choose, opens a voice channel in the NoiseGard electronics so you can converse, while still retaining full noise-reduction operation so you can hear clearly

On the performance side of things, Sennheiser is promising that its NoiseGard 2.0 technology will electronically remove 90% of noise taking out the drone and roar of engines or Mrs Pocket-lint.