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My neighbor has been complaining lately about my practicing in my apartment. I thought it wasn't a problem for him because I hadn't heard any complaints from him for almost a year. But today he slipped a note under my door and was very angry. I have only gotten maybe four complaints in 30+ years. I only play the piano two hours or less per day and never before 10am or after 6pm. But my neighbor is retired like me and mostly home especially now with covid.

There is no way I can soundproof my apartment as he suggests or move the piano to a different room/ I may have to get a digital or hybrid to do some of my practicing on. But first I want to offer to buy him the best possible noise cancelling headphones. I have been playing my Mason BB for 15 years and only gotten a few complaints in all that time.

I'm hoping those of you familiar with them can offer a suggestion for really effective headphones.

Pianos and condos are always a problem difficult for solving.

But NYC should be the last place i would choose to live for someone who doesn't want to be surrounded by noises. Especially if he is retired and doesn't need to keep a job or any obligation there

The 2 industry "best" noise cancelling headphones are the most recent models from Bose and Sony:

Sony

Bose Quiet Comfort

They work very well for canceling low bass sounds like the rumbling of trains, subways and airplanes. They work less well for canceling treble sounds, such as talking. Because they are so expensive, you might want to talk to your neighbour to see if it's something he will actually wear first. There are less expensive options but I am less familiar with those.

The Sony has a tighter fit, whereas the Bose has a more comfy fit.

We just tested both the Sony WH 1000 and Bose Quiet Comfort and the Sony headphones perform better with the percussive sounds of a piano. The Sony 1000XM3 is the same as the MX4 but no Alexa talking to you. They are the two best noise-cancelling headphones out there, as WLH mentioned above.

In terms of pure noise-cancelling, the best headphones are by Bose and Sony.

I have the old Bose QC15, which is excellent, and also very comfortable (I used it for the past decade to watch inflight movies non-stop for 12 - 15 hours) but Sony seems to have stolen Bose's thunder recently, when comparing their newest models side-by-side:

https://www.soundguys.com/bose-noise-cancelling-headphones-700-24897/
https://www.whathifi.com/best-buys/best-wireless-noise-cancelling-headphones-2020

Earlier this year, I bought the Sony WH-1000XM3 (now replaced by the XM4 - see the reviews above) to replace my Bose for inflight use and because it has Bluetooth connectivity to connect to my iPod Touch - though I haven't been able to use it on flights yet - and I just compared it side-by-side with my QC15, playing loud piano music on my hi-fi system, with the TV also on. Its noise-cancelling ability is clearly superior for suppressing piano music as well as for speech and pop from the TV.

Thank you. Do you know if it's possible to listen to the TV and/or CD player while wearing those headphones, i.e. still cancel out piano noise but allow one to hear the TV?

I would add Sennheiser as a brand to consider.

He could listen to music on his phone with the noise cancelling headphones. Listening to TV depends on whether the TV has a headphone jack and other equipment he might have. Does he have a younger tech-savvy friend/relative to help him?

A note on the quick test we did. My spouse and I own both the Sony 1000 and Bose Quiet Comfort headphones. We closed the doors to the piano room and I went upstairs to the room above, closed the door and listened while my spouse played (banged) loudly on the piano. I’m not sure to what extent that simulates the apartment next door. I could hear the piano faintly and thought the Sony headphones did a slightly better job at noise cancellation. If your neighbor is older and has some loss of hearing, perhaps it’s possible he won’t hear your piano.

Thanks, everyone for your replies.

I assume you have an acoustic piano. Have you considered installing a silent system on it ? I think most pianos can be equipped. That would allow you to play anytime with your headphones. It does not solve the noise issue if you want to play acoustically, but gives you some flexibility as to when you can play.

You might consider asking him if there is a time span that is particularly disturbing and then avoid those hours.

Personally, to be honnest, I would not accept to wear headphones for 2 hours every day because my neighbour is playing piano. Your neighbour may be more accomodating though and i wish you so, but i am skeptical .....

A few years ago all the tenants got this notice.

"It has been brought to the attention of management that there have been an increasing number of noise complaints.

This is just a friendly reminder of the House Rules:

1. The tenant/resident shall be entitled to "quiet enjoyment" of their apartment. No tenant or their family or guests shall make or permit any disturbing noises in the building or permit anything to be done therein which shall interfere with the rights, comfort, or convenience of other tenants.

2. No tenant shall play upon any musical instrument in an apartment between the hours of 11pm and 8am the following morning if this annoys or disturbs any other occupant of the building."

I'm curious if those reading this thread think the above would allow me to play between 10am and 6pm for around 1.5 hours.

Yes # 2 defines playing musical instruments and specifically allows your practice
#1 covers wild parties not musical instruments

Yes. I think your neighbor needs to accept the fact that he has neighbors living their lives, which may include acoustic music during reasonable hours. It's not as if you're blasting amplified sound. (#1 is pretty vague about what's "disturbing," though.)

That said, if you want to keep the peace, there may be some other ways to reduce the sound level for him--caster cups, carpet, acoustic wall treatments?

I hope there is some solution that works for you both. Maybe there was a particular time that didn't work on the day he complained. Or you're currently working on a composer he doesn't like (lol). It seems that you're more likely to succeed in this way than with the headphones. Although the headphones could be a nice gesture in addition to working out some kind of schedule or playing music that he likes (joking)

Typically the headphones wouldn't help with standard tv watching. If the tv was connected in a way that would allow bluetooth output then yes. But that is not an option that most would be able to access. But if watching on a tablet or laptop then it would be less complex and possible for a newbie with a bit of training. I wouldn't count on tv watching being an option.

Some people won't even tolerate TV sounds from neighbors. Maybe they sleep all day?

Noise-cancelling headphones wired to a TV's headphone output (surely all TVs have them?) would provide an excellent solution provided the problem neighbour wants to watch TV when the piano is being played. Or if he prefers to listen to his own music, again connected to his sound system - or via Bluetooth, using a tiny wireless adaptor that plugs into the socket and converts headphone output to Bluetooth signals.

But Bluetooth is not an option for TV because of the latency problem.

For the TV, either there is a headphone output or if there is a digital optical out, you can buy a DAC with a jack out. It costs 30 or 40 euros on Amazon. If your headphones are not too difficult to drive it works out fine. But of course that does not mean that your neighbour would necessarily be watching his tv when you play.

The statement in my view does not prohibit playing an instrument during the day. It all depends what is the actual residual noise for your neighbour. Maybe he is just being particularly picky or maybe there is an isolation issue. In any case it looks more like a grey area of what one is sensitive to.

Lot's of good ideas. But has the op approached the neighbor to determine if he would be amenable to wearing headphones? If I were the neighbor wearing headphones wouldn't be an option. Even though the House Rules appear to be on the OP's side, an angry neighbor is not a good thing. Seems like a lot of effort into what could be a dead end. It might be best to have a sit-down and try to arrive at a solution together.